Articles Posted in Motor Vehicle Accidents

New research suggests that the number of traffic accidents that happen at dusk and dawn are underreported or inaccurately reported by authorities.

New research by Evari GIS Consulting, a consulting firm based in San Diego, suggests that the number of motor vehicle accidents that happen at dawn and dusk may be inaccurately reported by authorities. Building an analysis of collisions in Tennessee between 2017 and 2020, the firm found that “88% of collisions occurring during dusk or dawn were misreported as either ‘night’ or ‘day,’ and that 20% of “collision ambient light conditions are misreported.” 

These figures have significant implications. As a report by Evari notes, accurately reported nighttime collisions in the Tennessee analysis “were five times more likely to result in a fatality than daytime collisions.” The report notes further that Federal Highway Administration figures show that half of fatal accidents happen at night, despite the fact that there are fewer people—whether motorists, pedestrians, or cyclists—on the road at night. “That means the fatality rate is three times the daytime rate because only 25 percent of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) occur at night,” according to Evari.

Safe transit advocacy group argues that laws preventing New York City from operating speed cameras on nights and weekends is a major contributor to the city traffic violence.

A recent publication by safe transit advocacy group Transportation Alternatives argues that a New York state law preventing New York City from operating speed enforcement cameras on nights and weekends is a contributor to the epidemic of traffic violence afflicting the city. According to the organization’s data, “59 percent of traffic fatalities occur at times when the cameras are not permitted to operate.” Under the state law, the city cannot operate those cameras for the majority of the week. Continue reading

Data shown by the Staten Island Advance shares  that despite the 59 traffic fatalities in NYC, Staten Island did not have any traffic deaths to report in the first quarter of the year.

Even though data shows there were 59 traffic fatalities in New York City in the first quarter of the year, the borough of Staten Island “did not record a single traffic death in January, February, or March,” according to a report by the Staten Island Advance. The report describes a New York Police Department pamphlet offering numerous tips for drivers to avoid deadly traffic accidents. Continue reading

A recent article argues that the US Department of Transportation should take the steps necessary to keep pedestrians safe by ensuring that larger vehicles are equipped with safety features, such as blind spot detection, lane keeping support, and pedestrian automatic emergency braking.

A recent column in America Walks argues that the US Department of Transportation should take regulatory steps to ensure that large vehicles associated with higher pedestrian deaths implement technology designed to keep pedestrians safe. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a division of the NHTSA, has initiated a rule-making process that would rate passenger vehicles for pedestrian safety, and is currently soliciting comments on what its new rules might entail. Continue reading