Brooklyn Borough President Expresses Frustration With Past Nine Years of Preventable Car Crashes

by M.C. Millman 

"After nearly ten years of Vision Zero," Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso vents his frustration on X, "New Yorkers continue to be killed by car crashes that are entirely preventable."

New York City's Vision Zero, a campaign launched in 2014, works on the premise that serious crashes are preventable and no one should be killed or seriously injured on New York City roads. This premise led to the launch of the Vision Zero initiative with the stated goal of improving street safety and investing in comprehensive engineering, enforcement, and education strategies to bring the City closer to the goal of zero deaths and serious injuries. The Vision Zero campaign is meant to be driven by data and motivated by the recognition that casualties are neither inevitable nor acceptable.

Nine years later, and the goal of zero casualties has not even come close to being met. 

It is this frustrating reality that led the Boro President to post his own comprehensive plan for Brooklyn, highlighting maps that Utilized NYC DOT statistics to illuminate where the most pedestrian and cyclist injuries and deaths occur as a result of motor vehicle crashes that took place between 2020-and 2023 - six years into the advent of Vision Zero.

"This Map Monday, I'm highlighting two maps from my Comprehensive Plan for Brooklyn," Reynoso finished on X, "illuminating the carnage taking place on our streets."

Perhaps by working to combine Vision Zero with the president's own comprehensive plan, further progress can be made in eliminating tragedies that should not be occurring on NYC streets.