Queens hits grim traffic death milestone

A new report shows that New York City, and Queens in particular, had a rough first quarter relating to traffic violence. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach 

By Ryan Schwach

Queens has hit a morbid traffic violence milestone as 2024 is already on pace to be a deadly year on New York City’s streets, according to a new report from a transportation group.

According to a new report from Transportation Alternatives, Queens is the first borough to hit 750 traffic deaths since the Vision Zero program began under Mayor Bill deBlasio in 2014. The grim milestone comes as the first quarter of 2024 was the deadliest for pedestrians in the past decade.

In Queens, a borough which has seen a number of high profile traffic incidents and fatalities in recent months, 22 people were killed in the first three months of 2024, accounting for 37 percent of the 60 deaths citywide.

It was also Queens’ deadliest first three months in the past decade.

Among those deaths was 43-year-old Natalia Garcia-Valencia who was walking in Elmhurst when she was struck by a driver behind the wheel of a city Department of Environmental Protection truck on March 12, becoming the 750th traffic death in Queens since the adoption of Vision Zero. Queens is the first borough to reach that number.

The driver, 38-year-old Mitchell Roderick, a city employee, remained at the scene but eventually turned himself into cops and was subsequently charged with failure to yield and failure to exercise due care.

Queens’ death total from the first quarter of 2024 also included 8-year-old Bayron Palomino Arroyo, who was struck and killed crossing a Flushing street with his brother and mother in March.

Palomino’s death resulted in calls from locals and elected officials for street safety measures in Queens.

The driver that allegedly hit him, Jose Barcia, has been hit with criminal charges in the incident.

Citywide, the 60 deaths number marks the deadliest first quarter since the adoption of Vision Zero in 2014. The number of fatalities in the most recent quarter were 50 percent higher than the safest first quarter since the adoption of the initiative.

Motorist fatalities are tied at a record high as well, with 26 fatalities, making the first quarter of 2024 also the deadliest first quarter for motorists since Vision Zero began in 2014.

The report also says that traffic violence has killed 63 percent more motorists this year than the average first quarter under Vision Zero, and that speeding was a major factor in 80 percent of fatal traffic crashes.

Elected officials in Queens have called for street safety measures to be implemented in Western Queens as the borough has seen more traffic deaths in the past decade than any other borough. Eagle file photo by Jacob Kaye

Large vehicles also played a part, with SUV and other larger vehicles accounting for 79 percent of deaths of New Yorkers killed while walking, biking or riding mopeds in the first quarter of 2024.

Transportation Alternatives executive director, Danny Harris, believes that the numbers in the report should be a wake up call for the Adams administration, which has been accused of failing to implement a number of measures under the initiative.

“It is unconscionable that this is the deadliest first quarter under Vision Zero, a whole decade after the program first launched,” Harris said in a statement. “New Yorkers don't need any more platitudes, they need and deserve real action from their leaders.”

“Every single one of these deaths was preventable, and we need New York City to finally meet the legal mandates of the Streets Plan to save lives,” Harris added. “Whether you’re in a car, walking, biking, or taking transit, everyone should be able to survive just traveling throughout the five boroughs.”

The transportation advocacy group, which has released traffic violence reports every quarter since 2014, has and continues to argue that the city must do more to limit fatal traffic incidents.

The group argues in the report that Albany should pass a mandate requiring repeat speeding offenders to use intelligent speed assistance, or a system installed in their car that would force them to slow down.

They are also calling on Mayor Adams and his administration to comply with a city plan to increase construction of safer and slower streets – the administration has failed to meet mandated goals outlined in the plan in both of the last two years.

Street safety advocates did secure a win last week with the inclusion of Sammy’s Law, which will allow New York City to set speed limits on its own streets, in the state budget.

Following recent high profile deaths, like Palomino Arroyo’s, Queens elected officials have called for increased street safety, and say the numbers in the report are worrisome.

“Keeping New Yorkers safe from traffic violence is paramount, and the growing rate of fatalities from crashes in the first quarter of 2024 is concerning," said New York City Council Speaker and Queens representative Adrienne Adams. "This is not the type of record our city should be setting, and we must not reverse the important progress made over the past decade to become a safer city. The Council will continue to prioritize actions that make our streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists alike.”

Of those 750 deaths since Vision Zero began 57 of them have been in Councilmember Julie Won’s Western Queens district.

“As our borough breaks the record for most Vision Zero-era fatalities, it is clear that the Administration must comply with the legal requirements of the Streets Plan and implement more daylighting to ensure that we are creating safer streets and reducing senseless traffic violence,” Won said.

Some of Won’s Western Queens elected colleagues launched a multi-year street safety plan for the area earlier this year, which lists a host of ideas on how to make streets safer in Western Queens, including increased pedestrian infrastructure, reimagined traffic enforcement, universal daylighting and traffic calming measures.

A spokesperson for the city’s Department of Transportation said the agency hopes to reverse the trends seen in the early 2024 numbers.

“We grieve for the loss of any life on our streets,” said spokesperson Vincent Barone. “After 2023, a year that saw near-record-low pedestrian fatalities and record-high production of protected bicycle lanes in New York City, we remain dedicated to our Vision Zero goals.”

“Through a series of ground-breaking interventions around education, enforcement and engineering – including new daylighting at 1,000 intersections citywide – we are continuing that good work and are hopeful that we can reverse the disturbing trends so far this year,” Barone added.

City Hall did not respond to the Eagle’s requests for comment on the report.