NYC mayor Bill de Blasio’s “Vision Zero” plan calls for an end to all traffic fatalities on NYC streets within the next 10 years. In order to achieve this, city officials will redesign unsafe intersections, make dangerous sidewalks and medians wider, expand the number of 20-mph “slow zones,” encourage NYPD enforcement of existing traffic laws, and increase the number of mobile traffic cameras. The plan is certainly ambitious, considering a New York Post report that at least 220 New Yorkers were killed in traffic accidents in 2013.
The advocacy group Right of Way has responded to the plan by creating a website, titled the “Vision Zero Clock,” to help keep track of the progress of the traffic safety plan. The “clock” tracks whether the plan is on course to fulfill de Blasio’s promise of zero traffic fatalities by 2024. More specifically, the clock lists four categories – pedestrians, cyclists, drivers & passengers, and total auto deaths – and notes the number of traffic-related deaths in each category.
As part of Right of Way’s efforts to keep the public aware of the effectiveness of the plan, the group has also started a Twitter campaign. Each time a traffic-related death occurs in New York City, the group will send out a tweet via dozens of Twitter accounts. According to the self-described “activist” group’s website, the twitter campaign is meant to remind the new mayor “of his promise to achieve Vision Zero by 2024.”
Although the Right of Way website may be seen by some as a criticism of the Vision Zero plan, the group has strongly supported the mayor’s efforts to reduce traffic deaths in NYC. In fact, a statement by the group’s organizer, Keegan Stephen, declared that “Vision Zero must remain a top priority.”
The Right of Way “Vision Zero Clock,” he said, is merely intended to provide transparency about the effectiveness of the plan.
If you have received a traffic ticket in New York or are worried about losing your driver’s license, do not hesitate to contact the experienced traffic defense lawyers at the Law Office of James E. Tyner, PLLC. Call 866-642-3807 for your free initial consultation.
