NYC Comptroller’s Report Finds Payments to Settle City-Owned Vehicle Crashes Have Nearly Doubled Over the Past Decade

 

Personal injury settlements totaled $653.9 million for claims filed between FY 2012 and FY 2021.

The New York City Comptroller’s Office released Wreckless Spending: The Accelerating Cost of City Car Crash Settlements, a report which found that payments to settle personal injury claims from crashes involving City-owned vehicles have nearly doubled in the past decade. Despite seeing the number of crash claims settled by the City drop to a ten-year low in Fiscal Year 2021, settlement payouts have soared from a low of $67.4 million in FY 2015 to a high of $130.1 million in FY 2021. City fleet-related personal injury settlements over the past decade have cost the City a total $653.9 million.

“The epidemic of vehicle crashes is a serious public safety concern to New Yorkers, and unfortunately the City fleet is not an exception. But in these cases, when a New Yorker is hit and harmed by a squad car or a garbage truck, it’s New York City taxpayers who have to settle the bill. By accelerating adoption of fleet safety technologies, reducing the size and number of vehicles in the City fleet, and holding City drivers and agencies accountable, we can save lives – and many of millions of dollars too,” said Comptroller Brad Lander. 

Settlements over $1 million made up only 4% of total personal injury claims, but accounted for almost 50% of the total cost between FY 2012 and FY 2021. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) accounted for 67% of all City fleet settlements over $1 million, a third of which involved pedestrian, cyclist, or motorcyclist claimants.  

Despite larger vehicles being responsible for the most expensive crashes, the City added more trucks and SUVs to its fleet between 2015 and 2023. During that same time, the median settlement for crash claims jumped from an average of $9,000 in FY 2012 to $50,000 in FY 2021. Crashes are more likely with larger vehicles because they tend to have longer braking distances and larger blind spots, and the payouts involving these vehicles tend to be higher because they cause more damage and injury.  

The report recommends accelerating efforts to upgrade vehicle technologies (including Automatic Emergency Braking and Intelligent Speed Assistance), reducing the size and number of vehicles in the City fleet, and strengthening measures to hold City drivers and agencies accountable. 

More information on crash claims data and recommendations can be found in the full report, here. 

“Safe driving prevents crashes and saves taxpayer dollars. The City of New York’s fleet can and should include proven safety technology, such as intelligent speed assistance,” said Elizabeth Adams, Senior Director of Advocacy & Organizing at Transportation Alternatives. “Safe cars are just the start. We need to see a comprehensive plan from this administration that reduces the number of cars in the city fleet, while redesigning streets across New York City for safety. Comptroller Lander is right: The City of New York can be a street safety leader, both through its fleet and on its streets.”  

“New York City faces a public health crisis of traffic violence that costs all New Yorkers. I know firsthand that speeding is a deadly act. After my son Sammy was killed, I fought for a lower NYC speed limit — and it proved to be the difference between life and death for a 5-year-old boy who was hit in the exact same location as my son but who fortunately lived. We urge our city leaders to expand intelligent speed assistance and automatic emergency braking to the entire city fleet. We also need a comprehensive plan to reduce driving by city employees, redesign streets for safety in all five boroughs, and further lower NYC speed limit by passing Sammy’s Law named after my son,” said Amy Cohen, co-founder of Families for Safe Streets. 

“When it comes to making New York City’s streets safer, leadership should start with city employees and the city fleet, and thanks to Comptroller Lander’s eye-opening new report, we know that not only is that not the case, but that things have gotten worse during the Vision Zero era. As the overwhelmingly successful pilot of Intelligent Speed Assistance in city vehicles shows, we have the technology to improve safety, and that tech should be standardized across the fleet. At the same time, the Adams administration should be moving swiftly to slash the overall size of the city fleet, as well as the size of fleet vehicles, which will save both lives and money,” said Eric McClure, Executive Director of StreetsPAC.  

“City agencies should be leading the way to safe streets. We applaud Comptroller Lander for spotlighting the troubling trends with agency crashes and settlements, and urge all department heads to closely monitor performance and take steps to produce real progress in safe agency operations on NYC streets,” said Jon Orcutt, Bike New York Advocacy Director.  

“The size of New York City’s vehicle fleet creates a priceless opportunity to reduce traffic crashes and consequently the City’s crash liability; through safety training, automated vehicle telemetry and other steps, the City can transform its fleet of vehicle operators into street safety leaders,” said Steve Vaccaro, cycling representative and advocate from the Law Office of Vaccaro & White.