VISION ZERO: AS DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME ENDS, MAYOR DE BLASIO ANNOUNCES RETURN OF “DUSK AND DARKNESS” SAFETY CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT PEDESTRIANS AND CYCLISTS

  Mayor Bill de Blasio, Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg and NYPD officials today launched the City’s fourth annual Dusk and Darkness campaign with a citywide “Day of Awareness” to draw attention to the increased risks to pedestrians and cyclists during the fall and winter. The campaign is part of the Vision Zero initiative.

“Fall and winter continue to be the most dangerous times of year for pedestrians and cyclists, but darker days don’t have to be darker times on our streets,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “For the past few years, we’ve seen that the Dusk and Darkness campaign works, and bringing back a proven, effective tool will help us step up our Vison Zero initiative and ensure that New York City streets become even safer.”

“As a cycling commuter, I can attest there is no better time of year to travel by bike than in the fall,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “However, after clocks fall back, the evening hours become especially dangerous for both pedestrians and cyclists. People on bikes should of course prepare for the seasonal changes in their evening commute, but this year’s Dusk and Darkness campaign is expanding our messaging to remind drivers about both pedestrians and cyclists – who are also on our roads year-round.”

“Judicious enforcement of traffic laws and regulations always serves as a major and necessary component of any traffic safety campaign,” said Thomas Chan, the NYPD’s Chief of Transportation. “During the Dusk and Darkness initiative, the NYPD will be stepping up its efforts to protect pedestrians and cyclists by taking appropriate action against those violations by motorists that are most likely to result in collisions, such as failure to yield.”

After daylight saving time ends—as it will at 2 a.m. this coming Sunday—crashes involving pedestrians historically have dramatically increased, especially during evening hours. Cyclists are also at increased risk during evening and nighttime hours. 

Part of the Vision Zero initiative, the “Dusk and Darkness” campaign launched today at a press conference with DOT officials includes the following elements:

 ·         “Day of Awareness”: NYPD and DOT street teams will today be educating and engaging drivers and other New Yorkers at different Vision Zero priority areas from 3:30-6:30 p.m. in all five boroughs, including: The Whitehall Ferry Terminal, Penn Station, Grand Central Station, and Canal Street & 6^th Avenue in Manhattan; Barclays Center, Bushwick Avenue & Flushing Avenue, and Bay Parkway & 86^th Street in Brooklyn; Parsons Blvd & Archer Avenue, and Northern Blvd & Broadway in Queens; W 225^th Street and Broadway in the Bronx.

·         Increased Evening/Nighttime Enforcement: As it has the last three years, NYPD will this week begin focusing enforcement resources on the most hazardous violations (speeding and failure-to-yield to pedestrians), with precincts increasing their on-street presence around sunset hours when data show serious pedestrian crashes increase. NYPD will also focus resources on drunk-driving efforts, as the incidence of DWI have historically increased during evening and nighttime hours in the fall and winter.

·         Daylight Saving Awareness:  DOT statistics from 2010-2014 show that serious collisions increase by approximately 40 percent in darker early evenings. This year, Daylight Savings Time will end at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 3, when clocks “fall back.” As with previous years, DOT will run radio ads during the evening commute, alerting drivers to the dangers of lower visibility and encouraging them to follow the 25 MPH citywide speed limit and to yield to pedestrians and cyclists. Ads are running through December 15 on fourteen stations.

Dusk and Darkness 4.0

At today’s event, officials cited the encouraging fatality statistics from Dusk and Darkness campaigns over the previous two years. In the five years before the campaign began, New York City averaged 63.4 traffic fatalities in the period between November 1 and March 15—many of them in the evening hours. In the first year of Dusk and Darkness, the overall fatality number declined from 67 to 51; in the second year, fatalities declined further to 44.

However, during the past year, pedestrian fatalities during the same period rose to 59. Over 20% of this year’s cyclist fatalities have occurred after sundown.

“Bicycling and walking are healthy and sustainable ways to get around our city,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot. “With fewer hours of daylight in the fall and winter months, drivers need to slow down and be aware of fellow New Yorkers who are also using the road. The Health Department is committed to reducing traffic fatalities and injuries in New York City, working together with sister agencies to advance road safety for all.”   

“As evenings get darker earlier, the Dusk and Darkness campaign offers an important reminder to drivers to be extra cautious when sharing the road with cyclists and pedestrians,” said Lisette Camilo, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services. “This campaign and the City’s broader focus on outreach and enforcement efforts will help keep New Yorkers safe during the fall and winter months.”

“We remind our 130,000+ licensed drivers that safety is and must always be at the heart of what they do, especially now as we approach the end of Daylight Saving Time and the added risks to cyclists and pedestrians that it brings,” said Acting TLC Commissioner Bill Heinzen.  “Having just honored a record high number of drivers with a place on the TLC’s Vision Zero Safety Honor Roll, we are again inspired by the commitment they and their fellow drivers have made to sharing our roads safely.”

VISION ZERO: AS DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME ENDS, MAYOR DE BLASIO REMINDS NEW YORKERS OF DANGERS OF DUSK AND EVENINGS ON OUR STREETS

Clocks “fall back” this Sunday, November 6 at 2:00 AM; as part of new Vision Zero Dusk and Darkness initiative, stepped up NYPD enforcement against dangerous driving will be concentrated between 4:00 PM and 9:00 PM

   Mayor Bill de Blasio today issued a reminder to New Yorkers about the dangers of dusk and evening hours as clocks change this coming Sunday. The de Blasio Administration last week announced a new Vision Zero Dusk and Darkness initiative that includes stepped-up NYPD enforcement against unsafe driving during those hours, supplemented by the addition of new street lighting to high-crash crosswalks, a new educational awareness campaign and new street redesigns. Fall and winter evenings have traditionally been the most dangerous time of year for pedestrians, with serious crashes during that time increasing by 40 percent compared to the rest of the year.

“While we all can be grateful for an extra hour’s sleep this coming weekend, at the same time we all need to stay alert and mindful of the Vision Zero focus on safety,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Darker afternoons and evenings make a big difference on our streets for the safety of pedestrians, especially for our seniors. We are reminding drivers to be extra-vigilant, slowing down and turning at 5 miles per hour on our streets – someone’s life could literally depend on it.”

“The NYPD is working with our partners to increase pedestrian safety, especially after the daylight saving time change – when the sunset is earlier in the day and coincides with the evening rush,” said NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill. “New York is a fast-paced City, but I want to ask all New Yorkers – especially motorists – to slow down and look out for one another. Officers will be issuing summonses to those who don’t.”

“Our research shows that rush-hour driving in newly dark evenings of the fall can be a perilous combination for pedestrians,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “One of our major goals for Vision Zero is to increase awareness and counteract careless driving behavior, so we are reminding New Yorkers that in the colder, darker months ahead, they need to exercise extra caution and slow down, especially when taking turns.”

DOT conducted extensive analysis of year-over-year crash trends, and noted that:

·         The earlier onset of darkness in the fall and winter is highly correlated to a 40 percent increase in traffic injuries and fatalities.

·         Lower visibility during the dark hours of the colder months leads to twice as many crashes involving turns.

·         Daylight saving time ended last year on November 1, 2015; in the eight days following last year’s “fall-back” clock change, nine New York City pedestrians lost their lives, one of the deadliest periods of the entire year. All of the victims were between 55 and 88 years old; only three of those deaths occurred during daylight hours.

In 2016, as part of Vision Zero, DOT has implemented its most aggressive street redesign safety program, with increased investment in street redesign and traffic-calming measures citywide. DOT has also improved the safety at a record number of dangerous intersections and thoroughfares, installing more than 18 miles of protected bike lanes along key high traffic corridors like Queens Boulevard, 6th Avenue, Chrystie Street, Jay Street, and Amsterdam Avenue and installed a record number of leading pedestrian intervals (LPIs) – more than 500 – to give pedestrians a head start while crossing the street.

For more information about the de Blasio Administration’s Vision Zero initiative, please see www.nyc.gov/visionzero.