New York City has achieved a remarkable milestone in 2025, recording its lowest number of traffic deaths ever. According to the city's transportation department, there were 205 traffic deaths in 2025, a significant 19% decrease from 2024 and one death fewer than in 2018, the previous safest year since the city began keeping records in 1910. This achievement is all the more impressive when considering the overall 31% decrease in traffic deaths since the launch of the city's Vision Zero road safety plan in 2014, which aimed to eliminate traffic fatalities altogether. But here's where it gets controversial... While the transportation department deserves credit for making streets and intersections safer, some argue that the city's road safety efforts could be even more effective. For instance, former Mayor Eric Adams faced backlash for reversing road safety projects, such as a controversial bicycle lane in Brooklyn, under political pressure as his re-election prospects waned. Alexa Sledge, a spokesperson for the safe streets advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, applauded the transportation department's work, but also called for the incoming mayor to go even further by restarting some of those projects. 'It should be a call to action to the Mamdani administration and to everyone who’s coming in to really recommit to not only the principles of Vision Zero, but some really quick and easy day one things they can do,' Sledge said. So, what do you think? Do you agree with the transportation department's efforts, or do you think more could be done to make the city's roads even safer? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
