Vision Zero is a philosophy that puts human life above all else when it comes to planning. It sets the goal of transportation systems to have zero fatalities. This often leads to safer streets, safer automobiles, safer bike lanes, and slower speeds. This concept could have a major positive impact in our community both in terms of lives saved, quality of life, and economic benefits.
Have you ever witnessed unsafe road conditions in Jersey City? As someone who drives, walks, bikes, rideshares, jogs, and Citibikes around Jersey City I have witnessed the sometimes chaotic and untamed traffic safety situation in Jersey City first hand. I have also read about the far too numerous road deaths chronicled in our local papers. Vision Zero could go a long way to improving this situation, but we need to asses where we are today before we can figure out where we’re going.
Distance to Zero
If the goal is zero, where are we now?
Looking at the potential of a Vision Zero program in Jersey City one must ask the initial question: how many traffic crashes and deaths do we have now? In 2015, nine people died in traffic crashes in Jersey City. Over the ten years from 2006–15 we have averaged 7.8 deaths per year. This is a long way to go from zero.
To get some more insight into this number I put together some comparative data. Below I have compared Jersey City’s record with that of the entire state and our neighbor across the Hudson. Additionally, I have calculated a population based number.
Jersey City does better than New Jersey as a whole. But looking at New York City Jersey City fares less well. Not only does NYC have a lower population based fatality number, data from New York show consistent reductions in fatalities over a three year period. Specifically, NYC has shown improvement since the establishment of a Vision Zero program.
Crashes
Looking at deaths is paramount but the impact of non-fatal crashes is important. These incidents are life changing, cause property damage, drain public resources, and drive up auto insurance rates. As my insurance agent once told me, “People who drive in your area just seem to get in more crashes than everyone else.”
As you can see above we have a consistently high crash rate in Jersey City. In 2015 there were 7,956 crashes. In those crashes 1,828 individuals were injured. In 2015 Jersey City had a daily average of 21 crashes and 5 injuries per day.
“People who drive in your area just seem to get in more crashes than everyone else…”
Alcohol and Distracted Driving
While Vision Zero is a holistic approach focused on mitigating all road hazards, impaired driving is a particularly preventable issue. Tragically, those two activities are having their effect on Jersey City. The chart below shows the rate of drunk driving and a noted increase in distracted driving.
Economic Impact
Automobiles have an out-sized impact on our personal budgets. According to AAA, the annual costs of owning a motor vehicle are $8,698.
Looking more broadly, the community and the societal effects of these crashes is dizzying. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates the the annual cost to society for auto crashes nationwide is $836 billion. NHTSA takes the following factors into account when calculating the cost of motor vehicle crashes:
- Medical Costs
- Legal Costs
- Lost Productivity / Lost Work
- EMS Costs
- Insurance Costs
- Congestion Costs
- Property Damage
Consider alone the police response to traffic crashes. Jersey City has been working hard to recruit and grow its police force in recent years. Assume it takes one officer one hour on average to respond to a crash, aid the victims, and complete a report. This would mean JCPD is spending 21 officer-hours a day just responding to traffic crashes. To handle that function alone would require 3.7 full time officers simply responding to crashes — that doesn’t include any time for traffic enforcement, parking enforcement, or dealing with the other crime we have in Jersey City.
To address the conversation I had with my insurance agent, let’s look at the costs of crashes. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners the average cost to insurers of a bodily injury claim in New Jersey is $29,692. For Property Damage and Collision the average cost per claim is $3,789. This means that Jersey City alone accounts for about $114 million in insurance claims. Factoring in the stated loss ratios for these insurance categories Jersey City would need to pay $155 million in insurance premiums to account for its crash numbers. This amount is more than the cost of the entire Jersey City Police Department.
To Be Continued
Now that we have some idea of the costs of traffic crashes I want to move on to solutions. Check back soon as I will be making a follow-up post that details some practices for making streets safer and other efforts that you can expect from a Vision Zero campaign.
Update: Part Two is now live -> check it out.
Kevin Bing is a Journal Square resident. He is the chair of the New JSQ Community Association’s Safe Committee and board member of the New JSQ Community Association and Bike JC. Follow Kevin on Twitter @kevinaskevin
If you have questions about my data, methodology, or other nerdy stuff check out this followup post.
