Mayor Bloomberg, DOT Commissioner Sadik-Khan and Police Commissioner Kelly released preliminary statistics showing that New York City will record the fewest annual traffic fatalities since records were first kept in 1910. There were 40 percent fewer traffic fatalities in 2011 than in 2001 – a record low.

The new record lows come as the DOT has undertaken unprecedented safety engineering initiatives and public education efforts. Recent examples include safety upgrades to 60 miles of streets in 2011, including more than 20 miles of street redesigns, and the city’s first Neighborhood Slow Zone in the Bronx. Pedestrian countdown signals were installed at 1,100 intersections citywide in 2011. Safety campaigns have continued to pair engineering with education and outreach.

“This will be the city’s safest traffic year in the more than 100 years since records were kept,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “We’ve made progress in every area of traffic safety due to our willingness to take new, creative approaches to longstanding challenges with safety redesigns and through aggressive traffic enforcement. We’ve focused on making our streets safer for all who use them – no matter how they decide to travel – and it’s another reason New Yorkers are living longer and another reason our city is safer than ever before.”

Read the press release for more information and detailed statistics.