NYC’s pedestrian-motorist wars moved from the midtown barriers to City Hall’s doorstep this week, as the Times joined Newsday in reporting that pedestrian deaths jumped by 25% last year while police ticketing of drivers fell by one-third. Like crime trends, traffic crash and fatality rates are in large part a function of public policy. Pedestrian advocates say officials like Mayor Giuliani and Police Commissioner Safir should be held responsible for traffic safety, and that pedestrian and traffic deaths and crashes should be elevated as a basic measure of city government performance.

These days, however, city officials are tight-lipped with road accident data. The city’s last report on traffic fatalities covers 1994. On Jan. 14, however, an NYPD spokesman let slip to Newsday that overall traffic fatalities of 507 last year included 302 pedestrian and cyclist deaths, vs. 245 in 1996. The increase of 55-60 qualifies as the biggest one-year jump in pedestrian and cyclist deaths in at least a decade, larger in percentage terms than the 1996-97 decline in homicides. Today’s Times story embellished the figures with the finding that 80% of motorists deemed at fault from driving into pedestrians last year received no summons.

 What makes the surge in pedestrian deaths such a bombshell is that police ticketing plummeted over the same period due to a job slowdown by disgruntled cops. As the Mayor looked the other way, ticketing for moving violations plunged from 1.21 million in 1996 to only 819,000 last year. Accident researchers said that the 400,000 drop in tickets, by reducing the deterrent to motorist lawlessness, would account for many of the additional pedestrian deaths.

 The fact of 60 more New Yorkers killed trying to cross the street does more than call into question the mayor’s claims of a safer city. It suggests that millions of New Yorkers are put at risk by the city’s incoherent traffic safety policies. Instead of stunts like crosswalk barriers, NYC needs to permanently address driver speeding, red light running and violation of pedestrians and bicyclist right-of-way. On this quality of life – and death – issue, our leaders, so far, are strangely silent.