The NYPD recently released figures on 2004 traffic deaths, touting the lowest number of city fatalities since recording began in 1910 (292 in 2004 vs. 353 in 2003). What is happening elsewhere in the state? Good luck finding out.

The NY State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee (GTSC), comprised of more than a dozen state agencies (including the DMV, Division of State Police, and the state DOT) seemed a logical place to lodge a query. The committee’s web-site (www.safeny.com) indeed provides county-by-county reports of traffic crashes and fatalities, but nothing more recent than 2001. When the Campaign called and pointed out that 2003 NY traffic fatality data were available from the federal government, the GTSC spokesman implied his office could not access the publicly available, online dataset.

The Campaign also tried the NY State Police and the Dept. of Motor Vehicles. The police only had data on arrests, speeding, and DWI up to 2001. The call to DMV led to an amazing goose chase when an operator directed us to the Michigan office of international automobile marketing firm R.L. Polk.

We eventually uncovered a January 10^th press release by Governor Pataki lauding the record low traffic deaths in the state in 2003. It cited the Institute of Traffic Safety Management and Research (ITSMR), a consultant that compiles traffic fatality data for the GTSC. ITSMR provided 2003 figures (1,477 in 2003 vs. 1,509 in 2002) and indicated that the GTSC’s website would soon be updated soon to reflect the newer data (but not as of this writing).

But providing ’03 numbers would still leave New York State behind the curve. One call to NJ’s Dept. of Law and Public Safety generally yields to-date records on traffic deaths and crashes, sorted by county and victim type. Individual New York county police departments (notably Suffolk and Nassau counties) were also responsive in providing up-to-date data. 

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