Newswise — The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) commends Mayor Bill de Blasio and his administration on their newly released Vision Zero Action Plan for pedestrian safety in New York City. The report focuses on traffic enforcement to reduce deadly and dangerous driving, along with street redesigns. Proposed changes include reduced speed limits, city control over the number of cameras used for speeding and red light enforcement, street redesign and more safety oversight of taxi and livery drivers.

NYAM is deeply committed to the design and implementation of policies that protect the health and safety of all New Yorkers. Our Age-friendly NYC partnership with Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council has made large strides in improving pedestrian safety for older adults, who comprise 38% of pedestrian traffic fatalities—and, in turn, for all New Yorkers.

The Safe Streets for Seniors initiative of Age-friendly NYC led to safety improvements at more than 600 intersections including extending countdown signals, building new pedestrian safety islands, and using newly painted lines to create new lanes and force vehicles to stop farther back from crosswalks. The redesigned intersections have seen marked reductions in pedestrian fatalities and injuries.

DASH-NY, our statewide obesity prevention policy center, also encourages structural changes that support the health and safety of all New Yorkers. DASH-NY educates communities, health professionals, and decision makers about methods for increasing access to safe spaces for walking, biking, and other active transit and recreation.

“NYAM thanks Mayor de Blasio for taking up the critical issue of pedestrian safety so quickly after his inauguration, and encourages the administration to move swiftly toward implementation of the recommendations outlined in Vision Zero,” said Dr. Jo Ivey Boufford, NYAM President.

About NYAMThe New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) has been advancing the health of people in cities since 1847. Drawing on the expertise of diverse partners worldwide and more than 2,000 elected Fellows from across the professions, our current priorities are to create environments in cities that support healthy aging, to strengthen systems that prevent disease and promote the public’s health, to implement interventions that eliminate health disparities, and to preserve and promote the heritage of medicine and public health. For more information, please visit www.nyam.org.