Study: Speeding Is Worst In Brooklyn

Here’s a story that I think most area residents can file under “No shit.” Still, while we knew the truth through our own experience, there’s now some data that proves Brooklyn has some of the city’s most reckless drivers.

WNYC is reporting that a study conducted by Transportation Alternatives (TA) found 88 percent of Brooklyn drivers broke the speed the limit. As a result of practically everyone in Brooklyn gunning it up and down the avenues, traffic deaths in Brooklyn rank the highest citywide.

We previously reported on the crazy speeding statistics that placed the 61st Precinct, which includes Sheepshead Bay, as the second most ticketed area in all of Brooklyn. As a result of all the lead-footed driving, traffic deaths have ballooned and a political battle has broken out between lawmakers looking to solve the problem. As politicians remain gridlocked over the issue of installing speed enforcement cameras citywide, Juan Martinez, a TA representative, put the speeding problem in stark terms.

“Speeding is the number one cause of death in traffic. Speeding drivers kill more New Yorkers than drunk drivers and drivers on cell phones combined,” Martinez told WNYC. According to a New York Daily News report, 79 people died in crashes in Brooklyn in 2011 (the most recent available data), eclipsing Queens (67), the Bronx (65), Manhattan (45) and Staten Island (12).

The most dangerous roads in Brooklyn include Kent Avenue in Williamsburg and Fourth Avenue in Bay Ridge where cars are routinely clocked at 60 mph, twice the legal limit. Despite all the twisted metal and carnage, State Senator Marty Golden remained adamant in his opposition to speed enforcement cameras.

“Cameras won’t stop speeding in New York,” Golden told the Daily News. “You need a combination of things … speeding zones by schools, more stop signs.”