Police will spend more than 12,000 enforcement hours a day over 10 days to crack down on reckless driving, authorities said, an operation in response to 10 pedestrian deaths in November.
Officers will focus on drivers who speed, text, don’t yield to pedestrians and park in traffic lanes.
More than 1,700 cops and traffic agents will be involved in the operation, which will run through Nov. 22. They are coming from NYPD bureaus that range from highway to 77 local precincts, and include almost 1,200 traffic enforcement officers.
The department will also increase the amount of overtime dedicated to traffic enforcement.
Ten pedestrians have been killed so far this month, up from seven during this time period last year, police said. Deaths overall in 2015 are still down 6%, police said. So far, 109 pedestrians have been killed in New York City, down from 116 last year.
Some of the pedestrians killed this month include Kinyeti Charles, 50, who was killed Monday in Flatbush by an unlicensed driver who jumped a curb and flipped over.
An MTA bus driver was also arrested for leaving the scene when he fatally struck Carol Bell, 70, in eastern Brooklyn on Nov. 3.
Steve Vaccaro, a safe street advocate and lawyer who represents crash victims, said it was important that officers at the precinct level were involved.
“Most importantly, the initiative is said to be focused on dangerous behaviors, rather than on technical violations,” he said. “It is significant that precinct level officers are involved, since they patrol the residential neighborhoods where dangerous driving poses the greatest threat of injury and death.”
Vaccaro also noted that it was unusual for such detailed staffing numbers to be released publicly, and was curious to see whether tickets will be issued to drivers that park in bike lanes.
“While the focus, scope, and transparency of the initiative are a welcome change, the question remains whether deployed officers will conduct fish-in-a-barrel gotcha ticketing of technical violations, or if as advertised they will target actual dangerous driving,” he said.
