Road safety in New York and Los Angeles: U.S. megacities compared with the nation

Abstract

This study examined road safety in the two U.S. megacities, New York and Los Angeles. Patterns of fatal and all crashes in these megacities were compared with those for the entire U.S. (Also included were data for the two respective states, New York and California.) The data on fatal crashes came from the Fatal Analysis Reporting Systems, and the data on all crashes from the General Estimates System and the states of New York and California. The period examined was 2002 through 2009. The results indicate that crashes in the two megacities tend to differ in numerous aspects from typical crashes in the U.S. These included aspects related to when and where these crashed occur, nature of crashes, weather, light, involved persons, and driver actions.