It’s no secret that New York City has awful roads. And this costs local drivers countless hours spent behind the wheel and billions of dollars every year. Bad roads also increase the chances that you’ll suffer serious injuries in an accident that could have been prevented.
New research confirms what we already know. Heavy wear and tear on our roads, aging infrastructure, harsh weather conditions, and lack of necessary maintenance combine to make driving in New York City slow, unpleasant, and dangerous.
Everyone Pays for Bad Roads
According to TRIP, a national transportation research nonprofit, local drivers pay a huge price for the city’s failure to adequately maintain safe and effective roadways. When the roads don’t function properly, we all pay for it.
Driving on poor roads is like an invisible tax on drivers, businesses, and citizens. Forty-five percent of roads in NYC are in poor or mediocre condition, and more than half our bridges are over 50 years old. Poorly maintained roads cost New Yorkers over $7.7 billion dollars every year in increased driving costs. And this doesn’t include the value of the time we’re all losing.
The average driver in New York loses $632 per year due to faulty infrastructure. These costs include:
- Auto repairs
- Depreciation
- Increased fuel usage
- Tire wear
Bad Roads Are a Huge Problem
How do we fix this problem? To put it bluntly: we need to increase funding, reduce corruption, and spend our money more efficiently.
Limited funding for road repairs and maintenance at the state and local levels is a real problem. And this is exasperated by challenges with coordinating road repairs across different government agencies. We also need better oversight to make sure the repairs we pay for are actually being completed and to prevent contractors from taking advantage of taxpayers.
Underfunded coffers and inefficient policies have real consequences for drivers in New York. Examples of poor and dangerous road conditions that can be found throughout the city include:
- Missing guardrails
- Narrow lanes
- Potholes
- Black ice
- Wheel ruts
- Poor road design
- Improper drainage
- Shoddy pavement
- Shoulder drop-offs
- Obstructions and debris
- Uncleared ice and snow
- Inadequate lane markings
- Inefficient traffic management
- Obstructed and limited views
- Overgrown median foliage
- Lack of construction zone warning signs
- Malfunctioning traffic control devices
- Missing, obscured, and damaged street signs
The Human Cost of Bad Roads
Bad roads don’t just cost New Yorkers time and money. The human toll is astronomical. Drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcycle riders face increased hazards caused by inferior roads. The city’s residents suffer an average of 1,004 traffic fatalities per year, in addition to thousands of injuries.
Injuries that frequently result from traffic accidents include:
- Broken bones
- Severe burns
- Whiplash
- Paralysis
- Internal bleeding
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
- Neck and back injuries
- Loss of limb
- Crush injuries
We’ve Won Over a Billion Dollars for Our Clients
Government agencies and the contractors they hire may be liable for your injuries if you were harmed by defective road conditions. To collect damages, you must demonstrate that government officials should have known about unsafe conditions and that they failed to address the issue within a reasonable period of time.
The experienced NY car accident attorneys at Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP will investigate the accident and file a claim against anyone whose negligent behavior contributed to your injuries.
A personal injury claim for traffic injuries includes damages for medical bills and other expenses caused by the crash, such as time missed from work.
Call (212) 986-7353 to schedule a FREE case evaluation today.