John,

NYC taxpayers spent more than $653.9 million settling claims from car crashes caused by city vehicles over the last decade.

My office recently released a report, Wreckless Spending: The Accelerating Costs of City Car Crash Settlements, on personal injury settlements from car crashes involving city-owned vehicles. 

Here’s what we found:

• Settlement payments nearly doubled from $67.4 million in 2015 to $130.1 million in 2021
• Even though the most expensive claims involved larger vehicles, the city has added many trucks and SUVs to its fleets since 2015
• Most of the largest (+$1 million) payouts came from collisions involving NYPD and Department of Sanitation vehicles

Reckless driving is an urgent public health and safety issue for drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists alike.

But when city vehicles are causing the harm, it's a financial issue, too. When the city pays individuals who have been harmed by its vehicles, that money comes from taxpayer wallets.

Our report proposes that the city reduce the size of its fleet and the number of vehicles in it, get serious about holding agencies and reckless drivers employed by the city accountable, and implement fleet safety technology.

The costs of traffic violence are simply too high to bear.

- Brad