City Officials Promote Traffic Safety On Staten Island
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- In the midst of the holiday season, city officials hit Staten Island on Monday to remind drivers about traffic safety.
City Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg handed out safety literature at Hylan Boulevard and New Dorp Lane, WCBS 880's Peter Haskell reported.
"Drive at a safe speed," she said. "That's something you can control and can be really the difference between life or death when there's a crash."
Traffic fatalities citywide are down 12 percent this year, but on Staten Island, they've doubled. That's why NYPD Chief of Transportation Thomas Chan said the department is increasing enforcement.
"Certainly we've targeted distracted driving, both texting and cellphone," he said.
More than half of the victims have been pedestrians.