Traffic Fatalities Quotes
The 30,000 was far fewer than previous decades where automobile deaths had been constantly decreasing from a high of 50,000 a year.
The reason that this quotation is noteworthy is because it is one of the rare examples of a government program that succeeded despite predictions of disaster when it was debated and initiated. In this case, as in most others, for several months of contention Mayor Bloomberg was advocating placing thousands of free bicycles throughout the city where anyone can use them. Opponents were many and the most dire prediction was that all these bicycles in city traffic pedaled by un-vetted users who may have no skills would produce a large increase in death and injury. This produced heavy media coverage. Virtually every successful government program had opponents who predicted dire consequences. When most or all do not come true, there is usually no media coverage. This was one of the exceptions.
