The van carrying seven family members that died in last week’s Bronx Zoo crash was traveling with traffic. It may have been going 68 mph in a 50 mph zone, but that’s how fast traffic moves in that area. The accident has raised safety concerns among officials and New York motorists alike, bringing attention to the “aging highway system,” according to the Washington Post.

“The Bronx River Parkway is a glaring example of the deficiencies we see on area roadways,” said Robert Sinclair, a spokesman for the American Automobile Association. “These roads were never envisioned as being the commuter arterial roadways that they are now. The roads are twisty. They are hilly. The lanes are narrow. There are no breakdown lanes. The on-ramps are too short.”

Despite these facts, the roads of New York City are said to be far less deadly than other systems throughout the country. The Department of Transportation says that 243 people died in NYC accidents in 2011, the least amount in over 100 years. North Carolina, a state with about the same number of people as NYC, averages around 1,300 fatalities per year.

Experts say that rural roads or those without much traffic are the deadliest. Continue reading →