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Is fear of NYC highways warranted after zoo crash?

Published: May 5, 2012 Comment on this article

NEW YORK (AP) — A freak accident in the Bronx is being touted by some transportation advocates as evidence that New York City's aging highway system needs major upgrades.

photo - FILE - In this April 19, 2009 file photo, North Carolina Highway Patrolman R. Grayson investigates a two-vehicle wreck on U.S. 64 near Brevard, N.C., that killed three people, including a child, in the head-on collision. A freak accident on New York's Bronx River Parkway that wiped out three generations of a family on April 29, 2012, is being touted by some transportation advocates as more evidence that New York City's aging highway system needs major upgrades. Yet, while New York City saw 243 people killed in traffic accidents in 2011, by comparison, North Carolina, a state with a population not much larger than New York City, had 1,314 motor vehicle fatalities in 2009. (AP Photo/Times-News, Mike Dirks, File)

FILE - In this April 19, 2009 file photo, North Carolina Highway Patrolman R. Grayson investigates a two-vehicle wreck on U.S. 64 near Brevard, N.C., that killed three people, including a child, in the head-on collision. A freak accident on New York's Bronx River Parkway that wiped out three generations of a family on April 29, 2012, is being touted by some transportation advocates as more evidence that New York City's aging highway system needs major upgrades. Yet, while New York City saw 243 people killed in traffic accidents in 2011, by comparison, North Carolina, a state with a population not much larger than New York City, had 1,314 motor vehicle fatalities in 2009. (AP Photo/Times-News, Mike Dirks, File)

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Seven people died Sunday when the family's SUV veered off a bridge on the Bronx River Parkway.

Yet, transportation safety statistics show that the city's intimidating roadways are far less deadly than their rural and suburban counterparts, with only a fraction of the number of fatalities per mile traveled.

Traffic fatalities in New York City last year 2011 were the lowest they have been in a century.

Replacing highways isn't at the top of many urban planners' wish lists.

One factor is cost. By one estimate, merely operating and maintaining the present road and rail network through 2035 will cost $951 billion.