海角大神

For many New Yorkers, the American love affair with the automobile is more like going on a date now and then. It鈥檚 fun, it鈥檚 a nice getaway distraction, but getting around in the city usually means hopping on the subway or jumping in a cab.

While New York has never been the most car-friendly American metropolis, on Monday city law enforcement will embark on a three-week ticket-writing frenzy.

Through July 6, the New York Police Department will be cracking down on hosts of scofflaws behind the wheel, conducting a carefully planned surge in its enforcement of city speed limits and other rules of the road. One-armed drivers glancing down and thumbing texts beware.

鈥淭he traffic safety operation will focus on the most problematic intersections around the city and take place during all hours of the day,鈥� .

Monday鈥檚 initiative actually marks the fourth ticket-writing blitz in about a month for the NYPD, as city officials begin to ramp up Mayor Bill de Blasio鈥檚 ambitious 鈥淰ision Zero鈥� traffic plan. The plan seeks to eliminate as many of the city鈥檚 4,000 serious injuries and 250 car-related fatalities each year as possible.

鈥淭his status quo is unacceptable,鈥� reads the city鈥檚 , an initiative that Mayor de Blasio promised throughout the election campaign last year. 鈥淭he City of New York must no longer regard traffic crashes as mere 鈥榓ccidents,鈥� but rather as preventable incidents that can be systematically addressed. No level of fatality on City streets is inevitable or acceptable. This Vision Zero Action Plan is the City's foundation for ending traffic deaths and injuries on our streets.鈥�

Last month, the NYPD took two days to go after those who texted while driving or who failed to yield to pedestrians 鈥� a surge in which police wrote more than 5,000 tickets. The following weekend, the traffic unit zeroed in on speeders, issuing just under 5,000 summonses. Then, a week later, the NYPD conducted a full enforcement surge that lasted seven days. Now traffic cops will do the same for three full weeks, with more surges likely throughout the summer.

鈥淚 definitely noticed an increase in tickets,鈥� says Kristin Samadi, a resident of Bay Ridge in Brooklyn and a member of the performing arts faculty at Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y. 鈥淚鈥檝e been driving in the city for 10 years now 鈥� at least five days a week, too 鈥� and I got my first speeding ticket in a long, long time last month. It鈥檚 been years.鈥�

Ms. Samadi, also a concert pianist and private instructor, travels throughout four of New York鈥檚 five boroughs every week to give piano lessons, and on weekends she drives to New Jersey, where she is a church music director. She was driving in Queens when she was caught going 45 miles per hour in a 35 m.p.h. zone 鈥� the standard speed limit for all city streets.

鈥淚 understand that they need to write these tickets: Maybe there are too many deaths and injuries happening,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 also a protocol that the city needs to make money as well, I鈥檓 sure. But it鈥檚 just frustrating. I never drive like a maniac or anything, and I never get speeding tickets. But of course everyone thinks that it鈥檚 unfair when it happens to them.鈥�

So far, the initiative appears to be having an effect: Pedestrian deaths have dropped more than 30 percent since de Blasio took office, according the NYPD.

Still, owning a car just doesn鈥檛 have the same status-making cachet in a city that lives more vertically than most. And not many New Yorkers spend as much time behind the wheel as Samadi does every day.

Manhattan is mostly a rumble of delivery trucks surrounded by a hive of zipping yellow cabs, which to their destinations each day. And with taking to the subterranean mazes of subways to get around on an average workday 鈥� more than the populations of Los Angeles and Chicago combined 鈥� the rhythms of life in New York aren鈥檛 as defined by the car as they are in much of the rest of the country.

But the Vision Zero idea, originating in Sweden in 1994 with the simple understanding that has found its way into a . According to New York City officials, Vision Zero-like programs have reduced traffic fatalities by 43 percent in Minnesota, 48 percent in Utah, and 40 percent in Washington State.

In addition to traffic law enforcement surges, New York City lawmakers have begun to introduce new laws establishing a permanent Vision Zero task force, collecting traffic data and gathering input from the city鈥檚 drivers, and investing in more advanced speed-detection equipment.

The de Blasio administration is also beginning to lobby the state Legislature to lower the citywide speed limit to 25 m.p.h., install speed and red-light cameras, and increase the penalties for traffic violations 鈥� each of which needs state approval.

鈥淲e will save lives,鈥� de Blasio said when he earlier this year. 鈥淎nd that work begins in earnest today. But just as this effort has grown from the grassroots, its success will depend on everyday New Yorkers, neighborhood groups and communities coming together and working in common purpose.鈥�

The surge in summons, too, has gotten Samadi鈥檚 attention: 鈥淚 would say, yes, I鈥檓 definitely more aware now, driving.鈥�