Clocks fall back Sunday: NYC starts 'Dusk and Darkness' push with more evening traffic enforcement

New York City's transportation and police officials kicked off their yearly Dusk and Darkness street safety campaign on Thursday, three days before clocks fall back. Daylight saving time ends early Sunday, Nov. 1, and from then on the sun sets an hour earlier, so much of the evening commute will happen in the dark, according to the Department of Transportation.

That shift is why the season is so dangerous. DOT says that in the fall, the hours around sunset become the deadliest of the year for people on foot, because rush-hour traffic suddenly overlaps with poor visibility. "When we turn the clocks back and it gets darker earlier and really coincides with rush hour, there's a spike in pedestrian crashes," DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn told NY1.

What the city is doing

• More evening enforcement: since mid-October, the NYPD has added officers on the late-afternoon and evening shift, on highways and local streets, targeting drivers who speed, disobey signals, fail to yield to pedestrians or drive distracted, DOT said. Traffic enforcement agents are also focusing on double-parked cars and vehicles blocking crosswalks, bike lanes and bus lanes, which cut sight lines.
• Warnings at dusk: messages for drivers and pedestrians will run on thousands of LinkNYC kiosks during dusk hours, which the city expects to reach about 3.3 million impressions, and on electronic billboards in Staten Island Ferry terminals, along with posts on Instagram, X and Facebook.
• Street teams: DOT and NYPD Vision Zero teams handed out tip flyers at busy locations in all five boroughs on Thursday.
• Taxi and fleet drivers: the Taxi and Limousine Commission will remind licensed drivers about darker commutes at its facilities and in classes, and the city's fleet agency says it is using telematics, pedestrian alerts and intelligent speed assistance on city vehicles.

NYPD Chief of Transportation Olufunmilola Obe said the department is trying to prevent collisions "before they happen" as days grow shorter. Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels noted that many students will be heading home from after-school activities after dark once the clocks change.

Tips for the darker evenings

Officials are asking drivers to keep to the 25 mph citywide speed limit, take more time to look for people crossing, and use caution when turning at intersections. "My message to all New Yorkers is simple: slow down," Flynn told NY1. Pedestrians are advised to watch for turning vehicles and to cross at traffic lights and in crosswalks when walking in the dark, NY1 reported.

A safer year so far

The campaign, which began in 2016, comes during what the city calls one of its safest years on record. DOT says traffic deaths so far in 2026 are among the fewest in the city's 116 years of recorded history, with both overall traffic deaths and fatal pedestrian crashes down from the same period last year. Under its Vision Zero Reimagined plan released last month, the city also plans a connected streetlight network that detects outages automatically and speeds repairs, including under elevated trains and highways.

Sunday is also marathon day, so expect road closures across the city; see our guide to Sunday's marathon closures. For what the time change means for sunset, see our earlier explainer.