You know the annual cliche: The old year, all swaddled in torn garments and looking like he’s about to expire exits the stage as the new year, taking the form of a baby so fresh that he or she is still in swaddling clothes, enters all filled with optimism and hope.

Well, our national treasure editorial cartoonist Bill Roundy has put the ultimate spin on this metaphor of rebirth (and one that’s awfully, tragically, horrifically fitting, given the fatal crash that killed a 4-year-old in Bensonhurst on Monday and a crash on Jan. 2 that seriously injured another 4-year-old near Prospect Park): the little New Year Baby never had a chance.

The tragedy is that we’ve asked Mayor de Blasio several times whether he would consider restricting cars on some roadways — especially those in front of schools and especially when kids are arriving or leaving, but he simply does not want to be bothered with this line of inquiry. And Schools Chancellor Carranza has never brought it up with him, he told us about a year ago.

All of Bill Roundy’s cartoons are archived here.