Peds v Cars: SPLIT from Person Hit By Vehicle Monday

Transportation Alternatives just released a study on speeding in NYC

http://transalt.org/files/newsroom/reports/2009/terminal_velocity.pdf


Speeder City

T.A. surveyed over 15,000 vehicles at 13 locations throughout the five boroughs.
Thirty-nine percent of New York City drivers speed, according to a new T.A. study, Terminal Velocity: NYC's Speeding Epidemic (PDF).

Although any cyclist, pedestrian or person with a pair of eyes could have assumed as much, this survey of over 15,000 vehicles at 13 locations throughout the five boroughs provides the data to back up that long anecdotal estimation.

The study found: on East Houston Street, 70% of drivers sped through a school zone; on Rogers Avenue in Brooklyn, 88% answered the call of a lead foot; and on Hylan Boulevard, Staten Island's most dangerous road, cars were often clocked traveling more than 60 miles per hour.

Each of these horrifying figures not only shows the below-bar quality of the NYPD's speeding enforcement programs, but also indicates that speeding drivers put hundreds of thousands of pedestrians, cyclists and drivers at risk every day.

Speeding contributes to roughly 2,400 motor vehicle crashes in New York City each year--nearly three times the number attributed to drunk driving. The likelihood of a crash resulting in a pedestrian fatality increases exponentially with speed; a pedestrian struck at 40 mph has only a 30% chance of survival.

Something must be done to address NYC's speeding epidemic. To this end, T.A. is calling on the City to design streets for lower speeds, for the NYPD to collect data that documents the frequency of speeding, and for the State Legislature to pave the way for speeding enforcement cameras in NYC.

arock75 wrote: Just wanted to say that I have been driving around a lot in the past week and usually go from my home in Windsor Terrace to the Brooklyn Bridge usually avoiding the BQE and taking 4th Ave 6th Ave or PPW and I have had at least 5 encounters with pedestrians in Park Slope either dangerously and consciously defying traffic signals placing them in danger of being hit by vehicles or people oblivious while either on cell phones or just lost in their own careless world. Selfish, reckless, careless - people like this are all over, behind the wheel and walking the streets. If you are walking or driving do your best to watch out for these imbeciles and pray their stupidity does not impact you.

I will pray that your God-given right to tool around in your car is not impacted by pedestrian imbeciles and their stupidity. In the meantime, why not stick to the BQE, (or---shudder--the F Train)?

what is the alternative to transportation? staying home?

It looks like we are not the only people looking for more information on this accident. I happened to have my camera and just saw this sign taped to the pole on 8th and Carroll.

If you cant read it, it says that Square One Investigations is looking for witnesses to the accident 718-837-4410
http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=e7780386e9&view=att&th=11f964980eadc688&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=file0&zw" alt="" />

Good piece in Gotham Gazette today:
Punishing Drivers Who Kill
by Graham T. Beck
http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/transportation/20090326/16/2871

Subject: Driving in Brooklyn

As a New York City driver, the law does put the onus on drivers to not hit things. That being said, common sense does dictate that at times, it is the pedestrians fault, since the universe has laws that we are all subject to follow (unlike the beliefs of some on this board).

Now, I know that many drivers speed in New York and fail to use common sense. Unfortunately, even those of us who want to drive the speed limit are forced to driver faster than we normally would, lest we get hit (my rule of thumb is to drive as close to the speed limit as possible without causing unsafe driving conditions for those around me). And, like it or not, the three groups have to coexist. Which means all groups have to take responsibility to use common sense to be safe.

If drivers use common sense to drive the speed limit, then, conditions being optimal, you have to consider that there are limits to how fast a car can stop (http://www.jmu.edu/safetyplan/vehicle/generaldriver/stoppingdistance.shtml). It is then up to pedestrians (using the idea that we are all responsible for each other) to take that into account when making decisions about whether to cross or not. They also have to consider visibility - crossing in the middle of an optimal day at a crosswalk, you can assume maximum visibility. Any other time, and you may be dressed in "New York Camouflage" (black coats against darkened store fronts or on dark streets make you nearly invisible until headlights hit you - trust me, I know from experience on both sides of the equation). So, plan for maximum visibility - don't step out from in-between cars (it's illegal, and if you are asking me to follow the law as a driver, please respect the law yourself on at least this one, because you really become hard to see if you are between cars), and wait for the signal (if there is traffic - if not, cross away - who am I to care if there is no traffic there?). Also, pay attention!!!!

Bikers - you are considered motor vehicle traffic in most respects, which mean you have to follow all traffic signals (stop signs, stop lights, etc), give pedestrians the right of way, must not stop in crosswalks, and signal using hand signals (don't know them - check them out at http://www.bikemiamivalley.org/safety1.htm). Don't expect that you have immediate right away to cross streams of traffic - you must signal to enter other lanes just as cars are required to do so when they switch lanes (almost hit a biker because of this - just cut out in front of my bumper, no signal, no glance).

I don't want to comment on this drivers fault, but it is completely unreasonable to expect that a driver who is following all points of the law is still responsible for hitting a pedestrian who stepped out against a light (or materialized from a quantum leap, or stepped out from in-between cars) if the car is not given an appropriate distance to stop, unlike some beliefs on this topic from previous posts. If you see a car 10 feet away that you think is going faster than 10 mph, they will hit you if you step in front of it - physics prevails on this one. Drivers are not God - they do not have the power to change the laws of the universe. Please do not expect them to be able to.

~a driver who attempts to drive safely in a city of crazy drivers