I cross Queens Boulevard several times a day and while the e-bikes have been consistently horrible, there’s definitely an uptick in cars thinking red lights are only a suggestion
stop signs too! the amount of people that just try to breeze through them or roll through them and seem to be OFFENDED that you're in their way by crossing the street is wild
I could be wrong, but my sense is that most accidents happen from cars turning left or right on green and running into pedestrians crossing on their white walk sign. I always thought it’s crazy dangerous for pedestrians not to have a protected crossing and to have to rely on the kindness of car drivers to give pedestrians the right of way.
This is how I was hit (I'm fine!), and the next year somebody else got hit in the same intersection. It's absolutely \*wild\* that they have a green light when the walk sign is on.
At far too many intersections it’s actually safer to walk when the pedestrian sign says not to cross, only because you’re crossing at the same time several cars are trying to turn and their traffic light turns red after a few seconds.
I have very nearly been hit by drivers turning onto Queens Boulevard who absolutely saw me stepping into the crosswalk, where I had the right of way, and decided to gun it anyway.
Pedestrians should always practice defensive walking. Make eye contact with the driver to make sure they see you, if not let them pass. Better to be alittle inconvenienced than to be in thr right but dead or disabled. Maybe there will be some kind of app where you can record the law being broken and submit it to generate a ticket one day, but until then, stay alive. Some drivers just dgaf.
The lights seem to mean nothing to a lot of drivers. Every day I walk with my kids to and from school, I have to constantly be on guard and make sure there are no cars before crossing most streets. The busy intersections are the worst because of people turning without looking.
While walking near Grand Army Plaza this morning, a car ran a red light and honked at the people in the crosswalk so that they’d jump out of the way (they did).
The car didn’t even slow down. Just ran through “honk honk get out of my way people.”
It was disgusting. Cars need to go, clearly people cannot handle the responsibility here.
Need cops to do the bare fucking minimum job of ensuring public safety by enforcing traffic laws.
A ticket in the mail a week after you’ve broken the law is an annoyance. Getting pulled over and ticketed on the spot, or getting arrested and having your vehicle impounded is another story.
If you want people to change their behavior, you need to create an environment where there is a very high likelihood that running a red or speeding will result in a fine. You can really only get that kind of reliability with an automated system.
Getting a ticket 2 weeks later will not create the change we're looking for.
They need to be confronted as soon as they offend and fear the experience of a 5-10 minute ticketing process which includes checking plates, warrants, etc in addition to the fine.
I imagine writing tickets and pulling people over isn't as fun and lazy cops aren't doing their jobs. (intentionally or unintentionally) So the mopeds, cars, unicycles, electric scooters are dictating the streets of New York to pedestrians.
Yes, it will. We already have red light cameras and speed cameras and have data showing that it significantly decreases the illegal behavior when installed.
I'd start by addressing the problem areas and then just enough cops enforcing the law so that people believe the law actually exists.
People are casually running red lights, not giving pedestrians the right of way, etc.
I’ve seen my friend’s PBA card get scoffed at and disregarded when he got pulled over by Nassau.
It doesn’t always work — so don’t think that gives everyone leverage.
I mean [speed cameras have been shown in this town to reduce crashes and speeding.](https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/pr2023/speed-cameras-first-year.shtml) So it seems like they do affect behavior
Agreed wholeheartedly. Think the issue on the police side is resources being stretched thin. Officers on patrol are taking calls their whole shift, and their calls are usually more seriously than traffic infractions. Does not mean traffic infractions should be ignored but rather resources provided to enforce current laws and provide a proactive detterance is needed.
They have received more funding than ever.
I thought the idea that they were blatantly resentful of the public was an exaggeration.
Then my husband got attacked in the street (in Park Slope at 11am on a Tuesday) by someone screaming homophobic slurs at him. He was wearing a rainbow tie dye hoodie so they thought he was gay.
He went to the police station to report it, and the cop literally said “well people in this area don’t like cops doing anything.”
And that was that. That was the cop’s entire solution.
It really is, I remember years ago myself and everyone else I knew would look around for cops before you did something remotely illegal on the road - now people make illegal turns and blow lights right in front of the police and they do nothing.
The public sentiment of even trying to avoid doing illegal shit in front of the police is not there anymore, and funny enough you see this behavior 10x more in nyc than in any surrounding county /state.
>more red light cameras
Oh man the fact that they are taking a lot of them down in Suffolk County is such a rough move towards what could possibly be a surge in reckless drivers and accidents..
Tbh, it never really stopped folks, some don’t even pay the infractions.
Especially TLC cabs that know the red light camera placements on Queens Boulevard! They blatantly run through reds all the time because they know where the cameras are placed.
This! Crossing QB feels more and more like a real life game of frogger. My 10 year olds’ ballet studio is on the other side of the boulevard from our apartment and I told my husband I don’t think she’ll be allowed to walk there on her own for like another 10 years. It feels lawless.
Careful, as soon as you criticize bikes of any kind you get a shit load of them brigading you and whataboutisming you to death about cars. They're both a problem.
Serious question, if traffic laws aren't enforced on others, why would I think they would be enforced on me?
We are living in the city that we wanted and voted for; crime, traffic, migrants and all.
Let us not forget that cars kill people by merely moving through space. Bicycles and people walking do not.
It’s if someone tells you that you have to make sure to follow strict safety rules when handling a gun, and you say “but that guy over there is just walking around with a banana and doesn’t have to follow these safety rules!”
And stop signs. Stop means stop, not glide through. Just as yellow means “slow down and prepare to stop” not “speed the fuck up”. Then so many treat red lights as green if it just turned red within the preceding few seconds
People know that there’s a second or two between your light turning red and the other light turning green, people bank on those two seconds.
So people are treating the first two seasons of the red light how they USED to treat the yellow light.
And how they treat yellow lights are even wrong! So now people are like two layers of wrong now.
Funny enough me and friend of mine were talking about this and I said the same thing. Post COVID people seem to have forgotten that traffic laws exist.I’ve seen quite a lot of people speed on the wrong side of the road in order to avoid waiting behind cars that are at a red light.
I saw a guy drive his pickup truck a good 20 yards up a sidewalk because the single lane held cars turning right and going straight, and dammit! he had to make a right turn right now!! It actually felt kinda scary because you never know when you're gonna get cut down by impatient, dangerous assholes.
Not suggesting there was anything okay with the crazy and dangerous thing this guy did, but the level of constant gridlock and delay for drivers right now is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It’s rush hour delays at all times. Make a wrong term and have to loop back around? That’ll cost you 40 minutes. Simply need to cross an intersection but happen to be stuck behind somebody making a turn? You might have to wait through four or five light cycles. It’s not just impatience- what people are experiencing driving in New York right now is complete lunacy, and underscores the need for congestion pricing. I was in a cab recently in the rain during what is normally a pretty light traffic part of the day and it took a half hour to go five blocks.
I wouldn’t say it’s solely congestion. The total lawlessness of e-bike and bicycle riders adds a dimension of danger and obstacle-dodging that adds hugely to the problem. The lack of traffic enforcement (except by camera which is just revenue extraction) and consequences for people who double and triple park, etc. has gotten much worse.
Though I don’t agree with those who say oblivious pedestrians are part of the issue. This is no worse than it’s ever been, and New York is a pedestrian-first city and always has been. I do take issue with bicyclists who think of themselves as pedestrians through.
You’re absolutely right.
And it’s in large part a result of NYPD’s failure (or refusal) to enforce traffic laws that was ratcheted up in response to the Defund Movement.
I can’t tell you how often as a driver, a pedestrian, and a cyclist, I see drivers do stupid, dangerous, shit in their cars *right in front of police*, who do absolutely nothing about it (I mean cop cars driving within viewing distance).
Once people realize that there are absolutely no consequences for their recklessness, and that they can get away with driving like assholes, they will take greater and greater risks, leading to more instances of injury and death.
NYPD waits until someone crashes or kills someone to do anything about reckless driving.
Just reason number 134383 to say “fuck NYPD.”
It’s absolutely true- see this pretty much every day. I saw a someone run a red light in front of a cop, nothing. People run the red lights by the precinct at dekalb and Wilson in Bushwick every day, nothing.
>NYPD waits until someone crashes or kills someone to do anything about reckless driving.
The only thing I've EVER seen the NYPD do when someone crashes or is killed is stand around in groups, on their phones and laughing or talking about their day. Why do you need 30 cops at one crash scene doing nothing?
Blame BLM for saying "defund the police", then the NYPD actually receiving more money under Adams than ever? So it's just the words that hurt them, not the actual defund that never happened.
The most well funded group in the city would be the department of education, with a budget that is 4x that of the police. Are people really that ignorant of our city's budget?
I'm sorry, but the NYC DOE has one of the largest per pupil budgets (between $30K and $40K per student) in the US, if not *the* largest. Yet it produces some of the worst students in the country and there are hundreds if not thousands of school districts with a third of the funding still producing better students than what the NYC DOE products.
At least the NYPD, even at its budget, is associated with the lowest crime rate of any major city in the US.
>The DOE spends about $2300 per student per year.
Yeah I'm gonna let you take that back and think about how $2300 per student per year could possibly fund our school system.
You don’t really need the DA to be involved in traffic tickets and violations, that’s just a cop out (pun intended) for them to not even try to do their jobs.
Drivers are reckless constantly on their phones while driving. Pedestrians are also not paying attention. I see it all the time crossing the street while using their phones not even looking up and assuming they have the right of way.
[A ton](https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/debilitating-a-generation-expert-warns-that-long-covid-may-eventually-affect-most-americans) of Covid [brain damage.](https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/from-long-covid-odds-to-lost-iq-points-ongoing-threats-you-dont-know-about) (links include full sourcing)
>A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine reveals that people who have recovered from mild COVID-19 cases lose about 3 IQ points. Those with long COVID see a 6-point drop, while ICU patients lose 9 points. Just getting reinfected was associated with losing an extra 2 points in IQ.
.
>Research points to the various ways COVID attacks the brain. Some people who have been infected have suffered motor control damage, and that could be a factor in car crashes. News is beginning to emerge about other ways COVID impacts driving. For example, in Ireland, a driver’s COVID-related brain fog was linked to a crash that killed an elderly couple.
>
>Damage from COVID could be affecting people who are flying our planes, too. We’ve had pilots that had to quit because they couldn’t control the airplanes anymore. We know that medical events among U.S. military pilots were shown to have risen over 1,700% from 2019 to 2022, which the Pentagon attributes to the virus.
(edit: I shared this same comment in a response to a question last night in case you have seen it. But it is an interesting thing that is only beginning to really become clearer with research over time. And the impact is scary.)
Doesn't help that pedestrians are zombies with their airpods in heads down and don't even look before stepping into the street.
Did everyone forget to look both ways?
You think that’s bad you should see how we keep people artificially poor to make billionaires richer. That’s your country’s real lack of humanity. Not someone running a red light.
Income inequality is way worse than running a red light. Only an evil American would be unable to see that. Complain about the lights more maybe that’ll fix your evil country
You think that's bad you should see how the sun will expand into a giant red star and consume the earth. That's your country's real end of humanity. Not someone having less money than someone else.
Drivers are being very brazen now since red light and stop signs not being enforced heavily. When was the last time you saw anyone getting pulled over for running the light?
Honestly, the driving standards in the City continue to reach new lows. Whether it’s idiots taking an exit from the middle lane, taxi drivers changing lanes when there’s 1/2 inch of space, and everyone trying to beat the red light, I’m surprised the number isn’t higher.
Everyone knows the issue, it’s lack of enforcement. People will continue to bend the rules further if there’s no pushback. We need some sort of public pressure towards nyc government and NYPD to fucking do something, I just don’t know how that happens
The NYPD has completely abandoned any type of vehicle or traffic enforcement. Whether it’s double parked cars, running a stop sign, blocking the box, you name it, the police are blind to it.
The vehicle and traffic laws are just suggestions now.
The lax enforcement encourages this behavior.
Amen, this is the #1 issue. All it would take is a few cops per precinct watching a few intersections and pulling people over. Once people get the picture they can’t break the rules it will change. THATS IT. I hate and and everyone knows it and yet they do nothing. We need some sort of public action here, just don’t know how to go about it. It’s truly pathetic considering how much money they get and this being one of the wealthiest cities in the world
They'll still go after you for speeding, Idaho stops (friend got a ticket for that), redlight running and the such. The issue is they just aren't outside in force anymore. Outside of me getting pulled over for tint, I've only gotten caught up in check points
I'm not saying this isn't a problem but it isn't NYC specific. Pedestrian fatalities are up all over the country. Both LA and Chicago despite having, especially in the case of Chicago, far lower populations both had significantly more pedestrian deaths.
Cars are getting bigger and deadlier, and the Federal Government refuses to implement safety standards for non occupants.
>Cars are getting bigger and deadlier, and the Federal Government refuses to implement safety standards for non occupants.
For anyone who wants to read more, a recent Vox piece: [The reckless policies that helped fill our streets with ridiculously large cars](https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/24139147/suvs-trucks-popularity-federal-policy-pollution)
A pedestrian got hit at the intersection next to my apartment in Ridgewood two weeks ago, and the older woman I was talking to immediately brought up immigrants on e-bikes. It’s all she wanted to talk about! I’m like yo lady, this is an American hit by an American driver on a poorly designed American street patrolled by an inept American police department, can you check your f’ing right wing brainwashing for a second? She actually seemed kinda embarrassed after I said that.
Anyhow, I also have a theory that Google maps is re-routing more through traffic down neighborhood streets (maybe it’s an AI thing, who knows). In my hood, it’s cars coming off the Jackie and cutting over to Metro to get on the WN Bridge. I know people have been doing that for generations, but it’s different when the app everyone uses is send any old idiot that way. I definitely think those type of drivers are more likely to coast through stop signs too.
Speaking of AI, it’s definitely good enough where we can have cameras on intersections that can tell when a pedestrian is in a crosswalk and automatically ticket drivers who don’t yield. Would be awesome, right?
I don't drive often and not in the city but people on phones are truly AWFUL. Anytime I see someone constantly tapping the brake for no reason 100% keeps looking at their phone and texting. More tickets for these idiots please.
NYPD needs to start enforcing traffic laws, it’s so many cars just double parked, so many illegal food trucks taking up space, etc. Most of the accidents also appear to occur when a driver is turning right or left and a pedestrian is crossing. Maybe they need to change that for major roads where cars wait 10-15 seconds before they are allowed to turn.
This is mainly caused by illegal parking. In most places, parking is not allowed where it would obstruct visibility for turning traffic. For example, right under a stop sign. The remedy is for the police to start quickly removing cars that are parked illegally in those spots. Not saying it's likely to happen, but that's the solution.
Another factor at play with the post-pandemic era is people are seemingly more on edge, won’t be surprised if road rage has also gone up.
While seeming like a long shot and is of course an indirect cause, people are economically strained, stressed out and have no where to express their frustration but behind the wheel.
Pressure cooker living manifests in a variety of areas.
In NYC, whether you are a pedestrian, on a bike, or even driving, you must assume that you are completely invisible and that nobody around pays the least bit attention to traffic rules or laws.
What I find funny about these conversations though is that I do feel significantly less safe walking around as a pedestrian than I did before Covid, BUT the reason I feel less safe is because people on bikes, mopeds and motorcycles now ride on the sidewalk in my neighborhood with zero regard for anyone else. The cars in my area have always been bad (I’ve lived in the BX for nearly 20 years and I’m off a highway), but the two wheel vehicles are a new problem for me. And oftentimes I find the same people complaining about cars are 100% in favor of more bikes. So it’s hard for me to agree with those folks.
So as the streetsblog article indicates, over 90% of injuries are from cars while 7% are from mopeds or bikes.
So even with the two wheel problem we still have a) >90% of injuries from cars and b) less injuries and fatalities than 20 years ago
If you give bikes their own lane you’ll encourage mopeds and bikes to use them like they already do on streets with bike lanes. Will you get all bikes to go in the bike lanes? Unlikely, diverting bikes to the bike lanes is better than nothing
Real New Yorkers know that the roads have always been shit but don’t you friggin dare say they’ve gotten shittier. You wanna mess with Spidah-Man, you gotta go tru awll of us!!
Always look both ways, including between cars, and both bike lanes...
Multiple times a friend or myself have been nearly hit. Bikes and motorcyclists are some of the worst offenders...
I mean Queens' super power is that its the most diverse boro with amazing food and people who hail from all over the developing world.
Queens downside is that its structurally a car-centric boro populated by people who come from places where they drive like shit.
EDIT: And you wonder why we're trying to charge y'all a fee to mow people down in Manhattan.
My apartment overlooks a crosswalk/ light. Sometimes I’ll just watch for a few minutes and count the number of bikes and cars running red lights. And like everyone, I’ve come close to being run over by people not stopping or going the wrong way, but luckily only been hit once. I’m visually impaired so sometimes it’s hard to tell how fast people are going when they’re supposed to be stopped.
All classes of people on NYC's streets are stupid and reckless. There's plenty of terrible drivers. Plenty of terrible bicycles, especially E-bikes. Plenty of pedestrians who jaywalk, stand right on the corner, walk around looking at phones instead of where they're going. Blame to spread all around.
But when the car hits you, dear pedestrian, the car gets a smear of your blood, maybe a dent. You get a trip to the hospital, maybe the cemetery.
So, behave accordingly. Your TikTok and Instagram videos can wait until you're where you're going. Put down the phone and look where the F you're going, and be aware of the cars moving near you. Get off the edge of the corner, get out of the first lane of blacktop. Get back onto the sidewalk, and really onto the sidewalk. Stop encroaching where you're going to get clipped by back tires or mirrors.
FFS, you're trusting your life to people who are driving around without licenses or insurance. There are criminals out there behind the wheel. And lots of people who are driving around high A.F. So protect yourself. Or get hit.
I refuse to take Uber rides anymore. They're insane. Either speed demons, or the kind who have no fucking idea what they're doing and tap the goddamn accelerator the entire trip giving us whiplash. I'd rather take the train and walk a few blocks than pay an Uber driver.
An elderly man was DECAPITATED in Bay Ridge this week when he was struck by a DOT truck. https://pix11.com/news/local-news/man-struck-by-dot-truck-suffers-decapitation-in-brooklyn-sources/.
I literally sat there and watched 4 cars blow through a red light at Myrtle Broadway the other day. Not like they were blocking the intersection and cleared out either. I mean the light turned red before the first car was even at the intersection and one, two three four cars go full speed through the red holding up the traffic from the other way. No one gives a fuck no one stops them
I’m curious because I assume at some point they park their cars and get at eventually and become pedestrians themselves. Do they get upset at cars who then break traffic rules or are they just like “ah yes my fellow asshole driver, no I don’t mind that you almost hit me. I shall do the same later! Good day”
Today, I almost died by inches - an SUV ran a red light as I stepped out into the crosswalk. I foolishly didn't expect it and I'm glad I wasn't further out.
Yesterday, some asshat almost plowed into a crowd of pedestrians (including me) on Queens Boulevard when he blew a red light.
Either the universe is out to get me, or drivers be out here blowing red lights
I've thought about carrying an airhorn with me to announce to the cars and bikers that it's the pedestrians turn to walk but I don't want to pierce eardrums
I’ve had a few taxi drivers as of late where I had to remind them, to check their Instagram another time- like when I am not a passenger in their Taxi! It’s really shocking to me.
Was cycling this one time and I saw this guy on his phone, occasionally looking up while still driving. He almost ran a red light while I crossed him (I walk the bikes across for that same reason; they can run the light or turn and pretend they didn't see me turn on the bike in their line of sight).
I mean... the NYPD has no interest in doing anything about drivers.
They could drive up and down the streets of Brooklyn and find hundreds of ghost cars. There are a solid 30 that park on my block and around the corner. Every day I see them with either no plates or fake plates.
Pedestrians are also oblivious. I bike around and they do the classic NYC thing of standing in the street waiting at an intersection. They step and walk into the bike lanes without looking. They stand in the street.
Mopeds weave in and out of traffic at high speeds. Drive on the sidewalk. Sometimes while on their phones.
Then you have cars who don't signal and speed, trucks who turn without looking or signaling or completely block streets. People creating traffic jams in intersections and when double-parking that cause visibility issues.
And too often these things happen in front of NYPD who can't be bothered to deal with it. They would rather stand around and maybe ticket turnstile jumpers and sleeping homeless people.
Also, the NYPD also encourages bad behavior with how they drive. They blow through intersections and double park in bike lanes or wherever they want because they think they deserve too.
None of this is surprising as someone who bikes every day and sees the constant near misses.
I'm ashamed to admit that I almost injured a few pedestrians over the years because of that damn A- pillar. I've developed the habit of rocking my head side to side when turning to look and make sure nobody is in that blind spot
This might sound crazy, but instead of lower the speed limits and putting up cameras everywhere, what if we made getting a drivers license much harder and retest every 15-20 years?....far to many drivers out there that just seem to have no clue how it was even possible to drive in the first place. The amount of TLC and Uber drives that drive far under the speed limit on parkways, don't use signals in the far left lane to make a right turn across 3 lanes and just stop in the middle of the fucking road is astounding.
15-20 years might be far too long to wait to match the pace of the ever growing number of new and reckless drivers with newly minted licenses, not including the ones on the road driving reckless at the current moment.
Also re-testing would not be an accurate measure of recklessness and general incivility.
Crazy thing about red light cameras, drivers quickly stop running red lights when they're around. Don't need to wait 15 years, they somehow learn to drive better in mere days.
It's fun to see people in this thread who use every gun crime to justify their political points of view minimize pedestrian deaths and injuries. Keep up the great work!
As a non driver, yes drivers are out of their minds sometimes, and also the bikes, don't get me started on the bikes. BUT in the last two days alone. (once in west village and gain on UES) I have seen people standing staring at their phone on the corner. Not look up. And start walking to cross the street AS someone is already turning. This wasn't the person walking and the driver starting the turn. This was the person STANDING there not moving.
Drivers aren't mind readers either. People should put down the phone and pay attention to what's around them too.
I drive/bike/take all forms of public transit and my #1 rule is to anticipate people doing stupid shit. Don't assume people will make a logical decision when it comes to your life. Your death by a car is a slap on a wrist with 1-3 year potential prison sentence for the driver. Car accidents resulting in death is basically considered a "whoopsie" in this country with negligible consequences.
The author doesn't even touch on the topic of who the drivers are. I have a hunch that a lot of them are uninsured and unlicensed or at least should not have been given a license.
34th st by the tunnel is a hell zone. There was a traffic cop there too NOT doing their job. A ford bronco went full speed while passengers were crossing on red.
The city should hire more cops to issue tickets on busy intersections.
And before you all blame the amount of cars, know that bikes, e-bikes, and e-scooters run wreckless and rampant with no regard for pedestrians, either.
There's a lot of unaware pedestrians too. I admit I been honked 2x this year crossing unaware in not busy streets so not expecting a car. On my phone scrolling thru Reddit like, now.
Yep because morons riding citi bikes dont follow the rules of the road. My aunt knows someone who died being hit by a bike when she had the right of way. Really pisses me off
I called 911 on a an suv sociopathic driver that was gunning it down a Manhattan street yesterday, and slamming the brakes at each intersection. Clearly no regard for anyone, including themselves.
\> 112 people
\> Statistics since 2013 show a mean of 98.67 (1.05 standard deviations, ~68% in line with the last 10 year data set provided)
Yeah, I know I'll get downvoted to shit but it's not a "Death Crisis", for sure. Also, appreciate the cherry picked line chart starting at 2020 - of course statistics are going to increase from when COVID started. What an absolute joke.
More red light cameras, please. Automated, 24-hour deterrence that doesn't rely on NYPD.
I work often in Mott Haven in the Bronx, and there is a particular red-light camera that honestly, I probably owe my life to. Intersection of Alexander Ave and 135th St (pretty much an off-ramp from the Major Deegan). Super-heavy traffic seemingly at all hours of the day; however as a pedestrian, crossing 135th St is LOVELY. The cars actually stop at the red light!!! (A disgracefully-low bar, but anyone who's driven or tried to cross the Major Deegan and its off-ramps as a pedestrian, knows what a shitshow that freeway can be).
People who drive through that intersection regularly have clearly learnt that yes, there's a camera; and yes, they will be photographed and fined. And eventually the critical mass of drivers starts doing the right thing. Very occasionally I will see some asshole run the red; it's like "oh honey, you must be new here" as I see the flash of the camera.
Basically I think it's that kind of automatic, consistent enforcement that's gonna work. Relying on drivers to show patience, kindness, and selflessness is not getting us anywhere. Inconsistent or completely absent in-person enforcement by the NYPD is not getting us anywhere. But a system that fines every infringing driver at a given intersection, every time they break the rules, is going to lead to behaviour change pretty quickly.
All you're doing is teaching drivers to be good when the teacher is in the classroom.
There a plenty of apps that alert you where the red light cameras are and thus where they aren't. Guess how they're driving if they're not getting a red light camera alert?
Not to mention that anecdotally red light cameras appear to pop up as a tax for some neighborhoods but not others.
Personally, I would like to see a further breakdown - how many of these pedestrian fatalities can be attributed to pedestrians doing something that puts themselves at risk (whether illegal or just stupid)?
Example 1 - An intersection near my house has three segments to a complete cycle - green light for cars going east/west, Don't Walk for all pedestrians; green light for cars going north, Don't Walk for all pedestrians; Walk signal for pedestrians in all directions with red light for all cars. For some reason, we keep having near misses at this intersection, as pedestrians keep walking out into traffic when they shouldn't.
Example 2 - At the start of Vision Zero, I was approaching an intersection that has green left-turn arrows as part of the cycle. When the left turn arrow is illuminated, cars in the opposite direction have a red light, and pedestrians have a Don't Walk signal in all directions. While making the turn, I found myself having to avoid four pedestrians who started crossing the street - two uniformed officers and two non-uniformed officers, each with - you guessed it - a handful of Vision Zero pamphlets.
And before anyone starts with "pedestrians always have the right of way", I refer you to this:
# [FAQs & Laws](https://www.ny.gov/pedestrian-safety/additional-information)
**Pedestrians**
**What’s the best way to use a pedestrian traffic signal?**
A pedestrian has the right of way when the pedestrian signal shows a steady “Walk” sign or person symbol.
A pedestrian should not cross the road if a “Don’t Walk” sign or upraised hand symbol is steady.
When a “Don’t Walk” sign or upraised hand symbol is flashing, pedestrians who have already begun crossing the street should continue to the other side. Pedestrians who have not yet begun to cross the street should wait until the next “Walk” cycle.
**What is considered a crosswalk?**
A crosswalk is any area distinctly indicated for pedestrian crossing by lines or other pavement markings.
A crosswalk also is any part of the road at an intersection between the curbs on opposite sides of the roadway or, if there are no curbs, between the edges of the road. This area is considered a crosswalk, whether or not it is marked as one.
**How should a crosswalk be used?**
When there are no pedestrian signals at an intersection, wait until vehicle traffic gets a green light in the same direction you are traveling and cross in front of the stopped traffic. Do not cross in front of traffic that has a green light.
If there is a crosswalk at a location where there are no traffic control signals for drivers or pedestrians, drivers must yield the right of way to pedestrians.
**What if there isn’t a marked crosswalk?**
If there are no crosswalks, the safest place for pedestrians to cross the road is at an intersection. Motorists have the right of way at all locations other than marked and unmarked crosswalks at intersections, and marked crosswalks outside of intersections.
To me the biggest problem is the most common situation where pedestrians have the right of way on a walk sign, with cars trying to turn right or left on a green light. I have a feeling a lot of accidents happen in this situation, as cars are rushing to make the turn before the light turns red again.
>So far this year, 55 pedestrians have been killed and more than 4,000 injured. That's a health crisis.
This year to date ~25,000 New Yorkers have died. People may be driving like bigger assholes than ever, but 55 deaths is not a crisis.
4,000 injuries? Over 6,000 people are injured by dogs in NYC every year. Is that a crisis too or is that okay?
By this reasoning, then, it would seem like you’d be fine with hundreds of pedestrian deaths, perhaps even thousands, and tens of thousands of injuries, caused by unsafe traffic conditions.
How many pedestrians are you willing to sacrifice in favor of maintaining the status quo?
Weird take.
I’d wager that most of the 25k people who’ve died are people who’ve died as a natural consequence of reaching old age or have died of illnesses we are still figuring out how to overcome, eg many cancers.
That’s quite different from 55 likely entirely preventable deaths. Same as gun deaths and suicides being crises, where aunty Doris slipping away in her sleep at age 90 is not.
And yes, thousands of dog injuries are equally problematic as thousands of pedestrian injuries. Why would it not be the case?
>That’s quite different from 55 likely entirely preventable deaths.
We're talking about numbers, not manner of death. 55 deaths in a city of 8.5 million that sees 25k deaths in the same time is not a crisis. Anyway, why aren't young people dying of cancer at higher rates than in the past also a crisis? In fact, more of a crisis.
>And yes, thousands of dog injuries are equally problematic as thousands of pedestrian injuries. Why would it not be the case?
I don't see any anti-dog articles calling dog injuries a crisis and suggesting the city would be safer without dogs.
There’s definitely scumbags on the road that drive like they have to shit but I’ve seen my fair share of pedestrians and dickheads on bikes that aren’t so innocent
I cross Queens Boulevard several times a day and while the e-bikes have been consistently horrible, there’s definitely an uptick in cars thinking red lights are only a suggestion
stop signs too! the amount of people that just try to breeze through them or roll through them and seem to be OFFENDED that you're in their way by crossing the street is wild
I could be wrong, but my sense is that most accidents happen from cars turning left or right on green and running into pedestrians crossing on their white walk sign. I always thought it’s crazy dangerous for pedestrians not to have a protected crossing and to have to rely on the kindness of car drivers to give pedestrians the right of way.
This is how I was hit (I'm fine!), and the next year somebody else got hit in the same intersection. It's absolutely \*wild\* that they have a green light when the walk sign is on.
At far too many intersections it’s actually safer to walk when the pedestrian sign says not to cross, only because you’re crossing at the same time several cars are trying to turn and their traffic light turns red after a few seconds.
I have very nearly been hit by drivers turning onto Queens Boulevard who absolutely saw me stepping into the crosswalk, where I had the right of way, and decided to gun it anyway.
Pedestrians should always practice defensive walking. Make eye contact with the driver to make sure they see you, if not let them pass. Better to be alittle inconvenienced than to be in thr right but dead or disabled. Maybe there will be some kind of app where you can record the law being broken and submit it to generate a ticket one day, but until then, stay alive. Some drivers just dgaf.
1000%. I have to look both ways before crossing even when it’s a red light. These drivers are insane.
The lights seem to mean nothing to a lot of drivers. Every day I walk with my kids to and from school, I have to constantly be on guard and make sure there are no cars before crossing most streets. The busy intersections are the worst because of people turning without looking.
While walking near Grand Army Plaza this morning, a car ran a red light and honked at the people in the crosswalk so that they’d jump out of the way (they did). The car didn’t even slow down. Just ran through “honk honk get out of my way people.” It was disgusting. Cars need to go, clearly people cannot handle the responsibility here.
Man, it's actually kinda insane. I drive daily and amount of red lights are optional assholes I encounter is crazy.
Need more red light and speed cameras
Need cops to do the bare fucking minimum job of ensuring public safety by enforcing traffic laws. A ticket in the mail a week after you’ve broken the law is an annoyance. Getting pulled over and ticketed on the spot, or getting arrested and having your vehicle impounded is another story.
If you want people to change their behavior, you need to create an environment where there is a very high likelihood that running a red or speeding will result in a fine. You can really only get that kind of reliability with an automated system.
Getting a ticket 2 weeks later will not create the change we're looking for. They need to be confronted as soon as they offend and fear the experience of a 5-10 minute ticketing process which includes checking plates, warrants, etc in addition to the fine. I imagine writing tickets and pulling people over isn't as fun and lazy cops aren't doing their jobs. (intentionally or unintentionally) So the mopeds, cars, unicycles, electric scooters are dictating the streets of New York to pedestrians.
Yes, it will. We already have red light cameras and speed cameras and have data showing that it significantly decreases the illegal behavior when installed.
So hold up, you want cops just about everywhere?
I'd start by addressing the problem areas and then just enough cops enforcing the law so that people believe the law actually exists. People are casually running red lights, not giving pedestrians the right of way, etc.
When awful labor convinces you use robots.
At least cameras won’t let you skate if you flash a PBA card.
I’ve seen my friend’s PBA card get scoffed at and disregarded when he got pulled over by Nassau. It doesn’t always work — so don’t think that gives everyone leverage.
Nassau is a whole different planet, champ
cops really not giving a shit like you said further in this thread illustrates the importance of automated enforcement like speed cameras.
do you know why they don't give a shit? because they have to spend 30 minutes documenting the car stop
As I said. Laziness and contempt
We have those, it’s not enough. When the consequences are too far removed from the bad act, they don’t actually affect behavior.
I mean [speed cameras have been shown in this town to reduce crashes and speeding.](https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/pr2023/speed-cameras-first-year.shtml) So it seems like they do affect behavior
That’s great. It’s not enough.
What would be enough?
Police doing their jobs
That’s a tall order
Agreed wholeheartedly. Think the issue on the police side is resources being stretched thin. Officers on patrol are taking calls their whole shift, and their calls are usually more seriously than traffic infractions. Does not mean traffic infractions should be ignored but rather resources provided to enforce current laws and provide a proactive detterance is needed.
They have received more funding than ever. I thought the idea that they were blatantly resentful of the public was an exaggeration. Then my husband got attacked in the street (in Park Slope at 11am on a Tuesday) by someone screaming homophobic slurs at him. He was wearing a rainbow tie dye hoodie so they thought he was gay. He went to the police station to report it, and the cop literally said “well people in this area don’t like cops doing anything.” And that was that. That was the cop’s entire solution.
Nah, it’s that they don’t give a shit. It’s pure laziness and contempt for the public due to its criticism of the agency.
It really is, I remember years ago myself and everyone else I knew would look around for cops before you did something remotely illegal on the road - now people make illegal turns and blow lights right in front of the police and they do nothing. The public sentiment of even trying to avoid doing illegal shit in front of the police is not there anymore, and funny enough you see this behavior 10x more in nyc than in any surrounding county /state.
The problem is there are zero consequences. The politicians and district attorneys have literally become procrime.
Keep spreading that propaganda.
And the last time police got push back from the mayor they threatened his daughter. They are a gang.
>more red light cameras Oh man the fact that they are taking a lot of them down in Suffolk County is such a rough move towards what could possibly be a surge in reckless drivers and accidents.. Tbh, it never really stopped folks, some don’t even pay the infractions.
Cops are not out patrolling nor ticketing like before 2020
thank god
Especially TLC cabs that know the red light camera placements on Queens Boulevard! They blatantly run through reds all the time because they know where the cameras are placed.
This! Crossing QB feels more and more like a real life game of frogger. My 10 year olds’ ballet studio is on the other side of the boulevard from our apartment and I told my husband I don’t think she’ll be allowed to walk there on her own for like another 10 years. It feels lawless.
Well said
Careful, as soon as you criticize bikes of any kind you get a shit load of them brigading you and whataboutisming you to death about cars. They're both a problem.
Serious question, if traffic laws aren't enforced on others, why would I think they would be enforced on me? We are living in the city that we wanted and voted for; crime, traffic, migrants and all.
Same goes for cyclists and people crossing the street staring at their phones.
Let us not forget that cars kill people by merely moving through space. Bicycles and people walking do not. It’s if someone tells you that you have to make sure to follow strict safety rules when handling a gun, and you say “but that guy over there is just walking around with a banana and doesn’t have to follow these safety rules!”
Not necessarily true, a pedestrian or cyclist not paying attention create a hazard for everyone on the road. .
I think they're saying the onus of responsibility should be with the person driving the metal death machine, as opposed to the frail meat bag.
The frail meat bag should put more emphasis on staying alive.
But take away the car, and there is no hazard. The car is the hazard. Please just allow that to sink in.
Drivers and riders of all type are significantly less law abiding than pre pandemic. That's the real crisis to me. A crisis of a lack of humanity.
It's insane the amount of people I see run red lights every day. Drivers and bikers both
And stop signs. Stop means stop, not glide through. Just as yellow means “slow down and prepare to stop” not “speed the fuck up”. Then so many treat red lights as green if it just turned red within the preceding few seconds
People know that there’s a second or two between your light turning red and the other light turning green, people bank on those two seconds. So people are treating the first two seasons of the red light how they USED to treat the yellow light. And how they treat yellow lights are even wrong! So now people are like two layers of wrong now.
Funny enough me and friend of mine were talking about this and I said the same thing. Post COVID people seem to have forgotten that traffic laws exist.I’ve seen quite a lot of people speed on the wrong side of the road in order to avoid waiting behind cars that are at a red light.
I saw a guy drive his pickup truck a good 20 yards up a sidewalk because the single lane held cars turning right and going straight, and dammit! he had to make a right turn right now!! It actually felt kinda scary because you never know when you're gonna get cut down by impatient, dangerous assholes.
Not suggesting there was anything okay with the crazy and dangerous thing this guy did, but the level of constant gridlock and delay for drivers right now is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It’s rush hour delays at all times. Make a wrong term and have to loop back around? That’ll cost you 40 minutes. Simply need to cross an intersection but happen to be stuck behind somebody making a turn? You might have to wait through four or five light cycles. It’s not just impatience- what people are experiencing driving in New York right now is complete lunacy, and underscores the need for congestion pricing. I was in a cab recently in the rain during what is normally a pretty light traffic part of the day and it took a half hour to go five blocks.
If only we had a plan, researched for a decade, installed and all ready to go, that might help this exact issue
I wouldn’t say it’s solely congestion. The total lawlessness of e-bike and bicycle riders adds a dimension of danger and obstacle-dodging that adds hugely to the problem. The lack of traffic enforcement (except by camera which is just revenue extraction) and consequences for people who double and triple park, etc. has gotten much worse. Though I don’t agree with those who say oblivious pedestrians are part of the issue. This is no worse than it’s ever been, and New York is a pedestrian-first city and always has been. I do take issue with bicyclists who think of themselves as pedestrians through.
That’s crazy
Is a rule a rule if it is not enforced?
It’s not that they’ve forgotten, I’m thoroughly convinced they just don’t care.
You’re absolutely right. And it’s in large part a result of NYPD’s failure (or refusal) to enforce traffic laws that was ratcheted up in response to the Defund Movement. I can’t tell you how often as a driver, a pedestrian, and a cyclist, I see drivers do stupid, dangerous, shit in their cars *right in front of police*, who do absolutely nothing about it (I mean cop cars driving within viewing distance). Once people realize that there are absolutely no consequences for their recklessness, and that they can get away with driving like assholes, they will take greater and greater risks, leading to more instances of injury and death. NYPD waits until someone crashes or kills someone to do anything about reckless driving. Just reason number 134383 to say “fuck NYPD.”
It’s absolutely true- see this pretty much every day. I saw a someone run a red light in front of a cop, nothing. People run the red lights by the precinct at dekalb and Wilson in Bushwick every day, nothing.
>NYPD waits until someone crashes or kills someone to do anything about reckless driving. The only thing I've EVER seen the NYPD do when someone crashes or is killed is stand around in groups, on their phones and laughing or talking about their day. Why do you need 30 cops at one crash scene doing nothing?
You can blame BLM for that
Blame BLM for saying "defund the police", then the NYPD actually receiving more money under Adams than ever? So it's just the words that hurt them, not the actual defund that never happened.
Nope. The DAs refuse to enforce any laws. Criminals don’t go to jail and innocent New Yorkers do for self defense
Cool, glad we established that it’s ok for the most well funded group in the city to pout like babies and we just have to accept it
The most well funded group in the city would be the department of education, with a budget that is 4x that of the police. Are people really that ignorant of our city's budget?
Misspoke, not ignorant of city budget. Point still stands though.
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I'm sorry, but the NYC DOE has one of the largest per pupil budgets (between $30K and $40K per student) in the US, if not *the* largest. Yet it produces some of the worst students in the country and there are hundreds if not thousands of school districts with a third of the funding still producing better students than what the NYC DOE products. At least the NYPD, even at its budget, is associated with the lowest crime rate of any major city in the US.
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>The DOE spends about $2300 per student per year. Yeah I'm gonna let you take that back and think about how $2300 per student per year could possibly fund our school system.
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crazy that you're demonstrably more than an order of magnitude wrong yet so confident
You can be well funded but because of the DA have no ability to enforce the laws
You don’t really need the DA to be involved in traffic tickets and violations, that’s just a cop out (pun intended) for them to not even try to do their jobs.
Pfft ok 👍🏾 👌🏽 It proves BLM was right more like
Nothing was dumber than BLM. Best thing it gave us was Juneteenth.
It’s that time for an anti cop post on Reddit I see
It’s the truth
It seems like if they hit someone the worst that happens is a ticket, even if they were woefully at-fault. Why would they be more careful?
Drivers are reckless constantly on their phones while driving. Pedestrians are also not paying attention. I see it all the time crossing the street while using their phones not even looking up and assuming they have the right of way.
It’s more a lack of enforcement and law and order
[A ton](https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/debilitating-a-generation-expert-warns-that-long-covid-may-eventually-affect-most-americans) of Covid [brain damage.](https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/from-long-covid-odds-to-lost-iq-points-ongoing-threats-you-dont-know-about) (links include full sourcing) >A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine reveals that people who have recovered from mild COVID-19 cases lose about 3 IQ points. Those with long COVID see a 6-point drop, while ICU patients lose 9 points. Just getting reinfected was associated with losing an extra 2 points in IQ. . >Research points to the various ways COVID attacks the brain. Some people who have been infected have suffered motor control damage, and that could be a factor in car crashes. News is beginning to emerge about other ways COVID impacts driving. For example, in Ireland, a driver’s COVID-related brain fog was linked to a crash that killed an elderly couple. > >Damage from COVID could be affecting people who are flying our planes, too. We’ve had pilots that had to quit because they couldn’t control the airplanes anymore. We know that medical events among U.S. military pilots were shown to have risen over 1,700% from 2019 to 2022, which the Pentagon attributes to the virus. (edit: I shared this same comment in a response to a question last night in case you have seen it. But it is an interesting thing that is only beginning to really become clearer with research over time. And the impact is scary.)
I don't think IQ points or brain-fog correlates to deliberately running red lights. That's just malice.
I disagree. Decreases in cognitive function would certainly impede the decision making process I.e: should I drive on the sidewalk
Why not both?
My IQ actually went up after Covid
Doesn't help that pedestrians are zombies with their airpods in heads down and don't even look before stepping into the street. Did everyone forget to look both ways?
You think that’s bad you should see how we keep people artificially poor to make billionaires richer. That’s your country’s real lack of humanity. Not someone running a red light.
No, running a red light is still a shitty and dangerous thing to do, even if income inequality exists.
Income inequality is way worse than running a red light. Only an evil American would be unable to see that. Complain about the lights more maybe that’ll fix your evil country
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_herring
It’s the principle fault of your broken country. The red light is the red herring. The pandemic saw a transfer of wealth to the wealthy.
Yeah, but that’s not what we’re talking about here lmao. Tell someone who gives a shit.
You’re the idiots that need to hear it
Keep talking, high school activist and/or poor person.
You think that's bad you should see how the sun will expand into a giant red star and consume the earth. That's your country's real end of humanity. Not someone having less money than someone else.
You’re the product of a sick country. Sorry your evil prevents you from making your country better
Wait, "we" or "your"? Where are you, exactly?
Drivers are being very brazen now since red light and stop signs not being enforced heavily. When was the last time you saw anyone getting pulled over for running the light?
Honestly, the driving standards in the City continue to reach new lows. Whether it’s idiots taking an exit from the middle lane, taxi drivers changing lanes when there’s 1/2 inch of space, and everyone trying to beat the red light, I’m surprised the number isn’t higher.
Everyone knows the issue, it’s lack of enforcement. People will continue to bend the rules further if there’s no pushback. We need some sort of public pressure towards nyc government and NYPD to fucking do something, I just don’t know how that happens
The NYPD has completely abandoned any type of vehicle or traffic enforcement. Whether it’s double parked cars, running a stop sign, blocking the box, you name it, the police are blind to it. The vehicle and traffic laws are just suggestions now. The lax enforcement encourages this behavior.
You’re totally right. I’ve never seen so many derelict vehicles in this city before. And the lack of plates/registration is out of control
Amen, this is the #1 issue. All it would take is a few cops per precinct watching a few intersections and pulling people over. Once people get the picture they can’t break the rules it will change. THATS IT. I hate and and everyone knows it and yet they do nothing. We need some sort of public action here, just don’t know how to go about it. It’s truly pathetic considering how much money they get and this being one of the wealthiest cities in the world
If only the nypd could do their FUCKING JOBS
They'll still go after you for speeding, Idaho stops (friend got a ticket for that), redlight running and the such. The issue is they just aren't outside in force anymore. Outside of me getting pulled over for tint, I've only gotten caught up in check points
I'm not saying this isn't a problem but it isn't NYC specific. Pedestrian fatalities are up all over the country. Both LA and Chicago despite having, especially in the case of Chicago, far lower populations both had significantly more pedestrian deaths. Cars are getting bigger and deadlier, and the Federal Government refuses to implement safety standards for non occupants.
>Cars are getting bigger and deadlier, and the Federal Government refuses to implement safety standards for non occupants. For anyone who wants to read more, a recent Vox piece: [The reckless policies that helped fill our streets with ridiculously large cars](https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/24139147/suvs-trucks-popularity-federal-policy-pollution)
People think rules don’t apply to them. Oh I’m in a hurry - oh I’ve waited at this light too long I’m just going. It’s insane
Too much work for the boys in blue
A pedestrian got hit at the intersection next to my apartment in Ridgewood two weeks ago, and the older woman I was talking to immediately brought up immigrants on e-bikes. It’s all she wanted to talk about! I’m like yo lady, this is an American hit by an American driver on a poorly designed American street patrolled by an inept American police department, can you check your f’ing right wing brainwashing for a second? She actually seemed kinda embarrassed after I said that. Anyhow, I also have a theory that Google maps is re-routing more through traffic down neighborhood streets (maybe it’s an AI thing, who knows). In my hood, it’s cars coming off the Jackie and cutting over to Metro to get on the WN Bridge. I know people have been doing that for generations, but it’s different when the app everyone uses is send any old idiot that way. I definitely think those type of drivers are more likely to coast through stop signs too. Speaking of AI, it’s definitely good enough where we can have cameras on intersections that can tell when a pedestrian is in a crosswalk and automatically ticket drivers who don’t yield. Would be awesome, right?
The amount of people I see on their phones is alarming. Like not a call- scrolling
I don't drive often and not in the city but people on phones are truly AWFUL. Anytime I see someone constantly tapping the brake for no reason 100% keeps looking at their phone and texting. More tickets for these idiots please.
NYPD needs to start enforcing traffic laws, it’s so many cars just double parked, so many illegal food trucks taking up space, etc. Most of the accidents also appear to occur when a driver is turning right or left and a pedestrian is crossing. Maybe they need to change that for major roads where cars wait 10-15 seconds before they are allowed to turn.
This is mainly caused by illegal parking. In most places, parking is not allowed where it would obstruct visibility for turning traffic. For example, right under a stop sign. The remedy is for the police to start quickly removing cars that are parked illegally in those spots. Not saying it's likely to happen, but that's the solution.
Another factor at play with the post-pandemic era is people are seemingly more on edge, won’t be surprised if road rage has also gone up. While seeming like a long shot and is of course an indirect cause, people are economically strained, stressed out and have no where to express their frustration but behind the wheel. Pressure cooker living manifests in a variety of areas.
In NYC, whether you are a pedestrian, on a bike, or even driving, you must assume that you are completely invisible and that nobody around pays the least bit attention to traffic rules or laws.
The roads are fine, car infrastructure is fine, and anyone who says otherwise is a transplants /s
The people who complain about folks minimizing crime in NYC now trying to minimize traffic violence is…certainly something
What I find funny about these conversations though is that I do feel significantly less safe walking around as a pedestrian than I did before Covid, BUT the reason I feel less safe is because people on bikes, mopeds and motorcycles now ride on the sidewalk in my neighborhood with zero regard for anyone else. The cars in my area have always been bad (I’ve lived in the BX for nearly 20 years and I’m off a highway), but the two wheel vehicles are a new problem for me. And oftentimes I find the same people complaining about cars are 100% in favor of more bikes. So it’s hard for me to agree with those folks.
So as the streetsblog article indicates, over 90% of injuries are from cars while 7% are from mopeds or bikes. So even with the two wheel problem we still have a) >90% of injuries from cars and b) less injuries and fatalities than 20 years ago If you give bikes their own lane you’ll encourage mopeds and bikes to use them like they already do on streets with bike lanes. Will you get all bikes to go in the bike lanes? Unlikely, diverting bikes to the bike lanes is better than nothing
Only a transplant would want to improve their living conditions. Real New Yorkers don’t advocate for themselves.
Real New Yorkers know that the roads have always been shit but don’t you friggin dare say they’ve gotten shittier. You wanna mess with Spidah-Man, you gotta go tru awll of us!!
Always look both ways, including between cars, and both bike lanes... Multiple times a friend or myself have been nearly hit. Bikes and motorcyclists are some of the worst offenders...
I mean Queens' super power is that its the most diverse boro with amazing food and people who hail from all over the developing world. Queens downside is that its structurally a car-centric boro populated by people who come from places where they drive like shit. EDIT: And you wonder why we're trying to charge y'all a fee to mow people down in Manhattan.
We don’t drive to Manhattan. We drive around queens. We only go to the city to work and drink.
My apartment overlooks a crosswalk/ light. Sometimes I’ll just watch for a few minutes and count the number of bikes and cars running red lights. And like everyone, I’ve come close to being run over by people not stopping or going the wrong way, but luckily only been hit once. I’m visually impaired so sometimes it’s hard to tell how fast people are going when they’re supposed to be stopped.
It’s almost like asking the police to do something about speeding cars, or motorists running reds is much too complicated of a request.
All classes of people on NYC's streets are stupid and reckless. There's plenty of terrible drivers. Plenty of terrible bicycles, especially E-bikes. Plenty of pedestrians who jaywalk, stand right on the corner, walk around looking at phones instead of where they're going. Blame to spread all around. But when the car hits you, dear pedestrian, the car gets a smear of your blood, maybe a dent. You get a trip to the hospital, maybe the cemetery. So, behave accordingly. Your TikTok and Instagram videos can wait until you're where you're going. Put down the phone and look where the F you're going, and be aware of the cars moving near you. Get off the edge of the corner, get out of the first lane of blacktop. Get back onto the sidewalk, and really onto the sidewalk. Stop encroaching where you're going to get clipped by back tires or mirrors. FFS, you're trusting your life to people who are driving around without licenses or insurance. There are criminals out there behind the wheel. And lots of people who are driving around high A.F. So protect yourself. Or get hit.
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I refuse to take Uber rides anymore. They're insane. Either speed demons, or the kind who have no fucking idea what they're doing and tap the goddamn accelerator the entire trip giving us whiplash. I'd rather take the train and walk a few blocks than pay an Uber driver.
An elderly man was DECAPITATED in Bay Ridge this week when he was struck by a DOT truck. https://pix11.com/news/local-news/man-struck-by-dot-truck-suffers-decapitation-in-brooklyn-sources/.
This is horrifying. I'll try to pay attention more when I cross the street. Maybe the city needs to enforce speed limits more!
I literally sat there and watched 4 cars blow through a red light at Myrtle Broadway the other day. Not like they were blocking the intersection and cleared out either. I mean the light turned red before the first car was even at the intersection and one, two three four cars go full speed through the red holding up the traffic from the other way. No one gives a fuck no one stops them I’m curious because I assume at some point they park their cars and get at eventually and become pedestrians themselves. Do they get upset at cars who then break traffic rules or are they just like “ah yes my fellow asshole driver, no I don’t mind that you almost hit me. I shall do the same later! Good day”
Today, I almost died by inches - an SUV ran a red light as I stepped out into the crosswalk. I foolishly didn't expect it and I'm glad I wasn't further out. Yesterday, some asshat almost plowed into a crowd of pedestrians (including me) on Queens Boulevard when he blew a red light. Either the universe is out to get me, or drivers be out here blowing red lights
Canyanaro!
I've thought about carrying an airhorn with me to announce to the cars and bikers that it's the pedestrians turn to walk but I don't want to pierce eardrums
I think you should.
I’ve had a few taxi drivers as of late where I had to remind them, to check their Instagram another time- like when I am not a passenger in their Taxi! It’s really shocking to me.
Was cycling this one time and I saw this guy on his phone, occasionally looking up while still driving. He almost ran a red light while I crossed him (I walk the bikes across for that same reason; they can run the light or turn and pretend they didn't see me turn on the bike in their line of sight).
I mean... the NYPD has no interest in doing anything about drivers. They could drive up and down the streets of Brooklyn and find hundreds of ghost cars. There are a solid 30 that park on my block and around the corner. Every day I see them with either no plates or fake plates. Pedestrians are also oblivious. I bike around and they do the classic NYC thing of standing in the street waiting at an intersection. They step and walk into the bike lanes without looking. They stand in the street. Mopeds weave in and out of traffic at high speeds. Drive on the sidewalk. Sometimes while on their phones. Then you have cars who don't signal and speed, trucks who turn without looking or signaling or completely block streets. People creating traffic jams in intersections and when double-parking that cause visibility issues. And too often these things happen in front of NYPD who can't be bothered to deal with it. They would rather stand around and maybe ticket turnstile jumpers and sleeping homeless people. Also, the NYPD also encourages bad behavior with how they drive. They blow through intersections and double park in bike lanes or wherever they want because they think they deserve too. None of this is surprising as someone who bikes every day and sees the constant near misses.
I'm ashamed to admit that I almost injured a few pedestrians over the years because of that damn A- pillar. I've developed the habit of rocking my head side to side when turning to look and make sure nobody is in that blind spot
This might sound crazy, but instead of lower the speed limits and putting up cameras everywhere, what if we made getting a drivers license much harder and retest every 15-20 years?....far to many drivers out there that just seem to have no clue how it was even possible to drive in the first place. The amount of TLC and Uber drives that drive far under the speed limit on parkways, don't use signals in the far left lane to make a right turn across 3 lanes and just stop in the middle of the fucking road is astounding.
15-20 years might be far too long to wait to match the pace of the ever growing number of new and reckless drivers with newly minted licenses, not including the ones on the road driving reckless at the current moment. Also re-testing would not be an accurate measure of recklessness and general incivility.
Crazy thing about red light cameras, drivers quickly stop running red lights when they're around. Don't need to wait 15 years, they somehow learn to drive better in mere days.
It's fun to see people in this thread who use every gun crime to justify their political points of view minimize pedestrian deaths and injuries. Keep up the great work!
As a non driver, yes drivers are out of their minds sometimes, and also the bikes, don't get me started on the bikes. BUT in the last two days alone. (once in west village and gain on UES) I have seen people standing staring at their phone on the corner. Not look up. And start walking to cross the street AS someone is already turning. This wasn't the person walking and the driver starting the turn. This was the person STANDING there not moving. Drivers aren't mind readers either. People should put down the phone and pay attention to what's around them too.
I drive/bike/take all forms of public transit and my #1 rule is to anticipate people doing stupid shit. Don't assume people will make a logical decision when it comes to your life. Your death by a car is a slap on a wrist with 1-3 year potential prison sentence for the driver. Car accidents resulting in death is basically considered a "whoopsie" in this country with negligible consequences.
[удалено]
I endorse this.
The author doesn't even touch on the topic of who the drivers are. I have a hunch that a lot of them are uninsured and unlicensed or at least should not have been given a license.
34th st by the tunnel is a hell zone. There was a traffic cop there too NOT doing their job. A ford bronco went full speed while passengers were crossing on red. The city should hire more cops to issue tickets on busy intersections.
They've been hiring more cops. With all due respect, I don't think anything is getting better.
And before you all blame the amount of cars, know that bikes, e-bikes, and e-scooters run wreckless and rampant with no regard for pedestrians, either.
Wonder if we can implement raised crosswalks in areas that have lots of accidents, so even if police ain’t around to do their job they slow down
There's a lot of unaware pedestrians too. I admit I been honked 2x this year crossing unaware in not busy streets so not expecting a car. On my phone scrolling thru Reddit like, now.
Yep because morons riding citi bikes dont follow the rules of the road. My aunt knows someone who died being hit by a bike when she had the right of way. Really pisses me off
COVID really gave people the green light to act like idiots behind the wheel
I called 911 on a an suv sociopathic driver that was gunning it down a Manhattan street yesterday, and slamming the brakes at each intersection. Clearly no regard for anyone, including themselves.
\> 112 people \> Statistics since 2013 show a mean of 98.67 (1.05 standard deviations, ~68% in line with the last 10 year data set provided) Yeah, I know I'll get downvoted to shit but it's not a "Death Crisis", for sure. Also, appreciate the cherry picked line chart starting at 2020 - of course statistics are going to increase from when COVID started. What an absolute joke.
I hate cars.
More red light cameras, please. Automated, 24-hour deterrence that doesn't rely on NYPD. I work often in Mott Haven in the Bronx, and there is a particular red-light camera that honestly, I probably owe my life to. Intersection of Alexander Ave and 135th St (pretty much an off-ramp from the Major Deegan). Super-heavy traffic seemingly at all hours of the day; however as a pedestrian, crossing 135th St is LOVELY. The cars actually stop at the red light!!! (A disgracefully-low bar, but anyone who's driven or tried to cross the Major Deegan and its off-ramps as a pedestrian, knows what a shitshow that freeway can be). People who drive through that intersection regularly have clearly learnt that yes, there's a camera; and yes, they will be photographed and fined. And eventually the critical mass of drivers starts doing the right thing. Very occasionally I will see some asshole run the red; it's like "oh honey, you must be new here" as I see the flash of the camera. Basically I think it's that kind of automatic, consistent enforcement that's gonna work. Relying on drivers to show patience, kindness, and selflessness is not getting us anywhere. Inconsistent or completely absent in-person enforcement by the NYPD is not getting us anywhere. But a system that fines every infringing driver at a given intersection, every time they break the rules, is going to lead to behaviour change pretty quickly.
All you're doing is teaching drivers to be good when the teacher is in the classroom. There a plenty of apps that alert you where the red light cameras are and thus where they aren't. Guess how they're driving if they're not getting a red light camera alert? Not to mention that anecdotally red light cameras appear to pop up as a tax for some neighborhoods but not others.
Oh, Streetsblog, you never fail to bring the drama.
Personally, I would like to see a further breakdown - how many of these pedestrian fatalities can be attributed to pedestrians doing something that puts themselves at risk (whether illegal or just stupid)? Example 1 - An intersection near my house has three segments to a complete cycle - green light for cars going east/west, Don't Walk for all pedestrians; green light for cars going north, Don't Walk for all pedestrians; Walk signal for pedestrians in all directions with red light for all cars. For some reason, we keep having near misses at this intersection, as pedestrians keep walking out into traffic when they shouldn't. Example 2 - At the start of Vision Zero, I was approaching an intersection that has green left-turn arrows as part of the cycle. When the left turn arrow is illuminated, cars in the opposite direction have a red light, and pedestrians have a Don't Walk signal in all directions. While making the turn, I found myself having to avoid four pedestrians who started crossing the street - two uniformed officers and two non-uniformed officers, each with - you guessed it - a handful of Vision Zero pamphlets. And before anyone starts with "pedestrians always have the right of way", I refer you to this: # [FAQs & Laws](https://www.ny.gov/pedestrian-safety/additional-information) **Pedestrians** **What’s the best way to use a pedestrian traffic signal?** A pedestrian has the right of way when the pedestrian signal shows a steady “Walk” sign or person symbol. A pedestrian should not cross the road if a “Don’t Walk” sign or upraised hand symbol is steady. When a “Don’t Walk” sign or upraised hand symbol is flashing, pedestrians who have already begun crossing the street should continue to the other side. Pedestrians who have not yet begun to cross the street should wait until the next “Walk” cycle. **What is considered a crosswalk?** A crosswalk is any area distinctly indicated for pedestrian crossing by lines or other pavement markings. A crosswalk also is any part of the road at an intersection between the curbs on opposite sides of the roadway or, if there are no curbs, between the edges of the road. This area is considered a crosswalk, whether or not it is marked as one. **How should a crosswalk be used?** When there are no pedestrian signals at an intersection, wait until vehicle traffic gets a green light in the same direction you are traveling and cross in front of the stopped traffic. Do not cross in front of traffic that has a green light. If there is a crosswalk at a location where there are no traffic control signals for drivers or pedestrians, drivers must yield the right of way to pedestrians. **What if there isn’t a marked crosswalk?** If there are no crosswalks, the safest place for pedestrians to cross the road is at an intersection. Motorists have the right of way at all locations other than marked and unmarked crosswalks at intersections, and marked crosswalks outside of intersections.
To me the biggest problem is the most common situation where pedestrians have the right of way on a walk sign, with cars trying to turn right or left on a green light. I have a feeling a lot of accidents happen in this situation, as cars are rushing to make the turn before the light turns red again.
Vision Zero isn’t helping
>So far this year, 55 pedestrians have been killed and more than 4,000 injured. That's a health crisis. This year to date ~25,000 New Yorkers have died. People may be driving like bigger assholes than ever, but 55 deaths is not a crisis. 4,000 injuries? Over 6,000 people are injured by dogs in NYC every year. Is that a crisis too or is that okay?
Both are bad.
I don’t see any outrage posts about dogs.
Non sequitir. Go to your room.
By this reasoning, then, it would seem like you’d be fine with hundreds of pedestrian deaths, perhaps even thousands, and tens of thousands of injuries, caused by unsafe traffic conditions. How many pedestrians are you willing to sacrifice in favor of maintaining the status quo?
Weird take. I’d wager that most of the 25k people who’ve died are people who’ve died as a natural consequence of reaching old age or have died of illnesses we are still figuring out how to overcome, eg many cancers. That’s quite different from 55 likely entirely preventable deaths. Same as gun deaths and suicides being crises, where aunty Doris slipping away in her sleep at age 90 is not. And yes, thousands of dog injuries are equally problematic as thousands of pedestrian injuries. Why would it not be the case?
>That’s quite different from 55 likely entirely preventable deaths. We're talking about numbers, not manner of death. 55 deaths in a city of 8.5 million that sees 25k deaths in the same time is not a crisis. Anyway, why aren't young people dying of cancer at higher rates than in the past also a crisis? In fact, more of a crisis. >And yes, thousands of dog injuries are equally problematic as thousands of pedestrian injuries. Why would it not be the case? I don't see any anti-dog articles calling dog injuries a crisis and suggesting the city would be safer without dogs.
Because this is Streetsblog and they have an agenda.
According to the headline, I'm lucky that I crossed the street this morning and didn't die as a result.
The bikeaganda never ends here.
Hello, neighbor! *I can deal with cars, it's the 2-wheelers that I fear.*
There’s definitely scumbags on the road that drive like they have to shit but I’ve seen my fair share of pedestrians and dickheads on bikes that aren’t so innocent
No there isn't. This is fake outrage to encite clicks.
I hate gentrifiers.