Pedestrian Accidents

Published on: April 24, 2014

In New York City cyclists have a higher risk of death in a traffic accident than pedestrians

Pedestrian%20fatality%20rate.png Today we are looking at fatal pedestrian and bicycle accidents in New York and in the US.This is part 3 of of our series on the Walking and Bicycling Alliance 2014 Benchmarking report.

Globally since 1980, the pedestrian fatality rate and the bicyclist fatality rate have been decreasing significantly in the US. In 1980, 8070 pedestrians and 965 cyclists died on the road compared to respectively 4432 and 677 in 2011. However while the absolute numbers dropped, the percentage of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities among all traffic fatalities increase from 12.6% in 1980 to 15.8% in 2011.

Pedestrians and cyclists who are 65 and older have a much higher risk to be involved in a fatal accident. Seniors represent 10% of pedestrians and 6% of cyclists but account for 19% of the pedestrian fatalities and 12% of the cyclists fatalities.

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Published on: April 23, 2014

Mc Guiness Boulevard in Brooklyn where many pedestrians and bicyclists have been injured or have died in auto accidents will be the third 25 MPH Arterial Slow Zone in NYC

By GGCRBHS&M

Numerous bicyclists and pedestrians have been severely injured and several of them have lost their lives in traffic crashes along Mc Guiness Blvd in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The corridor nicknamed “Hipster Highway” is notorious for passenger vehicles and large trucks speeding. Two years ago a study by Transportation Alternatives showed that two thirds of cars and 62% of large trucks traveled over the 30 mph speed limit with a maximum speed reaching 50 mph for cars and 47 mph for big rigs.

Things should change and residents’ safety should improve by the end of this month as the 1.1 mile stretch of Mc Guiness Blvd between Bayard Street and Freeman Street will become the third arterial slow zone in New York City. New signage will be installed, traffic signals will be coordinated to reduce speeding and the NYPD will increase enforcement on the boulevard.

The creation of 25 arterial slow zones is part of the Zero Vision Action plan to reduce traffic fatalities in the city.

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Published on: April 22, 2014

Americans take more than 4 billion bicycle trips and 41 billion walking trips every year

By GGCRBHS&M

This is part 2 of our series on the Walking and Bicycling Alliance 2014 Benchmarking report. Here are some figures we found interesting about pedestrians and bicyclists’ profiles.

Bicycle trips represent 1% of all trips taken in the US every year and walking trips 10.4%. While pedestrians are of all types of age, genders, income and ethnicity, bicyclists are mostly men and younger..

walk%20and%20bicycle%20trips%20by%20age.png Most people walk or use their bike for a social or recreational reason however more and more people are using their bikes to go to work especially in large cities where the combined average share of commuters by bicycle and foot is significantly higher at nearly 6.1% (1.0% bicycling and 5.0% walking) compared to an average of 3.4% nationally.

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Published on: April 19, 2014

The Alliance for Biking and Walking just released its comprehensive 2014 Benchmarking report

By GGCRBHS&M

The BICYCLING AND WALKING IN THE UNITED STATES 2014 BENCHMARKING REPORT just came out. This report provides one of the most comprehensive reviews on bicycling and walking all over the US. It is compiled by the Alliance for Biking & Walking which is the North American coalition of over 220 state and local bicycling and walking advocacy organizations.

The Benchmarking report focuses on the 50 States and the 50 most populous American cities. Additionally and for the first time, 17 small and midsize cities were also added to the 2014 report to provide a more complete picture of biking and walking activities in the country.

Biking%20and%20walking%20study%20area.jpg Globally the report shows a slow but steady increase of people using their bikes or their feet to go to work. The report also demonstrates that the level of pedestrian and bicycle accidents is inversely proportional to the number of bikers and walkers and that advocacy groups are playing an important role encouraging people to do so.

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Published on: April 19, 2014

NYC Zero Vision to reduce traffic fatality and personal injury: After Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn last week, the Grand Concourse in the Bronx will be the second Arterial Slow Zone in the city with speed limited to 25mph

By GGCRBHS&M

12 people including 7 pedestrians died in auto accidents and many others were injured in speed related crashes along the Bronx Grand Concourse in New York City between 2008 and 2012. Speeding is the main cause of accidents in this dangerous area but this is about to change extremely soon as as officials announced that the the 5.2 miles Bronx corridor will be the second of 25 planned NYC arterial slow zones. The first one was introduced last week on Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn.

Starting this month, traffic signals will be synchronized to reduce dangerous speeding, new 25 mph signage will be installed and the NYPD will increase enforcement in this dangerous area of the Bronx.

The arterial slow zone program is one of the 63 measures included in New York Zero Vision Program launched by Mayor de Blasio at the beginning of the year. Throughout the city, arterial roads amount for 15% of the mileage but for 60% of pedestrian fatal accidents.

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Published on: April 19, 2014

In an effort to prevent pedestrian accidents on the Upper West Side NYPD cops will not issue jaywalking tickets anymore but will teach pedestrians how to respect traffic laws

By GGCRBHS&M

After several pedestrians died in traffic accidents on the Upper West Side in NYC, the cops have been cracking down on jaywalkers in sensitive areas such as W. 96th street and Broadway (picture). Earlier this year cops in the neighborhood were instructed to give tickets that could go up to $150 to pedestrians caught jaywalking. The cops went after the pedestrians in such an aggressive way that they ended up knocking down and roughing up an 84 year old man who tried to walk away when the cops were issuing him a ticket. The old man hired a personal injury lawyer who is now suing the city for $5 million.

Last week NYPD Commissioner Bratton told cops to use discretion with the elderly and handicapped and Marion Larin the Captain of the UWS 24th precinct replaced the ticket blitz by an information blitz campaign during which officers will teach jaywalkers to follow the law in order to protect themselves from dangerous traffic accidents.

Young female pedestrian dies after being struck by two yellow cabs in Uptown Manhattan

By GGCRBHS&M

Another pedestrian fatality happened last weekend in New York. A 22 year old woman who was crossing York Ave on the Upper East Side of New York was struck by cab that threw her in the opposite traffic lane where a second cab struck her. She was rushed to the hospital where she died. Read more in the New York Daily News

According to NYC Crash mapper over the last 31 months there were 21 collisions at the location of the accident (EAST 84 STREET and YORK AVENUE). As a results of these collisions 3 pedestrians, 1 bicyclist and 1 motorist suffered personal injury. According to locals, the visibility is limited for pedestrians and drivers as York Ave crests at 84th street and declines to 85th street.

Published on: April 4, 2014

Several Pedestrians suffer Personal Injury in an accident between a Van and a MTA bus in Manhattan

By GGCRBHS&M

Several pedestrians were injured in an accident during which a van crashed into an MTA bus sending both vehicles into a group of a dozen pedestrians at a bus stop and ending their course in a pizza parlor. The bus accident happened in NYC in Washington Heights, on Broadway and 155th Street.

Both the bus – which had no passengers – and the van were heading north when the van side-swiped the bus causing it to lose control and plowing through about a dozen people waiting at an M4 stop, city officials said.

The first Queens’ Vision Zero project will adress the dangerous Northern Blvd and 61st Intersection where a 6 year old pedestrian was killed in a truck accident

By GGCRBHS&M

A dangerous Queens intersection where a young boy was killed in the crosswalk by an unlicensed truck driver making a left turn will be the first Vision Zero project in Queens. The site of the truck accident was visited by Mayor de Blasio, NYPD Commissioner Bratton and DOT Commissioner Trottenberg as well as Queens officials and shortly after additional crossing guards were added.

Last Friday, Dalila Hall, Queens Borugh Commissioner for the DOT announced in a letter to local elected officials and community boards that the agency wants to start to redesign the intersection to make it safer. The redesign includes the addition of concrete pedestrian islands and the elimination of left turns from westbound Northern Boulevard to southbound 61st Street. It will also adjust signals to increase crossing time for pedestrians and feature new school zone crosswalk markings and signage. DOT has already restricted some on-street parking to “daylight” the intersection’s northeast corner and improve visibility for pedestrians and drivers. Construction is set to begin this month and wrap up within weeks.

Only 90 days in jail for a hit and run driver who was drunk and had smoked marijuana when he struck a 23 year old pedestrian causing his death in the Bronx, NYC

By GGCRBHS&M

Seth Johnson was drunk and high on marijuana when he struck and killed 23 year old Thomas Riley, a pedestrian who was hailing a cab on the side of Fordham Road in the Bronx, NYC in 2011. He was initially charged with drunk driving, leaving the scene of an accident and criminally negligent homicide but a jury acquitted him of all charges except drunk driving for which he will receive 90 days in jail with 3 years probation.