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Articles Posted in Pedestrian Accidents

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It’s too early to say if the first Vision Zero measures to reduce traffic fatalities are effective yet. After a decrease of the number of people injured or killed in vehicle accidents in New York last February, the numbers are up again for March 2014 and are pretty much at the same level as they were a year ago according to the most recent statistics from the NYPD

people%20injured%20in%20vehicle%20accidents%20march%202014.jpgnumber%20of%20people%20killed%20in%20car%20accidents%20in%20march%202014.jpgThe number of pedestriandeaths, 11, is exactly the same in March this year than it was in March last year. 952 pedestrians were injured in auto accident this march compared to 990 in March 2013 and 820 the month before. The number of bicyclists injured was also pretty much the same from one year to the other.

Pedestrians%20injured%20and%20killed%20in%20March%202014.jpgbicyclists%20injured%20and%20killed%20in%20March%202014.jpgBus Accidents were slightly on the rise from one year to the other with 572 accidents in March 2014 compared to 523 in March 2013.

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A young girl who was crossing Mother Gaston Blvd with her brother was injured after being struck by a police car yesterday night in Brooklyn. The 10 year old pedestrian Tajahnae Price was crossing Mother Gaston Blvd at New Lots Ave in Brownsville when the police car hit her. She went flying through the air and her top teeth were knocked out. She was transported to the Hospital and she is in stable condition.

Children are the most vulnerable pedestrians with middle school youth making up the bulk of injuries and fatalities related to pedestrian accidents involving children younger than 14 year old.

Read more in the New york Daily News

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Vision Zero is asking pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists to pinpoint dangerous traffic areas in New York City on an interactive map that can be accessed online directly with an email address or through a Twitter or a Facebook account. Pedestrian crash corridors are highlighted in red on the map while all pedestrian fatalities that happened from 2009 till now are indicated by a red square. Unfortunately bicycle accident fatalities are missing on the map. New York road users can share, comment, agree on and pinpoint directly on the map the following type of traffic issues:

– Not enough time to cross – Double parking – Long wait to cross – Red light running – Jaywalking – Poor visibility – Speeding – Long distance to cross – Failure to yield – Cyclist behavior

It is a fantastic tool however there is a risk of distortion. The map was launched a few days ago and we can already see that high poverty areas are typically misrepresented. This can be due to language barriers, less access to technology or maybe less interest in current events. Hopefully Vision Zero workshops in these areas will be helpful in addressing this unbalance. The map shows big areas such as the West Bronx, East Brooklyn and Harlem with with very little activity compared to the rest of the city. Areas of the city where the youngest population live such as Downtown Manhattan and West Brooklyn are the most active areas on the map.

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2008_02_27_Jose_Peralta_01_wikipedia.jpgTo reduce the number of pedestrians injured in traffic accidents and prevent traffic fatalities the 112th Precinct will assign crossing guards at the intersection of Junction Boulevard and the Horace Harding Expressway a dangerous NYC intersection just nearby PS 206, an elementary school.

This is good news for Senator Joseph Peralta who has been calling for crossing guards at the dangerous intersection for more than a year. The school and the parents are relieved.

Read more in the Queens Courrier

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Pedestrian%20fatality%20rate.pngToday 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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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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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.pngMost 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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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.jpgGlobally 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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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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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.

Read more in the NY Daily News