pedestrian accident nyc

Published on: November 16, 2014

Recent NYC crash statistics show pedestrian deaths haven’t decreased and cyclists deaths have doubled between April and September despite de Blasio’s Vision Zero Initatives and Bloomberg’s previous implementation of bike lanes and safer street designs

135 people died in traffic accident in New York between the beginning of April and the end of September this year compared to 134 for the same period of 2013. Despite all the Vision Zero efforts and the new street designs implemented by the Bloomberg administration, the streets of New York City remains dangerous for pedestrians, bicyclists and vehicle passengers.

The graphs presented in this post compare data from NYPD crash statistics on a 3 months basis with the blue bars representing traffic deaths in 2013 and the red bars, traffic deaths 2014.

While comparing 2014 to 2013 data, the graph below shows that most of the decline in traffic deaths happened at the end of the winter. During the good season, a slight increase of fatalities in the spring was compensated by a slight decrease during the summer.

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Published on: November 10, 2014

Three pedestrians died in three separate car accidents in NYC last week-end

By GGCRBHS&M

Threee more pedestrians died this weekend in New York City after being struck by vehicles in three separate accidents which happened in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.

76 year old Melvina Hibbert was hit by a car on Conduit Blvd, near Belmont Ave in East New York. The impact was so strong that her body flew against the windshield and destroyed it (see picture in the NY Daily News. She died from her injury at the hospital.

The second victim was 79 year old Edmund Chow who was struck by a van as he crossed Hillside Ave near 257th Street. He also died at the hospital.

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Published on: October 31, 2014

Another pedestrian dies after being struck by a MTA Bus in Queens, NYC

By GGCRBHS&M

Edgar Torres, 40, had the light and was in the crosswalk when he was hit and killed by a MTA bus that didn’t yield. The accident happened at the dangerous intersection of Myrtle Avenue, Wyckoff Avenue and Palmetto Street, steps away from the location where 23 year old Ella Bandes was struck and killed by a bus in January 2013.

After the death of Ella Bandes, The NYC Department of Transportation added some safety improvements but didn’t change the bus routes. There are 6 bus routes crossing the intersection and 5 of them require drivers to turn around and restart their route in the other direction.

Edgar Torres is the sixth pedestrian to be killed by a MTA Bus this year in New York City.

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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.

Car Accident NYC: 10 proposals from Gridlock Sam to reduce traffic fatalities

By GGCRBHS&M

Former Traffic Commissioner Sam Schwartz, also known as Gridlock Sam because he coined the term gridlock, believes the following measures would be effective in cutting down the number of pedestrian accidents in New York City.

forensic investigation of all fatal and severe accidents by a traffic engineer
more pedestrian refuge islands

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