News   May 07, 2024
Market-Rate Rental Towers Proposed on Bellamy at Eglinton GO
 548     1 
News   May 07, 2024
News Roundup for May 7, 2024
 400     0 
News   May 07, 2024
Industry and Recreation
 346     0 

Road Safety & Vision Zero Plan

From link.

streets-suv-web.jpg

A Round and a Roundy: SUVs are Assault Cars

Our cartoonist, Bill Roundy, didn’t need the Department of Transportation to tell him what his own damn eyes have shown him for years: men in SUVs are a menace to society.

According to the latest statistics, 80 percent of crashes are caused by men — and roughly 40 percent of those crashes are committed by men in SUVs. And that’s just in New York City. Nationally, the rise of SUVs has paralleled the rise in pedestrian deaths, which are up 50 percent since 2007.

It’s a national crisis that no one — least of all the auto industry, which, like gun makers, avoids responsibility for how customers violently use its products — wants to talk about.

Thankfully, we have Bill Roundy to draw about it.
Click to expand...
 
Meanwhile...

NYPD: Four People Killed by Drivers in 24 Hours, Six Within 48
Mayor de Blasio vows action ... with vague tweet about more enforcement and no words about car reduction strategies.

From link.

If this is a war on cars, why are pedestrians and cyclists doing most of the dying?

Four pedestrians have been killed within 24 hours on the streets of New York City — and six within 48 — putting a bloody end on an already hemorrhagic year. The rash in deaths even prompted Mayor de Blasio to announce a vague crackdown on reckless truck drivers, on top of his same-old thoughts and prayers.

The first of Friday’s fatalities occurred at around 5 a.m. when the 61-year-old driver of a sanitation truck from Classic Recycling fatally struck a man — whose name and age is still unknown — at W. 49th Street and 10th Avenue. Driver Robert Alford remained on the scene, but was later charged with failure to yield and failure to exercise due care, minor counts that very rarely result in any punishment.

An hour later, police say the drivers of three separate vehicles — one a truck and two sedans — ran over and killed 57-year-old Andres Stylianou as he crossed Third Avenue near Seventh Street in Park Slope. All three drivers remained on the scene and police issued no tickets or made any arrests. Third Avenue is a notorious speedway in Park Slope and Sunset Park and is often used as a shortcut by drivers avoiding the gridlocked Gowanus Expressway.
Click to expand...

Those two fatal crashes come after Thursday’s carnage with the deaths of two pedestrians — first 85-year-old Brendan Gill, who was killed by a truck driver at Third Avenue and 39th Street in Sunset Park; and then a 26-year-old woman, who was also run over by a truck driver backing up at Broadway and Howard Street in Manhattan.

Manhattan Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, who chairs the council’s Transportation committee, railed against motorists to be “more vigilant” when they get behind the wheel.

“All drivers must do their part to ensure pedestrians are kept safe,” he wrote.
Click to expand...

But the spate of bloodshed began even before Thursday — bringing the death toll up to six people killed by drivers in just two days. Police said a Queens senior died from the injuries he suffered after he was hit by a driver, on the sidewalk, in Flushing on Wednesday at about 8:30 am. And later that morning, another driver struck and killed 75-year-old Xue You as she was crossing 52nd Street near Eighth Avenue, according to reports.
Click to expand...

The four new fatalities brings the number of people killed by drivers on the streets of New York City so far this year up to at least 214, a more than 8-percent increase over the 192 people killed in 2018.

The rash of vehicular deaths in such a short amount of time — especially by drivers of massive trucks — comes amid a new Department of Transportation campaign to target SUV drivers, particularly men, who cause a disproportionate amount of fatal crashes.

Still, some motor vehicle zealots see the crackdown on dangerous drivers who kill as part of a larger “War on Cars” being waged by Mayor de Blasio, who has never called for car-reduction strategies, opposes the kind of widespread pedestrianization being employed in London and Paris, has increased the size of the city fleet and encouraged driving by giving out an estimated 140,000 parking placards, and still, in fact, drives to the gym, which suggests that driving is a perfectly legitimate way to get around the city.

Hizzoner’s tweet on Friday said he’d deploy more cops on the road to ticket reckless truck drivers. In a statement, City Hall spokeswoman Olivia Lapeyrolerie added, “This will be a citywide enforcement effort. New Yorkers will see more patrol and Traffic Enforcement Agents out on the streets ensuring that commercial truck drivers follow the law — and hold them accountable if they are not.”
Click to expand...
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
From CP24:

www.cp24.com

Two pedestrians struck and killed in Scarborough

Two pedestrians have died in hospital after being struck by a vehicle in Scarborough on Sunday night.
www.cp24.com www.cp24.com

Thoughts are prayers continues.

AoD
Click to expand...

safe_image.php

From link.

The guardrail should not have been placed between the sidewalk and the valley. Should have been placed between the roadway and sidewalk, maybe leaving enough space for the snow windrows. A fence may look better, but may not deflect a car.
 
W. K. Lis said:
safe_image.php

From link.

The guardrail should not have been placed between the sidewalk and the valley. Should have been placed between the roadway and sidewalk, maybe leaving enough space for the snow windrows. A fence may look better, but may not deflect a car.
Click to expand...

I've always wondered about these fences, I've almost never seen them go between the roadway and the sidewalk, it's usually past the sidewalk. I assume they're there to stop cars from flying down into the ravine, but is there a reason that they don't go along the road so that they can protect pedestrians as well?
 
Alexut said:
I've always wondered about these fences, I've almost never seen them go between the roadway and the sidewalk, it's usually past the sidewalk. I assume they're there to stop cars from flying down into the ravine, but is there a reason that they don't go along the road so that they can protect pedestrians as well?
Click to expand...

The collision in question is near the 401 intersection. Motor vehicles come off the highway and, in theory, should slow down to the posted speed limit. Most however, just coast down from highway speed, and are still above the speed limit of the arterial roads.

Guardrails should be installed separating the sidewalks from the roadway near most such intersections, until a point where the drivers have decelerated down to the safer slower speeds. In theory, of course.
 
? Tory ? is ? completely? useless ?

Not a single road has been made safer in his tenure.

Occupy his office until he can’t thoughts-and-prayers his way out of it anymore.
 
Last edited:
Alexut said:
I've always wondered about these fences, I've almost never seen them go between the roadway and the sidewalk, it's usually past the sidewalk. I assume they're there to stop cars from flying down into the ravine, but is there a reason that they don't go along the road so that they can protect pedestrians as well?
Click to expand...

Yes, this design — which you see all over the city — is extremely frustrating and really speaks to how much of an afterthought pedestrian safety has been in the city for decades.

Exactly this condition exists around the corner from my house, at Christie Pits, and it pisses me off every time I go by. The design is assuming that drivers, through their fault or by accident, are going to careen off the roadway and the only consideration is given to keeping the driver and passengers safe, with no regard for the pedestrians who have the misfortune to be present at that time. It’s especially egregious at the north end of CP, where there is a community centre, skating rink (skate park in the summer), playing fields, two baseball diamonds, and a Catholic school; there are always pedestrians there, but hey, they’re just not worthy of consideration in Transportation engineers’ eyes.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top