Photo by Liz Patek at 68th street and Broadway.
Taxis were involved in 11 of the 20 crashes that resulted in injuries over the past month in the 20th police precinct, which covers the Upper West Side south of 86th street. That was one of the stats released on Tuesday night by Sergeant Felicia Montgomery, who spoke to the Community Board 7 Transportation Committee.
Montgomery said that there had been 138 total traffic collisions, including 20 that resulted in injuries. Nine pedestrians were injured in eight separate crashes. That was one more injury than was recorded in the same period a year ago. Two bicyclists were also hit. Driver inattention was the most prominent cause of the crashes.
The 20th precinct has concentrated its safety efforts on educating pedestrians about why they need to wait for the light before they cross, putting up posters and sending auxiliary officers out to talk to people. Montgomery said there were no crashes in the past month at the dangerous intersections where they focused those education efforts — 66th and Amsterdam, 72nd and Columbus, and 86th and Amsterdam.
They say they’re also planning to crack down on speeding, and have now trained three officers to catch speeding cars. There was just one officer trained before last week, Montgomery said. So far, there haven’t been many tickets issued. In the past month, 20th precinct officers issued 7 tickets for speeding and 9 for failure to yield to a pedestrian. They issued 31 tickets to bicyclists.
Ken Coughlin, a member of the community board committee, noted that there were about twice as many tickets given to bicyclists as drivers who sped and turned into pedestrians against the light. “People are not getting killed by bicycles. They’re being killed by cars,” he said.
Dan Zweig, the co-chair of the committee, agreed that more drivers should probably be ticketed, but he said bicyclists deserve more tickets too. He also said enforcement strategies should be left up to the police. But Coughlin noted that we won’t be able to achieve “Vision Zero” (zero traffic fatalities and serious injuries) without the police focusing their limited resources on the most deadly offenders.
The community board transportation committee has often drawn the ire of pedestrian safety advocates, who argue they move too slowly on safety initiatives.
Police tactics to keep pedestrians safe have varied widely throughout the city — some precincts have been aggressively ticketing drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians, while others pay little heed this issue. (As a 20th precinct resident, I can say that cars pretty consistently cut in front when pedestrians have the right of way).
We reported last month on statistics for the 24th precinct (and more stats for the 20th).
Tessa Abraham contributed to this report.
I agree that cars should be ticketed for failing to yield to pedestrians **when pedestrians have the right of way**.
However there needs to be STRONG enforcement actions against pedestrians who refuse to follow the signs. It’s ridiculous with the new setup at 96th and Broadway when the Northbound has a red light and an arrow for left turns that dozens of pedestrians feel like they have the right away and get in the way of the cars that have the arrow. And then some even have the nerve to be indignant if the driver honks at them for standing in the middle of the road when they have no business being there.
Until the pedestrian problem is addressed the city is not serious about curbing the problem. They simply are not serious people if they don’t include enforcement actions for the pedestrian problem when they address the problem with vehicles.
There’s no equivalence – moral or otherwise – between the reckless behavior of drivers who break and bend the rules, and pedestrians who do. Other than the serious danger the drivers pose, they unnecessarily degrade the quality of life in this city by blocking crosswalks, honking at people at close range, and by bullying pedestrians in the crosswalk.
I’ll be willing to discuss pedestrians using phones while crossing when I stop witnessing motorists using cellphones every 30 seconds.
Pedestrian “problem”? Really?
Sorry if it looks that way from behind your windshield. For heavens sake, get out of your car and try walking around the neighborhood some more. To work, home from work, to a movie or museum or local restaurant, store, or park. I promise, your enjoyment of life will rise dramatically. But I also promise, you will notice speeding cars and likely a turning taxi or Escalade cutting you off in the crosswalk, while you have the walk sign and the right of way, on just about every. Single. Walk. You could find yourself mulling over the tragic losses of kids and others in the Upper West Side and across the city, including the adult mother and daughter who were run over on Amsterdam avenue three years ago, by an unlicensed driver from New Jersey who backed up over them at high speed down the one-way avenue. The 78-year-old mother was killed. (A “problem pedestrian” to you?). It is preposterous but true: her dangerous killer paid a $500 fine for this grisly, violent death.
My point is: better enforcement is long overdue. I know that since last summer, when tourist Sian Green lost her leg to a reckless cabbie while she was on the sidewalk, in midtown, a couple blocks from where I work, I’ve taken about 90% fewer cab rides. I can’t bear to support the industry anymore, knowing her cabbie could be the one I happened to flag down.
DMH, I don’t own a car and walk just about everywhere. I do occasionally see cars that are speeding and sometime see cars go through lights they shouldn’t. I’m not saying there shouldn’t be enforcement with vehicles. There should be. But I see much more egregious behavior from my fellow pedestrians every day than I do drivers. Being a pedestrian doesn’t blind me from the obvious – that pedestrian behavior is a huge part of the problem.
Well, I am glad to hear it. I see crazy jaywalkers around too, and yeah, they’re crazy. I just think we need a sea change in how we approach this public safety issue.
Sorry if I’m repeating this stat: across the US, we lose 2x as many people to traffic crashes every year as we lost to our deadliest year of fighting in Vietnam. Every two years, we lose more people than there are names on the Wall at the memorial in DC. Just in NYC last year we lost more people than were killed in an average year of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Apart from perhaps the bus driver killed on the job this year and the expectant Hasidic couple who were killed in Brooklyn last May on their way to the hospital, it is hard to think of a single local case where the victims who were struck weren’t subtly blamed or just written off for being “in the way.”
Or Ariel Russo, of course I should’ve included her above.
I agree, however, it is extremely frustrating when you get off the subway out of the north exit on 96th and see that the east/west JUST turned “don’t wait”. Then, you have to wait for the north/south to cycle through, then cross the street and wait again, and then finally you can go on your way. This new construction is much needed, and a crosswalk that allows pedestrians to actually be productive and that intersection is very welcome. It’s absurd how long it’s taken to do this.
It is all this damn texting and talking on the phone while walking. I heard a woman this morning bitch into her phone that a cab nearly hit her as she was crossing against the light. She was being followed close behind by another woman with a kid in a stroller. She had her phone in hand- ready for that call.
I agree. Cars have to stop speeding (and pay more attention and stop trying to make the lights) but pedestrians HAVE to stop jaywalking–and texting while they’re doing it. I think pedestrians think that cars can see them and will stop, but in low light situations sometimes you can’t see a pedestrian til it’s too late. It boggles my mind when I see women jaywalking with strollers.
Pedestrians not following the rules are still the main problem. Of course, if the cars are not speeding, the problem would mostly become moot!
Amazing the mothers and nannies are so stupid and push strollers against the light and stand off the curb while jawing on their phones!
That’s your opinion. The statistics show that at least 2/3rds of fatalities are the fault of the driver.
Even if the pedestrian is “at fault” or “broke the law”, do they deserve to die a horrible death? We don’t punish child rapists in that fashion, why would we do that to our seniors (who are btw make up 36% of fatalities but only 12% of the population!)?
I agree with Mr. Gibson, and I say this as a committed jay walker myself! I often say if it weren’t for jay walking, nobody would get anywhere in this town on foot! But it’s not a joke; if we obey the traffic lights and “cross at the green, &
not in between” – remember that one? – we might be able to cut down on these accidents. And there’s nothing like a few tickets from the police to show that the city is serious about it. That word would get around quickly, I think.
How about by cyclists who go the wrong way both on side streets and in the bicycle lanes. How about the one who go faster than cars as they blast through thebPark as if they were in the Tour de France. Walking is one of the pleasures of being in NYC. Pedestrians are at the mercy of anything that rolls: cars, bicycles and those scooters and skateboards. It is as if we live in a board game and every pedestrian is a point!
People with their kids in tow should never jaywalk. It sets a bad example. These same parents will refrain from drinking and smoking in front of their kids, and have a swear-jar; but they’ll mindlessly jaywalk without realizing their kids will eventually mimic them.
I would like to see them reduce the number of lanes for cars and widen the sidewalks and bike lanes. Also, more traffic calming measures such as speed bumps and curved streets would be helpful in making the streets safe for ALL users. Would also like to see ticketing of motorists for speeding, failure to yield, and running red lights.
Would also like to see motorists ticketed for laying on their horns in non-emergency situations.
The issue they are not addressing at all is the traffics lights. they need turn signals for the huge buses and the amount of traffic at the major cross streets like 86th and Broadway.they also need to move the bus stopr back to the s/w corner so people stop running for the bus across the street
The issue they are not addressing at all is the traffics lights. they need turn signals for the huge buses and the amount of traffic at the major cross streets like 86th and Broadway. They also need to move the bus stop back to the s/w corner so people stop running for the bus across the street
It’s the drivers some argue. No, it’s the pedestrians others claim. Seems like a case of false equivalence. Pedestrians rarely kill others simply by walking. Put that same person behind the wheel of a car and you’ve got a powerful (and potentially dangerous) weapon.
“Enforce the Yield. It’s the Law.”
Respectfully if one wants to reduce people getting hit **both** of the problems (pedestrians / drivers) need to be addressed. Any proposal that doesn’t address both sides of the issue will never be successful… Anytime anyone speaks on the issue if all they do is address the issue with drivers it shows that they aren’t serious about resolving the problem.
excellent point