Gothamist: Deadliest Roads for Walking: Third Ave and Broadway

camarilla

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:38:10 -0500

I almost get hit almost every day. Cars regularly run the red light on 125th Street crossing Broadway. Not mildly running the red light or failing to clear the intersection when the light turns yellow, drivers speed up and enter the intersection LONG after the light turned red. Pedestrians always have the right of way, especially when they have the walk sign and the cars are blatantly speeding and running red lights. Is there any way to report these people?

NannyState

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:23:47 -0500

Major commercial thoroughfares shouldn't have speed humps but sidestreets and alleys should. The first responders hate speed humps but the hope is that if you slow traffic for everybody, they will have fewer tragic scenes to respond to. Lane reductions where you twist the remaining traffic through what used to be a straight roadway can be very effective at lowering speeds while accomodating the buses,cabs,and carpools. None of this is a perfect solution, but for Manhattan only, I think it could be quite useful.

nycnewsjunkie

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:18:40 -0500

NannyState- "traffic-calming speed humps and lane reductions in Manhattan" Have you never taken a bus, cab or carpool they travel the same roads as passenger vehicles? Not to mention the commercial vehicles (speed humps will crumble/ they need larger roads) which deliver food and other goods and the first responder vehicles which don't have the luxury of driving SLOW to an emergency.

Reflect

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 02:41:15 -0500

turning 45 in manhattan means road danger.

NannyState

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:44:33 -0500

^ Exactly. Try walking or bicycling, fatboy.

HUGO_MEGO

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:43:24 -0500

Yes Nanny that is exactly what this city needs. Speed bumps and smaller lanes so cars can sit in traffic for hours.

NannyState

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:44:44 -0500

The city should absolutely employ traffic-calming speed humps and lane reductions in Manhattan where having a car is just pointless. In the other boroughs, there needs to be more attention to signaling, traffic enforcement and lowering speed limits.

mernst

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:06:29 -0500

Qraymond, Thanks for your comments. I co-authored the report and agree that it would be useful to include injuries. Unfortunately, the federal data from which this analysis is drawn only includes fatalities. I'm not sure what additional details you'd like to see about each incident, but if you're curious, you can find more information at http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/QueryTool/QuerySection/SelectYear.aspx You make a good point about analyzing the data by block or intersection. But really what we need is some sort of measure of exposure, in other words, how many people are walking along any given stretch of sidewalk. It's tragic, but not surprising that so many pedestrians are killed on 3rd Ave and Broadway. What's shocking is how many pedestrians are killed on Hempstead Tpke and Sunrise Hwy, given how relatively few people walk along those routes.

newsyspice

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:02:03 -0500

I'm disappointed in the Boulevard of Death. Next year, we're going to be NUMBER ONE! --proud Queens resident

slappy

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:53:02 -0500

I have to say that I nearly got killed a couple of times in the last 20 years because I didn't have my wits about me when crossing 3rd Ave below 23rd St. where it is still 2 ways. Most Aves are one way.

Qraymond

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:55:47 -0500

While I applaud any effort to make our streets safer for pedestrians, this is not a terribly useful presentation of the data. A) It is misleading to say that Broadway and Third Avenue are the most dangerous roads, since they are significantly longer than most others. It would be better to analyze by block or intersection, and to include non-fatalities as well. B) The map is not terribly detailed either, so it's hard to come to any conclusions beyond that older people are more likely to be killed. It drives me nuts to see the way some people drive/bike/walk in our City. You have a small minority of people putting everyone in danger. They should increase fines for speeding in New York City, and they should increase enforcement.

Tgirl

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:47:36 -0500

I never see anybody enforcing the traffic laws. But every day I observe vehicles of every type operating recklessly. Its a free-for-all.

jessnoica

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:28:31 -0500

interesting that all but one are over 40.