Report: Nearly Three Traffic Violations Per Minute At Busy Intersections

Nothing will be done until enough people are mowed down by these dumbass drivers . Then the city will invest time in enforcing the rules of the road !

Plenty of people get tickets for riding on the sidewalk; enough that I sure won't risk it (not that it's helpful anyhow if you're trying to get someplace.) the only people exempt seem to be those old guys slowly weaving around on ancient mountain bikes.

Cycling without a mustache: 50$

Cycling without a smug sense of self-entitlement: $250

Never make any money that way...

Bullshit ! ( Not that the cops don't give out tickets for that but not nearly enough and to every violator )

One thing I've noticed about Smith Street, farther north than the 9th Street intersection, is that drivers speed. Its a fairly residential street.

I'm old enough to remember when children played in streets in residential neighborhoods. Some kids would be posted up the street to warn the others about cars coming through. This is one thing you can't do today.

We should institute a system for our roads like Greenwich CT has for their beaches. Residents get an annual pass for a nominal fee, outsiders, while technically allowed (apparently you can't prohibit outsiders), have to line up at a remote location and pay for a daily pass.

Not only would it limit outside traffic to those willing to follow the procedure, it would give the City a database of vehicles and drivers entering the city so they can be identified if they commit any violations.

I don't think this comes as a surprise to anyone. I would like for them to stop producing these stupid STUDIES and start fining people. If there were consequences (fines, jail time) that were enforced, maybe people would follow the rules. Just a suggestion, if course...

"expect fewer than 260 traffic-related fatalities this year, marking another all-time low"

except that more than half of those fatalities will be people not in vehicles (bikes and peds) - the highest rate in the country. if you think traffic is safe here you are delusional. drivers are breaking the law with reckless abandon and mowing people down left and right. NYPD must respond to protect the citizens

@thefacts

You're right TA didn't list bikes and pedestrians breaking the law. So what? That doesn't make their findings less true. Look around.

And in terms of importance, which type of traffic kills and injures more people in NYC? It's silly to treat a cyclist doing an illegal U-turn or a pedestrian jaywaying as the same as a driver doing an illegal U-turn because the latter is much more dangerous (in general, not always).

If we want to make traffic safer for everyone, where should the focus be? It's pretty clear.

"breaking the law. So what?"

So what? Breaking the law is a mere 'so what'? That is the problem. That is why most people have disdain for cycling advocates. Bad attitude!

When I cross the street I don't worry about being killed by a car. Seriously. I worry about some douchebag cyclist running a red light or going the wrong way, and hitting and injuring me. It has happened twice. It has happened to friends.

These injuries are just never reported the way auto accidents are. If they were, the stats would be off the wall.

Why do you think cyclists are so maligned? Think. Really.

You guys have brought this on yourself with your outlaw behavior combined with an arrogant attitude.

oh come on...

he didn't say that [i]breaking the law[/i] is "so what," he's talking about the fact that they only studied the behavior of drivers.

if you want to know how many cyclists break traffic rules, then study it. [or read up on it, I think somebody did this

Since cars kill people in this city and bikes, well, basically don't, I think it's fair to study their behavior. But drivers behaving badly doesn't mean bikers are perfect, and vice versa.

Since there is no enforcement of traffic laws in the city, most drivers practice a lawless manner of driving. Of course it's dangerous, but if the NYPD won't do its job, and one of its jobs is to enforce traffic safety and the rules of the road, it's carte blanche and anarchy on the streets of NY. Cyclists take their chances, and I'm one of them, but I think bold and vigilant cycling and a very loud voice is the answer to staying alive.

What a waste of time and resources. It's a real slap in the face for the city to try to squeeze even more money out of the public when nearly every aspect of the cost of living continues to rise at a discriminatory pace. At least we have a nice preview of what Bloombergs third term will be.

huh?

wow, if Bloomberg's next term involved the enforcement of existing laws that protect my safety...I'm going to find a way to vote twice.

I believe that the traffic laws in this city are optional. They appear to be suggestions, not laws.

When was the last time anyone saw a cop ticketing one of the black livery Lincolns that are constantly inching forward when they are waiting for a light to change. Or cars that will scoot around another car that stopped for a red light.

i'd like to see the sub-report on how many of these moving violations occurred right in front of NYPD and nothing was done. i've seen cars blow through traffic signals right in front of the cops and nothing was done. given the # of violations per hour, i'd be curious to find out what % of those could and should have been ticketed.

Does anyone really believe that TA can do an accurate assessment of traffic violations over 38 hours of observation?

"Noah, I do believe that taxi should have waited another tenth of a second before making that turn."

"Yes Graham, you're right. Oooh, that car there stopped four inches into the crosswalk for that red light. Let's add that to our tally and send the results to Wiley right away."

I take some issue with the definition of 'failure to yield' in some situations.

The driver is automatically on the hook if a ped cocooned by his ipod/cell walks mindlessly into traffic. I'd guess their FTY numbers are inflated by this.

A cyclist riding like a dick endangers himself more than anyone else. Complain justly about cyclists' violations, but physics is physics.

Related reading:

http://physicscentral.com/buzz/blog/index.cfm?postid=3414795237807494042

If a pedestrian is in a crosswalk with a walk signal, it's a turning driver's duty to yield. Whether or not the pedestrian is "cocooned by his ipod" is irrelevant.

I don't like TA either but there is some accuracy to this. Traffic violations are just the norm here. I used to walk 3 miles through Manhattan every day and I saw several, at least, every single day. Nobody ever got pulled over. It's pretty ridiculous out there.

I think their study gives us a good idea. Most New Yorkers see this every day at every intersection.

No turn signal is better than the bunch that do not know right from left.

Pedestrian crosswalks are a joke, cars let cars clear it while pedestrians stand with their mouths open.

I love Bloomberg for this.

Are they including the number of violations committed by cyclists in this accounting as well? Last I checked, it's about as illegal for a cyclist to blow a light and almost mow down pedestrians as it is for a motor vehicle.

Throwin' stones in a glass house...

Do you think the propagandists at TransAlt have any respect for the truth or for reality?

Motorists obey the law a lot better than cyclists do. I don't own a car, I just know what I see.

How many times you see a car driving on the sidewalk? Ever see ten cars in a row not stop at a red light? How many cars go the wrong way up a street?

Fact is, TransAlt staff is getting paid to whine and as long as money is involved, truth and reality doesn't matter.

Right, because bikes weigh as much as cars and take up the same amount of space.

I think they are only talking about motor vehicle violations. The same motorized vehicles that contribute to the 260 or so fatalities this year.

How many people feel that if cyclists obeyed the law and didn't blow lights, ride the wrong way up one way streets, and pay more attention to the other vehicles they share the road with, that 260 would be a lot less? I ride a motorcycle every day in Manhattan, and I see some of these clowns do things in traffic that I wouldn't dream of.

Remember, it takes 2 to tango drewo.

Really? Just how many of those 260 traffic fatalities do you think bicyclists are involved in? Something tells me you don't have the vaguest notion of what you're talking about.

Well Spirit, you seem to know something that we don't. Why don't you stop trying to be condescending and tell us all what the metrics are. What's the cyclist:pedestrian ratio in that figure?

Cyclists in this city ride like asses, that's undeniable. And I still contend that if they were held accountable when they violate traffic and pedestrian laws, and if paid more attention to the 2 ton harbingers of death they ride amongst, that 260 figure would be a lot less.

I'm curious if people from New York who drive know what turn signals are?? No offense, but i've lived here for about 12yrs and born and bred NY'ers & Cab drivers, have absolutely no concept of what a turn signal or how/when to use it. I wish i could stand on one busy intersection corner near my home and just photograph all of them and get a commission for everyone i handed in.

you know how else to raise half a million dollars? make chewing gum in public illegal, and issuing tickets to people in times square. at $50/ticket, you only need ten thousand people to make that kind of dough.

It's not just NY, most drivers around the country don't use turn signals.

seriously? turn signals? you don't need turn signals to know what other drivers are going to do. there's basically one simple rule: if you're in front, you have the right-of-way.

I was thinking more along the lines of pedestrians, i sometimes HAVE to rely on others turn signals if there is no crosswalk/light at a particular crossing, or maybe they're out. Seriously in brooklyn it's bad enough, they could make a million in one thursday afternoon over in Borough Park/Sheepshead Bay with all the women drivers double parked, etc, don't get me started on the quadrillions that could be in Driving/parking violations on Coney Island Ave. Ughh, it really does become a pedestrian nightmare.

Italy was considering mandating front-mounted brake lights to assist peds for that reason.

See, the thing is with turn signals, is that you're letting everyone know what you're going to do.. ruining the surprise. ;)

Ruin the surprise, so wrong, ha ha ha