Bronx Man Films 41 Drivers Blowing Through Stop Sign In 25 Minutes

Awesomely named area man Vincent Ferrari is so fed up with drivers ignoring the stop sign on his street in the East Bronx that he recently sat outside and videotaped the looong procession of scofflaws. (41 in under a half hour!) What really gets Ferrari's goat is that City Council Transportation Committee chairman James Vacca (in whose district Ferrari resides) remains focused on cyclist lawbreakers, and is promising a bigger crackdown on bikers this year—including those who pedal through stop signs and red lights. After spending the evening videotaping the motorist scofflaws, Ferrari drives around filming himself ranting about the city's misplaced priorities:

So while the city is running around ticketing people for holding a phone up to their ear, and ticketing cyclists for not stopping on the Greenway in Manhattan, or for going too quickly through Central Park or Prospect Park, this is what's actually the problem. See, people in NYC like to drive fast, but the problem is they like to do it on residential streets. And the other problem is that the police generally don't give a damn. In fact, unless it's the end of the month, your chances of getting a ticket in NYC for the run-of-the-mill traffic violations are nil.

Ferrari would like to see politicians and police prioritize policing drivers, who killed no fewer than 134 pedestrians and 21 cyclists last year. Of course, it's a tad ironic to watch Mr. Ferrari driving around blasting cops for not enforcing traffic laws while he himself appears to be violating traffic laws by operating a handheld device behind the wheel. But it's worth noting that there's a loophole in state law that allows drivers to use a handheld electronic device that is affixed to a surface, which in this case could be the dashboard. [Via Streetsblog]

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on January 4, 2012 2:00 PM

Comments [rss]

Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla

He doesn't stop himself. What's the point of this if he doesn't know what a stop is either?

boogiedownbxgirl

I love when jerkoffs, who have nothing of value to say regarding the topic at hand, resort to name-calling. Really shows your intelligence. And yeah - I called you jerkoffs jerkoffs. Figured I'd lower myself to your level so you'd understand.

Midnight Fapper

fatty fatty two by four, can't get through the bathroom door...

FooQya

... lower ... lower ... no .. no , both knees down ... wait wait a.aa
Ah .... AH ....

AAAAAAAAAAAAAH ... mmm... ah
.$*$*.... >gag<
... come on bitch dont choke on my load ..

boogiedownbxgirl

Yup. Point proven. Case closed.

FooQya

yo're wellcum

blameus

Nice to see someone who's concerned about an aspect of the city he lives in actually do something about it. For a while now I've noticed many drivers who don't observe the yield to pedestrians sign at 15th / Prospect Park West. Maybe not the biggest of deals in NYC but I always see families crossing there but usually get pushed back by cars barreling through the intersection.

FooQya

did what about it... sat in his car and jerked off to a stop sign?

Midnight Fapper

i'm confused... where does this guy's head end, and his neck begin?

FooQya

to the left of the fried twinkie, around the mountain of lasagna, over the delicious maple syrup river, lift the donut... there it is !!!

Midnight Fapper

lawl

FooQya

bah. i hoped it was a red light...... its just a lame stop .... most cars slowing down, who the f((K can tell how long they at the stop ... fat boys video is sped up... yeah some roll thru faster than others but wtf... this goes on all over the world ... yeah great work batman ... entertain yourself by taping california rolls for hours, all the while replacing those calories spent holding up the camera... with jew bagels

eyekantspel

haha, he's fat

eyekantspel

from 2:22 to the end it's just him driving around whining? what an annoying waste of time.

sketto

Most of the cars in this video do slow down and almost stop. Please show me a stop sign anywhere in the city that would have a different result.

bggb

And around 150 pedestrians are hit by cars and die in the city each year.

Perhaps the two issues are related?

Perhaps our elected officials and keepers of the peace could calibrate their efforts to reflect realities of public safety?

sketto

I'm on board with that. But to change that situation I think we'll need more compelling support than this predictable and un-shocking video provides. Cars slowly rolling through a stop sign while turning at a wide-open 3-way intersection is not the root problem for pedestrians and bikers.

There's much worse than this, with clear fatal possibilities for pedestrians and bikers, at the entrance and exit to nearly every bridge in the five boroughs, for example.

bggb

Yes, but "there are worse things happening" doesn't disprove or discredit this guy's video, and more importantly, his point being made.

Anyone who walks (or drives, or bikes) (In my case - all three) knows that literally less than half of all drivers stop for full stops at stop signs, instead choosing to roll through the crosswalk slowly and hope there aren't unseen pedestrians or children running.

This guy here is helping to further an issue that groups like the NYPD and elected officials like James Vacca seem to be unwilling to properly recognize.

Other people are fighting the fight that Ferrari is here:

Of course, it’s not just one intersection. New York City drivers run more than a million red lights each day [PDF], according to a 2001 report from the city comptroller’s office. Nearly 40 percent of traffic exceeds the speed limit, according to a 2009 study by Transportation Alternatives. Motorists killed no fewer than 134 pedestrians and 21 cyclists last year. Where are the City Council hearings and the Vacca media blitz calling attention to these problems?

Links:

PDF: http://www.transalt.org/files/...

Speed limit: http://www.streetsblog.org/200...

134 pedestrians and 21 bicyclists killed last year:
http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site...

Starry Gordon

Don't you know the automobile is sacred? Because cops drive them. 134 pedestrians and 21 bicyclists is a small price to pay.

Nos Feratu

There's a stop sign in front of my house, I live on a corner property. Lots of cars blow straight on through and some of the neighbors complained to the police. The PD sent a patrol car and the policeman stopped at least a dozens cars while I was watching. He did not ticket a single driver, it seems from his reaction that he knew most of these people. Cops? Friends relatives of cops? In any case, I've never seen the police since then and large numbers of cars continue to blow through the stop sign.