The New York City Council passed a slate of 11 laws and six resolutions on Thursday in an effort to reduce and eliminate all traffic fatalities.
At least four of those bills are targeted towards the city’s 13,437 yellow and 6,000 outer borough taxis — including one named after Cooper Stock, a 9-year-old boy who was killed by a cab as he and his father crossed the intersection of West 97th Street and West End Avenue on January 10.
There have been at least 88 traffic-related deaths in New York City in 2014, 44 of which were pedestrians. Last year, at least 286 people in New York City were killed as a result of traffic incidents.
The Council overwhelmingly passed the entire package, sending it to Mayor Bill de Blasio for signatures within the next month.
I have to say, this map is genius.
However, there will never be zero fatalities, mainly because you can't fix stupid.
33 comments:
'However, there will never be zero fatalities, mainly because you can't fix stupid.'
No but you can stop letting them drive a car, and that would go a long way towards reducing road fatalities. If they stay stupid outside the car and get themselves killed? Well, that's horrible, but infinitely preferable to them being stupid while operating a multiton death machine.
One they've killed someone, stopping them from driving a car is too late. And a good many of the fatalities are committed by unlicensed drivers.
Anonymous Said:
"No but you can stop letting them drive a car, and that would go a long way towards reducing road fatalities"
Can you stop dumbass pedestrians from crossing out of the crosswalk while they have their face fixed on their smartphone. Can you stop bicyclists from passing redlights and going against the traffic flow? It's not just drivers at fault here...
You let the third world in, then don't complain if the third world acts out their standards of driving and spacey carelessness on our streets.
And not one of the laws they passed in zero vision targets the main problem, the pedestrian. At a minimum they should have provided funding to install fencing (like on Queens Blvd) to prevent jaywalking in the middle of the block wherever possible.
stupid will never be fixed,
the solution is to criminalize and prosecute stupidity,also arrogance,obliviousness,and inconsideration(I think that's a word)
here are the places where the majority of the violations are taking place involving:
pedestrians:go by herald square,times square,and in between 30th to upper 40s,you will see hundreds of violators walking in the street with moving traffic,walking in the bike lanes,crossing in the middle,its a red zone of idiots.
bikers:
anyone riding a citibike,they are cutting people off,running lights.
Downtown:mostly food delivery,riding on the sidewalks,going the wrong way.But they won't be ticketed because its too crowded down there and cops are more concerned with protecting the wtc and wall street from terrorists and protests.
Everywhere else,bike messengers and street racers(the ones that have alleyrat races in the boros without permits).
Autos:Everywhere.Speeding,Running reds,blocking boxes,texting while driving.
But you know how this is going to work,setting up traps.The city is too crowded for this to be program to be truly enforced,there are just too many stupid people.In order to avoid people getting killed you have to hire at least 10,000 more cops to write up tickets for jaywalkers(who I think are the biggest scourge)and chase down reckless bikers and drivers.Its another unrealistic utopian dream from The Blaz and his campaign tool Bratton.
vision zero is misleading.
this is more like vision tunnel.
So how do they plan to enforce the new legislation? Just by writing it?
Vision Tunnel - good one. It really is one sided anti-car bullshit. Pedestrians need to get their faces out of their phones every now and then and realize that yes, red lights apply to them too.
'Can you stop dumbass pedestrians from crossing out of the crosswalk while they have their face fixed on their smartphone. Can you stop bicyclists from passing redlights and going against the traffic flow? It's not just drivers at fault here...'
Yea but the drivers are the only ones doing the killing. Suicidal pedestrians and cyclists are an inconvenience to others mostly. Not a mortal danger to others, only themselves. We let people smoke, eat, or drink themselves to death even when it inconveniences others. We don't let people kill other people though.
'you have to hire at least 10,000 more cops to write up tickets for jaywalkers(who I think are the biggest scourge)and chase down reckless bikers and drivers'
The pedestrians aren't killing other people though. The bicycles aren't killing other people either. They injure others sometimes, but orders of magnitude less often than the cars are. Pedestrians and bicycles kill themselves. No need to protect idiots from their own stupid behavior. A majority of deaths and serious pedestrian injuries occur when they're in the crosswalk or on the sidewalk, where they did nothing wrong, where the car or truck driver took the corner too fast without looking, without yielding the right of way as required. Blanket the city with automated cameras. It'll be cheaper than cops and cut down on injuries and death more than targeting pedestrians will. And if it doesn't work and people don't slow down and yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk at least it'll bring in some money that you can then use to cover the costs of the cameras. And if you think pedestrians break the law more often? They very well may, but they aren't killing anyone besides themselves, so how about we focus on the reckless car drivers who are killing others first.
If you move to the Elmhurst section of the map around 108 street you see "fatality's" but no issues.
Are they kidding ? Perhaps they are pretending Elmhurst with the most drunks, motor vehicle (un-insured, unlicensed illegal drivers and jay walkers doesn't exist ?
My favorites are the ones who die trying to cross the highways on foot. Then the Streetsblog cult screams that "another pedestrian was killed by a piece of metal and the driver wasn't charged"!
'If you move to the Elmhurst section of the map around 108 street you see "fatality's" but no issues.
Are they kidding ? Perhaps they are pretending Elmhurst with the most drunks, motor vehicle (un-insured, unlicensed illegal drivers and jay walkers doesn't exist ?'
Do you not see how the map works? The issues are all based on complaints from people who use the map. Zoom in then click share an issue if you want to contribute.
'you have to hire at least 10,000 more cops...'
The only city or county in the country with more local police per capita than NYC is Washington DC. NYC doesn't need more sworn officers. They're bankrupting the city as is. We need fewer city union employees. Cameras are cheaper and will at least pay for themselves. And if they don't because cars stop speeding and failing to yield to pedestrians so no tickets are issued? Great!! Because idiots in cars and trucks are the only ones killing other people. Idiots on foot or on bike? They kill themselves. Let them.
Let's start by enforcing laws that already exist, like insurance fraud and get rid of all the cars with Pennsylvania plates, enforce the current speeding and stop sign and loud radios and mufflers, you let people know that their bad behavior has consequences and they might stop. But some politicians like to show they've done something so they pass new laws, and they announce the "crackdown", during a crackdown what is normally tolerated won't be tolerated, but it will be tolerated again after the crackdown. Fools, them and us for accepting a government run by our inferiors
'My favorites are the ones who die trying to cross the highways on foot. Then the Streetsblog cult screams that "another pedestrian was killed by a piece of metal and the driver wasn't charged"!'
When have they ever blamed a driver for killing a pedestrian crossing a limited access highway? Or are you calling roads like Woodhaven and Queens Blvd highways?
Let's take their reports The Weekly Carnage
"7 Killed Since March 22, 59 This Year; 2 Drivers Charged*"
But underneath they include someone walking across the Belt Parkway.
They note that a pedestrian was killed crossing the highway. (or was it on conduit, the links weren't clear where that happened)
They didn't say that that motorcyclist should have been charged. And that's all you have? Something from more than a year ago?
No, that's not all I have. It's the first thing that popped up in Google when I searched. I have better things to do than sift through Streetsblog postings. But I noticed over time that it's a pattern with them. Cars are EVIL is their mantra. They need to understand that cars aren't going anywhere no matter how hard they try to make it for motorists. In most of this city a car is a necessity.
The city has 4,000 traffic agents. The majority are slapping tickets on parked cars. A handful is directing traffic, mainly in Manhattan. Why can't 10% of these agents be used to ticket moving vehicles and pedestrian violations ? It would make a difference.
And here you go. Can't wait for the commenters and snarky writers of Streetsblog to call for jailtime.
I'm in the yellow taxi business and I can tell you first hand that many new drivers show up to drive a yellow taxi with a new hack license, have almost no driving experience.
I don't know how they get a regular DMV license, but there should be a secondary driving exam prior to getting in a taxi.
There must be some corruption regarding how many get their regular DMV license. There is definitely a few driving schools taking something on the side so some are able to pass a driving test.
Remember, all a taxi driver needs is a valid drivers license and apply in order to drive a taxi. Taxi schools just take their money and push them through.
There must be a good secondary road test.
'And here you go. Can't wait for the commenters and snarky writers of Streetsblog to call for jailtime.'
Some stupid kid darted into the street and got hit by a car and died? That's real sad. It is. But it doesn't mean the driver wasn't at fault. Kids do stupid things. It's one reason we have a speed limit of 30, not 40, on local streets, and why some people want it lowered to 25 or 20. Because slower cars kill less often. And at slower speeds when exercising due care as the law requires you have a better chance of stopping or swerving to avoid a collision in the first place. A witness says the car was going too fast. Locals say that speeding in the area is a problem. Both according to the article you linked. Speed cameras slow cars down. After getting a few tickets people get the message and slow down. Maybe putting up a speed camera in the area would prevent the next kid who darts into the streets there from dying.
Yes, and perhaps since the kid was sprinting across the street, his own momentum led to his demise. He also was crossing mid-block, according to a news report I just watched. Not all drivers' reaction times are like what you see in the movies.
' Not all drivers' reaction times are like what you see in the movies.'
All the more reason to crack down on speeding. Give them more time to react, and if they still hit someone, a better chance they'd survive.
'And here you go. Can't wait for the commenters and snarky writers of Streetsblog to call for jailtime.'
Some guy from Jersey is racing through neighborhood streets in NYC in the morning, and given the location may have been there only because he ducked off the highway to avoid traffic, ignored the school bus, which given the time of day was almost certainly picking up children, and presumably had it's stop sign out, again ignored by the driver, and killed a child. And you don't see a problem with what he did? He should have his license suspended at a minimum.
This site likes to complain about overdevelopment. One of the largest problems is too many people driving on too little road space. So people die like this kid as a result.
Amazing how you deduced that he was speeding, that the kid in question was running toward a school bus, that said school bus had it's stop sign out, and that the driver ignored it...simply by reading what was in this story.
14 year olds in NYC get metro cards. They don't ride school buses.
'Amazing how you deduced that he was speeding, that the kid in question was running toward a school bus, that said school bus had it's stop sign out, and that the driver ignored it...simply by reading what was in this story.
14 year olds in NYC get metro cards. They don't ride school buses.'
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Teenager-Hit-Car-Brooklyn-Police-261499681.html
Witnesses said the force of the impact flung the boy up in the air and over a fence. One woman said the noise was so loud she thought two cars had collided.
People familiar with the intersection where the boy was hit say it's a dangerous corner and multiple speed-related accidents have happened there.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/teen-14-killed-runs-school-bus-brooklyn-article-1.1813971
A 14-year-old racing to catch a school bus was struck and killed by a car in Brooklyn Monday morning, police said.
Guys, I wouldn't put much faith into what news outlets report initially. The story usually changes multiple times.
The NBC report from TV says the kid ran across the street mid block, so why witnesses talking about a dangerous corner is relevant is a good question.
I'm not an accident investigator, but there is a city bus stop across the street, which is probably what he was running to catch to get to school. I have never heard of a 14 year old getting picked up by a yellow school bus, except special ed or charters, which pick kids up at their front doors. So the nonsense about him running for a school bus and it having its stop sign out and the driver of this vehicle blowing past it is more than likely 100% false. And trusting "witnesses" who want to see their names in the paper, also not a good idea. Was the kid even wearing a hoodie? It was 80 degrees yesterday.
Queens Crapper said...
Guys, I wouldn't put much faith into what news outlets report initially. The story usually changes multiple times.
Early news reports are notoriously unreliable. What would be nice is if the NYPD would actually investigate whenever there is a death or serious injury. They usually don't even bother checking the area for cameras. More than once safe streets activists have found camera footage after NYPD said there was none.
Something went wrong. Someone died. How about find out what happened? Not for vengeance. Just to know what happened. Maybe something could be learned, and the next death prevented. People speed on the block? Maybe it needs a speed bump. Or a light. Or a speed camera. Kids are dashing into the street? Maybe there needs to be a well marked crosswalk, maybe with pedestrian actuated flashing lights to help drivers know that someone is attempting to cross, so they can yield. Maybe you need to remove some parking to make it easier for drivers to see if someone is crossing etc....
But we can't know any of that because the NYPD still doesn't investigate crashes.
As predicted, now the kid was running for a city bus. There was no school bus with its flashers on and stop sign out.
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