Supposed Safe Havens Pose Danger to Pedestrians in NYC

A new study conducted by NYU's Langone Medical Center reveals that pedestrians are most often struck by cars in New York's supposed safe havens: in a crosswalk with the signal on their side. Findings related to bicycle safety were also revealed.

1 minute read

April 4, 2013, 5:00 AM PDT

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj

Matt Flegenheimer reports on the findings of a study of more than 1,400 pedestrians and cyclists treated at Bellevue Hospital Center that's been published recently in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. "The study could help inform transportation planning in the city, as administration officials — with whom the authors corresponded throughout their research — evaluate how best to engineer the streets to reduce the types of injuries sustained in these cases."

Some of the most compelling findings include:

40 percent of injured cyclists were hit by taxis, compared with 25 percent of the pedestrians
44 percent of pedestrians injured on the street were using a crosswalk with the signal
6 percent of pedestrians were injured while on a sidewalk
Victims with an above-normal body mass index were found to have less severe injuries than their counterparts

"Administration officials said the report reinforced many of their own findings, including the need for bike lanes, pedestrian plazas and other traffic-calming measures," adds Flegenheimer. "Traffic fatality rates have fallen sharply under the Bloomberg administration, though the 274 traffic deaths in 2012 were the most in four years."

FULL STORY: Crosswalks in New York Are Not Havens, Study Finds

Tuesday, April 2, 2013 in The New York Times

Social / Demographics Transportation New York Pedestrian Safety Bicycle Safety Crosswalks New York City View More

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