things to avoid

How to Not Get Hit by a Car While Walking the Streets of New York

New York City’s Transportation Department released a report highlighting exactly when, where, and why accidents befall pedestrians based on data from 7,000 car crashes where a pedestrian was killed or seriously injured. Cabs, as it turns out, accounted for fewer accidents than private cars. Left-hand turns are three times as likely to cause a pedestrian fatality as right-hand ones. Brooklyn ranked highest in number of crashes. Jaywalkers got in fewer collisions than people who waited for the light to turn, although if there was an accident, jaywalkers were more likely to be killed or badly injured. And in 80 percent of those 7,000 cases, a male driver was at the wheel. Transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan called the report “[t]he Rosetta Stone for safety on the streets of New York.” Mayor Bloomberg’s administration already has plans to further re-engineer the city’s street grid based on the findings, including removing dozens of parking spaces and installing 1,500 countdown clocks at intersections.

Deadliest for Walkers: Male Drivers, Left Turns [NYT]
Pedestrian Death Map Prompts Street Changes [WSJ]

How to Not Get Hit by a Car While Walking the Streets of New York