New York Complete Streets

In 2010, 269 people died in traffic related incidents in New York City; that number includes passengers and drivers of cars and trucks as well as pedestrians and cyclists. The need to make the city’s streets a safer place for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists is now being seen with more urgency. New York City’s transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, has been described as innovative and inspirational because of improvements she has instigated by her signature project in New York; bicycle lanes which not only encourage less use of cars and more cycling but also serve to slow down traffic and thereby reduce pedestrian injuries.

Changing our streets to make them safer, designing them in ways that slow drivers down, is a process called traffic calming. Calming traffic and designing New York City streets to promote biking and walking have been commissioner Sadik-Kahn’s primary focus. Many New Yorkers, such as Steve Hindy, have a personal stake in this issue since he lost his son, Sam Hindy, in a bicycle crash in 2007. Mr. Hindy hopes through the efforts of commissioner Sadik-Kahn to make the streets of New York a safer place by installing more bike lanes and making other safety related changes to traffic flow in the city that no other parents will have to endure such a tragedy.

New Yorkers, according to the Public Health Association of New York City, do not get the amount of daily exercise they need to avoid high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes. Four years ago the Public Health Association called on Mayor Bloomberg to initiate new policies in order to promote more physical activities for New York residents.

Pedestrian safety is of utmost importance as projects such as protected bike lanes are becoming more and more a part of standard street re-design. In Norwood the city’s first neighborhood-wide 20 mile per hour speed zone has been put into place. Re-designing New York City streets to include protected bike lanes help to calm traffic and help New Yorkers walk and bike without fear of becoming injured in incidents involving cars and trucks.

Over 140 medical professionals recently asked the mayor to continue to make bicycle and pedestrian safety projects a top priority. Changes being made today, such as the construction of bike lanes and pedestrian walkways, are resulting in fewer fatalities and safer conditions for all whether they are students walking home from school or seniors attempting to cross Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues.

Fatalities due to traffic accidents in New York City are currently on the decline. 432 fewer individuals died in traffic/pedestrian related incidents in the city than the number who died just 20 years ago. One-third fewer died than in the year 2001. Drivers have not improved their driving skills; in fact, they are more distracted than ever by such things as texting and surfing the web on smart phones. Pedestrians and bicyclists have not become more attentive to their surroundings. The improvement has been in the streets themselves.

People in the past walked dangerously out in the street in Times and Herald squares. Today there is more room for pedestrians including crosswalks with refuge islands where people can stand if they become caught out in the middle of the street. Countdown pedestrian signals are being installed all over the city so that pedestrians do not become caught in the middle of crossing. More biking lanes have been installed in Brooklyn in place of the double parking of cars that used to be in place which caused cyclists to have to swerve dangerously out into traffic to avoid them. Bike lanes make walking safer as well as cycling. Safe streets for cycling and for walking go hand in hand.

Safety experts call these new, modified streets complete streets because they are better and safer for all people. Sidewalk extensions at street corners which compel drivers to take turns more carefully have been added. Hundreds of New Yorkers and visitors to the city have been saved from being clipped by a taxi or doored by an automobile. Injuries have been prevented, and hundreds of lives have been saved by changes made to the city’s streets designed to make drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists safer every day. Proof that complete streets are paying off is that on Eighth Avenue injuries to all users of this street fell 35 percent after the construction of a protected bike lane and pedestrian refuges. The fear of becoming injured or killed in an automobile, pedestrian, or bicycling accident stops many New York seniors from going outside to perform daily activities they once enjoyed. Complete streets reduce this fear. Complete streets improve the safety of parents and students commuting to and from school. They make riding a bike safer. Most trips New Yorkers take are fewer than three miles long. Complete streets help keep New Yorkers active and reduce the health risks associated with a sedentary lifestyle.

At the law firm of David Resnick & Associates, PC, we serve accident victims in the metropolitan New York area and beyond.

If you or a loved one has been involved in a traffic/pedestrian/cycling accident, contact the law offices of David Resnick & Associates, PC.

Please call (212) 279-2000 or fill out our online contact form.

These Hubs are provided for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. Professional legal counsel should be sought for specific advice relevant to your circumstances.