Gothamist – by Christopher Robbins
A dozen pedestrians have been killed by drivers in the past twelve days. At least three of them were killed crossing the street with the right of way, and four of them were killed as they walked on the sidewalk. In response to one of those deaths, in which a hit and run casino bus driver killed a pedestrian in Flushing, the NYPD is going to start handing out more jaywalking tickets.
“If you’re crossing in the middle of the street, you’re wrong, you’re endangering yourself, you’re endangering others, you’re endangering drivers,” Queens Assemblyman Michael Simanowitz said, standing next to NYPD Deputy Inspector Thomas Conforti, the commander of the 109th Precinct,according to DNAinfo.
“Cross at the green, not in-between, and hopefully we will be able to reduce the number of traffic fatalities.”
While the 109th Precinct is promising to issue more tickets to pedestrians, they have decreased their enforcement against drivers. In 2015, the 109th has issued 433 speeding tickets, according to the most recent data available from the department; at this time last year, they had issued 599.
The number of citations the precinct has issued to drivers for failing to yield to pedestrians has also decreased from 2014 to 2015, from 665 to 621.
Speeding is the most common cause of fatal collisions, and drivers failing to yield is a top cause of pedestrian injuries.
Data compiled by Streetsblog has shown that around eight percent of all pedestrian injuries and deaths are catalogued as being the fault of the victim.
In early 2014, an 84-year-old man was bloodied during an encounter with police officers who were trying to issue him a jaywalking summonses on the Upper West Side as part of a crackdown there on disorderly pedestrians.
Paul Steely White, the executive director for Transportation Alternatives, said in a statement that this newest attempt at a jaywalking crackdown was evidence of a “strong anti-pedestrian bias” at the precinct level.
“It’s easy to blame victims. It’s harder to track down hit-and-run drivers, curb the culture of reckless driving and fix fatal streets designed decades ago when pedestrians were just an afterthought,” White said.
“Given how many turning drivers muscle their way through crowded crosswalks, it should come as no surprise that many pedestrians instead choose to cross mid-block, thinking there is less chance that cars will come out of nowhere.”
He added, “Jaywalking crackdowns divert precious resources from the traffic enforcement measures that are proven to work: targeting drivers who speed and fail to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.”
Asked for comment on the new jaywalking measures, a spokesman for the mayor pointed to de Blasio’s comments at a press conference last week, at which he said he felt “the car has been a little too sacred.”
I think a lot of it is, people who have a license and are not under the influence, but are driving too fast. I still think that’s our number one problem, and not being mindful and not respecting pedestrians…Lets be clear: the central problem is vehicles being used wrongly and endangering others.
Yet a central theme of NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton’s career has been giving his precinct commanders leeway to tailor Broken Windows policing to their neighborhoods—he even spoke ofincreased jaywalking enforcement as a way in which Broken Windows policing could be expanded.
At that same press conference on Friday, de Blasio told the press, “I believe in the Broken Windows strategy.”
The mayor has said he will attend a memorial walk for those killed in traffic collisions this Sunday at noon.
http://gothamist.com/2015/11/11/vision_zero_nypd_jaywalking.php
***In early 2014, an 84-year-old man was bloodied during an encounter with police officers who were trying to issue him a jaywalking summonses on the Upper West Side as part of a crackdown there on disorderly pedestrians.***
So the brave heroes roughed up an 84-year-old man because they felt it was terribly important to issue a summons for jaywalking. That demonstrates just how concerned these noble officers were about his safety.
May all pigs rot in hell.
Brilliant!!!
So now the pigs will shoot them dead before the drivers have a chance to run them over.
Yup.
The only way to safely cross the Street is to jay walk. If you try to cross with the light, you’ll get hit by drivers making a turn. Plus, drivers “block the box” so there is nowhere for anyone to legally go.
People are actually very conscientious about stopping for pedestrians here, Angel. (mostly, anyway).
Fat fine if you get caught not.
its happening here as well and its really bad. and yet no one sees the pattern. its stepped up from previous years. perhaps the idea is to get people off the streets.