Bicycle Safety
Streetsblog Basics
City Council Bills to Release Traffic Data Pass Committee Unanimously
Three bills to open up information about traffic and street safety to the public cleared the City Council's transportation committee unanimously today. According to committee chair James Vacca, the bills are scheduled for a floor vote this Wednesday. Two of the bills, in particular, should provide New Yorkers with a much clearer picture of what's happening on their streets and empower them to fight for increased safety.
February 14, 2011
DOT Presents Full Menu of Street Improvements for Jackson Heights
When large numbers of pedestrians, trucks and cars battle for limited space, you get a traffic mess. When that traffic mess is in one of the nation’s first high-density garden communities, which now is also one of the nation’s most diverse communities, you get Jackson Heights.
February 14, 2011
269 People Killed in NYC Traffic Crashes Last Year
According to DOT data, 269 people died in traffic crashes on the streets of New York City last year, 11 more than in 2009. While that total shows New York City's streets to be the safest of any major American city and less deadly than a generation ago, as Mayor Bloomberg said when announcing the same data last year, "even one traffic fatality is too many."
February 7, 2011
Tonight: Get In on the Ground Floor of Steve Levin’s Traffic Task Force
Brooklyn Council Member Steve Levin will host the first meeting of a new "traffic task force" tonight in Boerum Hill. According to Levin spokesperson Hope Reichbach, the group is convening in response to a number of long-time neighborhood traffic issues.
February 2, 2011
How the Taxi of Tomorrow Can Make Cycling Safer
More than 13,000 yellow cabs ply NYC streets, carrying more than 600,000 passengers each day. That's a lot of chances for a familiar risk to city cyclists -- car doors opening in traffic.
December 2, 2010
Eric Adams Talks Speeding and Street Safety on a Neighborhood Walkabout
In September, State Senator Eric Adams introduced a bill that would add a component about interacting with pedestrians and cyclists to the licensing course for first-time New York State drivers. He said he's pushing for better driver education to "make the roads safer for those who use the roads other than vehicles."
November 19, 2010
Take a Look at Eric Adams’ Bike Safety Bill (and a German Driving Test)
For everyone curious about the bike safety bill from State Senator Eric Adams that we mentioned on Monday, here are the basics.
October 6, 2010
No Need for Speed: Twenty MPH Is Plenty for Us
Earlier this month, the New York City Department of Transportation announced
plans to experiment with 20 mph zones -- replacing the city's default
30 mph speed limit in one pilot neighborhood. Whoever gets the first 20
mph treatment will see benefits that residents of British cities and
towns have become increasingly familiar with in recent years.
August 30, 2010
See a Pattern of Deadly Dump Trucks? Don’t Bother Federal Safety Officials
The driver of a private garbage truck ignored a bicyclist riding alongside and crushed him as the truck rounded the corner of Varick Avenue and Meserole Street in Bushwick last Wednesday evening, BushwickBK.com has reported, citing a preliminary NYPD investigation. According to police, the victim was Eling Rivera, 51, of East New York (a conflicting identification has surfaced in this Streetsblog comment thread).
July 13, 2010
Victims’ Families and Electeds Urge Paterson to Sign Traffic Safety Law
With the stroke of a pen, Governor David Paterson could make New York's streets safer for walking and biking. Hayley and Diego's Law, which creates a new charge for law enforcement to bring against drivers who carelessly injure pedestrians and cyclists, needs only his signature to become law. At a rally at City Hall today, elected officials and Transportation Alternatives joined the families of children killed by reckless drivers to urge the governor to sign the legislation.
July 7, 2010