Boy, 9, man, 73, killed in separate accidents in Manhattan's Upper West Side
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Hasn't there been news about bicyclists in NYC getting into accidents with motor vehicles and wasn't there a thread about this before?
Quote:
Originally Posted by nei
I suppose you could argue that people walk less so it doesn't matter, but the difference will be made up in higher auto accidents.
Then consider suburbs that are more pedestrian friendly and have housing options closer to main streets, or one where drivers more strictly adhere to traffic rules. Not all suburbs are alike.
People in the suburbs drive just as crazy, and its probably even less pedestrian friendly. However, no one actually walks in the suburbs which is why there are fewer pedestrians getting run over.
There are some suburban neighborhoods where kids and their guardians do a lot of walking. In the villages of Scarsdale, Irvington, Katonah, Bronxville and Garden City to name some, it is pretty common to see kids in groups or older companions do a lot of walking. They either go to main street or friends' homes. Wouldn't the much lower number of yellowcab taxis, delivery vans, enforcement on traffic rules and restrictions on commercial vehicles makes a big difference to their safety?
As long as they stay within that neighborhood, probably. Still, suburban car traffic is generally faster than city traffic and drivers expect pedestrians less. Except for certain sections, I would say NYC feels safer to walk in than Long Island (of course, within a residential neighborhood is fine). Those areas you described aren't exactly typical of NYC suburbs. Here's the auto accident death rate by city and metro in 2009 (includes pedestrian deaths):
Death rate of 3.9 per 100k in NYC proper, 5.1 for the metro as a whole. The suburbs must be above the metro average, maybe a bit over 6 per 100k. So overall transportation-wise, the city is safer. [It's hard to compare pedestrian fatalities as the city so many more pedestrians, but I'd guess safety in numbers]
Pedestrians made up 51% of auto accident deaths in 2009 in NYC. From this rather detailed study by the NYC DOT:
That is why I stated earlier that these considerations would apply to those who can afford it. Obviously not everyone can afford to live in GCV. And while such neighborhoods are not typical, there are enough of them to provide people with the means with viable options. My first neighborhood with my own kid in the tri state was in Queens. I could not afford to live in a safer neighborhood at the time so I had no choice but to play cat and mouse with cavalier drivers when crossing streets. Had to cross QB with baby carriage everytime we went to the pedia. By the time I could afford to live somewhere safer I was out.
/\ Interesting you mentioned that. Families on a limited income (in general) cannot afford to move to safer or more pedestrian friendly, walkable suburbs for a variety of reasons. And unfortunately there are a lot of families that have no other choice than to live in dangerous (besides reckless driving) neighborhoods with their children.
I'm single with no kids but the dangerous motorcycle gangs and craziness in Inwood was the main reason I moved the heck out of there to Sunnyside as soon as I could afford to- once I saw a woman pushing baby stroller right across from a park nearly get run down by one them riding their dirt bikes/ ATV's on the sidewalk- with a traffic officer who saw the whole thing just sit in her NYPD SUV; I knew that was definitely not a pedestrian safe area and there would be minimal effort to make it so unless something terrible happened, which a few months later did.
This is veering off into a slightly different topic but along the same lines of how safe it is for young kids/ families in NYC? That answer depends on the neighborhood really... the NYPD, at least during the Bloomberg administration and specifically in Manhattan, seemed to enforce laws more readily in higher income neighborhoods. At least from what I saw based on Upper Manhattan vs neighborhoods below 96th Street. They knew about but simply didn't care about motorcycle gangs until that incident in Washington Heights was picked up by various news agencies around the globe this past summer- that's what it takes I guess; worldwide bad press.... The only solution is to move away from dangerous neighborhoods for those who can actually afford to do so.
This why people should stop asking "is it safe". It's all relative and you never know.
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