[Baltimore Spokes: Something very similar could be written about Baltimore.]
Despite acres of new pedestrian space and a 1,800-mile bicycle network in
development, in 2007 there were still 79,510 car crashes in our city, including
11,035 incidents of a motor vehicle hitting a pedestrian. In 2007, 273 people
were killed in car crashes and the majority of them were pedestrians. Being
struck by a car while walking remains the number two cause of injury-related
death for New York City adults over 45, second only to an accidental fall, and
it is the number one injury-related cause of death for New York City children
under 14. It is increasingly evident that the fatal consequences of New York
City streets are reliant on more than infrastructure. What good is a crosswalk
with a car blocking it? What use are red lights when 1.23 million vehicles
speed through them every day? This everyday behavior terrifies New Yorkers.
The lack of action to counter this behavior is a problem. As the number of
pedestrians, cyclists and drivers killed in New York City car crashes remains
unchanged, the number of summons issued for the most dangerous traffic
violations is actually declining. Transportation Alternatives’ Executive Order:
A Mayoral Strategy for Traffic Safety outlines the breadth of the problem,
and on the basis of our expertise, offers extensive recommendations towards
a solution. Mayor Bloomberg, we strongly urge you to recognize the problem
of traffic safety; please read, consider and act on the recommendations
outlined herein.
In the month of October 2008, there were 16 reported instances in which a
vehicle crashed into a person. Between October 1 and October 24 alone,
seven people were struck by cars and were fortunate enough to survive. In
those same 24 days, motor vehicle drivers killed 11 pedestrians and 2 cyclists:
five of the drivers hit and ran; one drove on a suspended license; none of the
drivers were charged with a crime. Had the moving violations that caused
these deaths, the speeding, red light running and failure to yield not resulted
in a crash, it is extremely unlikely that any of the drivers’ illegal actions
would have been caught. However these fatalities are not the only disastrous
effect of the failure to enforce moving violations. For every fatality, there are
hundreds of crashes that cause debilitating injury, for every injury there are
thousands of terrifying crashes, and for every crash there are millions of New
Yorkers whose quality of life suffers under the toll of dangerous traffic in their
community.
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The Village of Cross Keys "MovieFest" —a month-long series of free movies in the Cross Keys courtyard on Saturday nights throughout the month of June. The MovieFest line-up will feature blockbuster films, each with a Baltimore twist.
