COURT: BAD STREET DESIGN LIABLE IN NYC CRASH

-> Curbed reports transportation experts agree that poor street design—and the driver behavior it enables—is responsible for many of the U.S.'s astronomically high number of traffic deaths. Now, in a landmark case, the New York State Court of Appeals has found New York City's street design liable for a 2004 crash that left a 12-year old boy riding a bike with multiple skull fractures and reduced mental and physical capacities. The city's leaders had been advised multiple times before the crash that the stretch of street was particularly dangerous. The court ruled, "an unjustifiable delay in implementing a remedial plan constitutes a breach of the municipality's duty to the public." The city was found 40 percent liable, and ordered to pay $19 million of the $20 million settlement to the boy. The city narrowed the street from four lanes to three by repainting the medians. However, from 2007 to 2016, the same street saw a shocking four fatalities, including the death of a 17-year-old cyclist. Late last year—almost 12 years after the 12-year old boy's crash—New York City's Department of Transportation finally announced major design changes to the street. http://bit.ly/2j03bXP

from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.