Comments on: Ped Struck as Cab Runs Into Storefront at 53rd and Madison

By: Jane

Jane — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 13:59:20 +0000

I’m the person with the green bag and I saw the whole thing happen inches in front of me. This guy came out of nowhere — and if you look at how crumpled the hood of the cab is, it gives you an idea that he must have been going pretty fast.

Crazy.

By: mork

mork — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 12:26:54 +0000

He was driving somewhat cautiously? Maybe we should make all drivers smoke pot.

By: moocow

moocow — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 12:03:34 +0000

I rode from Rock Center, to Carroll Gardens to pass out candy, then back to work in Queens. There was very aggressive, angry driving, until I lined up behind a box truck where Kent becomes Franklin. This guy was driving somewhat cautiously, for Kent, (which is a race track at all hours of the day and night) In his slipstream I could smell his fresh exhalations of pot as we rolled along, on Halloween, during prime trick or treating time. And somehow it is wrong to preemptively remove these people from the driving public?

By: alex

alex — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 00:44:37 +0000

I too noticed more aggressive driving during my bike ride home last night. I couldn’t figure it out until I realized it was halloween and every a$$hole from NJ and CT decided to drive in to our city.
Why do people who live outside of NYC feel like they have to be Dale Earnhardt Jr. on steroids when they decide to drive into our city?

By: eva

eva — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 21:20:13 +0000

I was right there too. I pass that way every morning, so was freaked out for over an hour – it could have BEEN me. I hope!/wonder if she survived….

By: ddartley

ddartley — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 18:26:09 +0000

Gerg (#5), noted. It may indeed have been car fluids, not blood. I did not mean to sensationalize unnecessarily. Maybe I was a little too disturbed by seeing the aftermath not to jump to conclusions.

By: brent

brent — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 18:01:31 +0000

Not to worry people- we are guaranteed completely safe streets in the very near future. The mayor’s congestion pricing plan as well as every single other one I’ve read (in abbreviated form) all agree on “Enforcing existing traffic laws”. You don’t even need to think about the feasibility or logistics of this generalized statement. It just has a nice ring to it. You can be rest assured that no matter in what form a congestion plan arrives, we can count immediately on reckless motoring to be reigned in everywhere in the 5 boros 100% of the time.

By: Carfree Chicago

Carfree Chicago — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 17:34:11 +0000

A very simple solution to this kind of danger is street parking. Not only does it slow cars down by reducing the travel lanes, but parked cars act as a barrier between the street and sidewalk. Wide streets with no parking are designed more like highways than urban streets for people.

By: Spud Spudly

Spud Spudly — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 16:46:07 +0000

I don’t think society “condones” this type of driving. But if you mean by “this kind of driver” the kind that probably never saw a car as large as a Crown Victoria before and is now driving one 12-hours-a-day in Manhattan traffic only two weeks after getting off the plane at JFK, then yes, we do need to stop them. Is there any kind of separate road test to get a hack license? If not, there should be.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 16:01:06 +0000

Even in situations where the well-documented risks have already resulted in death, nothing gets done until SEVERAL people die over a period of years, as on Third Avenue in Brooklyn. Here’s the next “accident” (read: DEATH) waiting to happen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlSqWP5GCEI

By: ddartley

ddartley — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:42:19 +0000

This is the third pedestrian I have seen injured by a car in six months.

By: ME

ME — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:26:40 +0000

Here, here Aaron! I’m with you.

But how about the larger issue of getting drivers to slow down and drive more cautiously? Have you seen the terrific video put out by Atlanta’s PEDS? http://www.youtube.com/PEDSdotORG

By: Aaron Naparstek

Aaron Naparstek — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:22:39 +0000

Here’s one way to slow down drivers on Bleecker Street: Turn it into a transit, delivery, bike and pedestrians-only corridor.

By: Gerg

Gerg — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:18:32 +0000

They spread sand (not sawdust) on spilled gasoline, not blood. Well perhaps they spread it on any fluids near a car just in case it’s gasoline.

By: ME

ME — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:07:48 +0000

Mike — I had the same concern last night as I was biking home, and actually confronted an SUV driver who I’d seen speeding down Bleecker St. as hundreds of toddlers were out trick-or-treating. I tried the courteous tack and politely asked the driver to please slow down as he was endangering all the little kids. He just laughed me off.

Sigh. How can we get drivers to slow down? What argument could be more convincing than, “slow down before you kill a little kid!”?

By: Mark Fleischmann

Mark Fleischmann — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 14:59:13 +0000

I would love to see bollards (the thick, hard, metal type) along every sidewalk where they could possibly be installed without causing a problem.

By: mike

mike — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 14:51:16 +0000

Walking and biking around yesterday, (car) traffic was acting much more aggressively (read: psychopathic) than usual last night. This made me quite angry, as it seems these drivers didn’t notice the thousands of kids out trick-or-treating. Of course, though the cops were out in force, they didn’t seem to be enforcing any traffic laws.

Why do we accept this as status quo?

By: Jason A

Jason A — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 14:48:42 +0000

Yikes! That’s on my bike route home….