Streetsblog New York City

Bollards seem kind of impractical on a large scale. It's not like you can cost-effectively line every residential street with bollards, can you?

The nine point plan includes quite a few good recommendations, though, noticeably, since Shelly signed on, it does not include a call for speed enforcement or red light enforcement cameras or revamping the vehicle and traffic laws --- all things that as Speaker he can help advance.

Don't forget, LOL, that Sheldon Silver said that he supported congestion pricing and would have voted for it. (He just failed to bring it for a vote, one must surmise, to spare his members from having to serve in a transparent government.)

Moser,

You're absolutely right about the reason for bollards in European cities. However, the effect is to keep cars from parking *or* jumping up onto the sidewalk.

The bollards make a strong visual statement as well that cars are not permitted on the sidewalk.

Also in some streets in Madrid and Seville, there are retractable bollards that prevent any vehicles except those owned by password-equipped residents from entering. (I think they can also buzz delivery vehicles in). The streets where those exist are remarkably calm.

Bollards in general, in my experience at least, create safety for pedestrians and keep cars from infringing on their space. They are by no means perfect, nor are they a magic bullet that will prevent every tragic crash. They are just part of a comprehensive approach.

Trucks nowadays really haven't changed all that much in terms of design for the past 40 or 50 years. Whether they're panel trucks, like FedEx or UPS uses, or vans, they have incredible bad visability and seem to account for a hunge number of fatalities in this city.

The auto industry has come a long way in recent years making cars a lot safer for passengers. Why not use some of this technology to make trucks, particularly trucks used for local delivery in congested urban areas, safer for pedestrians too? Large high visibility windshields, not unlike the windsheilds we see on busses, would help eliminate blind spots and enable drivers to see pedestrians who are right in front of them. Higher end cars are equipped with rear view cameras. Why not have these in trucks, or better yet, have sensors that automatically stop the truck when it's in reverse and detects an object (or person) within 18 inches of the rear bumper?

Maybe delivery trucks, or all motor vehicles for that matter, should turn off automatically if sensors don't detect an adult sized driver in the drivers seat. How many times have we heard about run-away vehicles or motor vehicles operated by small children? If we can have hybrid GPS enabled taxi cabs we certainly should be able to have better delivery trucks.

Again, all this will do no good if people DO NOT TURN THEIR ENGINES OFF AND LEAVE THE VEHICLE. I know crime is down, but leaving a vehicle running and the driver walks awary?

In a city with fast moving traffic and few dedicated locations(alleys etc..) for deliveries curbs and sidewalks represent an illusion of safety for pedestrians . If you've got cars going 30mph is a four inch curb going to stop it from getting onto the sidewalk? I'm sure DOT agrees because they put yellow bollards in front of all the new muni-meters. If sidewalks were truly safe then we wouldn't need to protect our parking meters so vigorously.

Yes: space where pedestrians /don't need to worry about cars/ is the key. Sidewalks are 99% car-free, but that 1% may kill you.

Today walkin down Franklin with my dog an SUV did a three-point-turn onto the sidewalk about a yard from me. Using the sidewalk saved him from having to pull a five-pointer, I think.

So he clears me by a yard, makes eye contact, waves thank-you when I spin around surprised; it's not as if he's about to hit me. But, man, big fukken SUV on my sidewalk, up over the curb like it wasn't no thing.

Just not okay.

A major issue here is that the Chinatown van was idling.

NYC has a routinely-ignored, 3-minute idling law already on the books. (Admin Code 24-163) Imagine a cop checking his watch; three minutes is unenforceable.

NYC needs an enforceable (and enforced) one-minute idling law that targets all vehicles--including EMS vehicles not in the active service. The public needs education to know that the law is there and that they have a right to ask drivers to turn off.

Here's how you can help right now:

Speak out for NYC Intro 2007-163, which restricts idling in school zones to one-minute. This is the first step toward citywide restriction.

Jan. 26, 2009, 10 AM (250 Broadway, 16th fl.) is the final committee hearing. Come speak your mind!

Jan. 28, 2009, 9:30 AM (City Hall steps) is the rally before the vote. Come hold a sign, wave a fiery stick, walk on your hands, speak up!

Let our elected officials know that when it comes to the safety of our streets enough is enough. It is time to get smart and get tough. Idling is harmful to health and environment, wasteful and against the law. Now, we can add 'dangerous to pedestrians.'

The Chinatown tragedy might never have happen if the driver had simply turned the key.

Great idea, Rebecca! I'm going to contact my councilmember and my son's principal.

in terms of the law and in terms of the culture we must put reckless drivers in the same category as drunk drivers. back in the day, drunk drivers were not held accountable; thanks to new laws they now are. reckless drivers-- so long as they are sober and don't leave the scene-- are not held accountable when they kill or maim. Plenty of DA's want to bring charges but they can't because the way the law is now, a driver has to be shitfaced or committing two or more violations. if a driver breaks a traffic law and kills someone, 19 times out of 20 they walk.

Yeah, Ian, maybe it could be done well. Say if DOT designed 'em with explicitly this purpose in mind:

> Europeans generally line streets with bollards to keep cars from parking on sidewalks

Maronite Catholic at Remsen on Henry fills the sidewalks and bike lanes with SUVs each Sunday, and they're protected by cops who'll ticket any resident who double parks to load (that's me). It's pretty offensive civilly let alone on fourteenth and first amendment grounds. I'd love it to be physically impossible.

Anecdote: I dented my car's right door parallel parking with no curb for reference. The sidewalk had sunk to level with the road, so no curb told me I had cut too far in, and up against an iron flowerbed.

I'm not sure if bollards are necessarily the answer. Bollards also act as an impediment to pedestrian activity on the sidewalk.

Despite the horrific nature of the Chinatown tragedy, I don't believe that it represents the majority of situations involving pedestrian injuries and fatalities. I would tend to think that most injuries occur in the street rather than on the sidewalk. Therefore altering the streetscape to slow the original design speeds, decreasing lane width (and correspondingly increasing sidewalk width and adding bicycle lanes), and implementing parking policies that allow for daylighting would seem to have a greater impact on pedestrian safety than adding bollards.

Any comments to the contrary would be appreciated because this is just something that I have to started to think about.