Brooklyn's Dangerous Intersections
The tragic death of an eight-year-old boy on Saturday, who was struck by a car on Adams and Livingston Streets while riding his bike with his dad, is raising awareness about the dangers of downtown streets to bicyclists and pedestrians. The Brooklyn Eagle reports that “residents wonder if a solution for a gauntlet of deadly…
The tragic death of an eight-year-old boy on Saturday, who was struck by a car on Adams and Livingston Streets while riding his bike with his dad, is raising awareness about the dangers of downtown streets to bicyclists and pedestrians. The Brooklyn Eagle reports that “residents wonder if a solution for a gauntlet of deadly Downtown intersections will ever be found.” The non-profit Transportation Alternatives has compiled statistics for the area, showing that 39 people (28 pedestrians and 11 bicyclists) were hit by motor vehicles at that same spot from 1995 to 2005. “A half a block east on Livingston Street, eight pedestrians were struck during the same time period; one of them died. A block north, at the notorious Adams/Livingston/Fulton Street intersection, 32 people were struck and injured,” they write. “A few steps away, at Adams and Willoughby, 11 people were hit. Next to this, at Fulton and Willoughby, one more. At Fulton near Red Hook Lane, another one.” We have 150 miles of bicycle lanes in Brooklyn, with many more in progress, and the DOT instituted a six-month trial of a new downtown traffic plan beginning in June, hoping to ameliorate the recurring issue. Clearly, though, it’s not enough. One Brooklynite has been lobbying for a pedestrian overpass to curve over Adams Street, so pedestrians and bicyclists can avoid it altogether.
Another Victim of Downtown Traffic [Brooklyn Eagle]
disagree. the explicit nature of the photo conveys the seriousness of the issue in a way that words alone could not. we’re talking about kids getting killed in traffic — why sugarcoat it?
Agree. Picture too much. RIP Alexander!
That photo is -over the top- and in extreme poor taste.
Its like the suicide photo from last month in Brooklyn Heights with the bloody knife, can’t remember the paper.
Change the picture back. Thats just disrespectful to the family.
Can we have an anti-litterbug campaign as well?
That new picture is too much for me. Can’t you put the old one back.
“Pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists would benefit from a massive media/education blitz that explicitly states rights and responibilities, and the law.”
I think Hal said it all. As a biker (biked daily to work from Prospect Heights to Midtown from 1991-1998), pedestrian (now taking subway to work) AND automobile owner, I don’t think any single party bears more responsibility than the other. We’re all making mistakes, and we all have to get it together.
“On high speed roadways, bike lanes are stupid. Riding a bike in the middle of high speed traffic is asking for trouble.”
Agreed. The high-speed roadway should be eliminated.
Maybe bicyclists should learn to get off and walk their damn bikes on the sidewalk, instead of riding in between pedestrians and acting like the sidewalk is their own personal indy500 race track?
fsrq wasn’t out of line- especially in reference to Adams. It’s a huge roadway- people zipping off the bridge at high speed, huge amounts of traffic in both directions. A little reality here. It’s dangerous. No one is blaming the father- no way. but if I had a kid, like fsqr, I wouldn’t have him- or me- bike riding there. The city is stupid to even put bike lanes on major thoroughfares like that. Sorry- there it is. On high speed roadways, bike lanes are stupid. Riding a bike in the middle of high speed traffic is asking for trouble.
Brooklyn drivers have gotten much worse over the past ten years. You really don’t know how bad it’s gotten unless you’re a bicyclist or a motorcyclist. I’ve all but stopped riding motorcycles in the city because it’s gotten so dangerous with all the idiot drivers.
In addition to a shameless lack of law enforcement against dangerous drivers (the PD seems to be mostly interested in “crackdowns” these days), I blame cell phones and the mentality of invincibility of SUV drivers in general. I’d like to get all of the latter out of their steel cocoons and on the street on a push bike for a week s so they can see the threat that hotdogging SUV drivers are to the public.
That said, what possessed this parent to put his eight year-old on a bicycle in heavy avenue traffic, especially around Livingston and Adams where pedestrians and bikers get hit all the time? A friend of mine spent three months in the hospital after she was hit by an off duty cop at Tillary and Adams, and she’s an experienced Motorcycle Safety Foundation instructor. That’s about as irresponsible as it gets for a parent. The city lets kids up to 12 years-old ride their bikes on the sidewalk for a good reason.
I’m on this one with dittoberg and fsrq. As pro bike as I am, bike riders need to get a grip on their egos. Save the planet won’t do much when you’re sending pedestrians to the hospital. A few weeks ago I watched a father with 2 very young kids biking down the street. The kids were on bikes behind the father- he couldn’t see them. How much sense does that make? None to me.
I’ve been nearly hit, I’ve been yelled at on the Brooklyn Bridge when the subways were flooded and thousands of people had to walk across the bridge to work. the pedestrian lane wasn’t wide enough to hold us all, yet bikers kept shouting and zipping by, nearly causing several accidents.
I think it’s horribly sad a child was killed. I can’t even address it- its such a painful thing. Kids and animals- can’t stand to see them hurt.
The roads need an overhaul, the rules need an overhaul, more importantly drivers, bikers and pedestrians need an overhaul.but frankly, whether or not you’re hit by a 200 pound guy on a bike, or a 2 ton vehicle, the effects are equally deadly so saying one or the other as more to blame is foolish.