Can someone explain to me why pedestrians are being hit in NYC? Are they wandering onto the roads? Are the cars driving onto the pavement? Are pedestrians stepping in front of cars? Cars running red lights while pedestrians assume that "green" means they can go?
I'm honestly curious what sorts of "pedestrian accidents" people have seen in NYC?
The number one cause is the "left hook". This is when someone is turning left and doesn't notice pedestrians in the crosswalk moving across the street the driver is turning onto. Unless there is a dedicated left-arrow green, these pedestrians almost always have the right of way, but the driver doesn't notice them because they are too focused on the oncoming traffic or other hazards, and completely forget to check. I've attempted a crude ASCII diagram. C is a car with a green light, attempting to turn left, P is a pedestrian walking up
Bought an (almost) new Sonata a few months back and it's been great. But the A-pillars are pretty thick and sloped in the perfect was to block my visibility. I have to often lean up a foot or so and turn my head if I want to see to my left clearly. It can actually be rather scary at times to not have that line of sight, recommend checking that out on any cars you buy. It's not a complete deal-breaker, but if I did a lot more urban driving it might be.
I think I'm a careful driver, and I (see other comment) recently drove into Manhattan from out of state. I almost killed several people. I don't live there, but my impression is that the expectations are so fine-tuned, that one small miscalculation and it's OH MY GOD MY LIFE IS CHANGED FOREVER.
Edit: Most of the close calls were straight on, no turn. Some son-of-a-bee-biscuit suddenly decides he needs to stop his car right in front of you for some important business, you end up in the middle of an intersection. In your eagerness to get you and your family out of harm's way, you inch around the car in front, and the pedestrian pops out of nowhere. They thought you weren't moving when suddenly you realize you need to get the heck out of the middle of Madison Ave and accelerate like a mofo so you don't get rear-ended by that bus.
The secret to driving in Manhattan is not worrying about the people behind you. The busses won't rear end you, and if anyone else does, big deal its low speed traffic anyway.
Traffic flow in Manhattan is geared around pedestrians and cabs (i.e. sudden stops). You just have to concentrate on what's in front of you and trust the guy behind you is doing the same.
One thing of interest when we compare driving in NYC to elsewhere: in NYC you are not allowed to turn right on a red light. Same goes for Montreal. This definitely changes the car-pedestrian dynamic, but I have no idea how it might factor into safety issues etc.
I suspect it's only a small part of the big picture why driving in NYC is categorically different than suburbs.
I haven't seen anyone get hit, but all forms of traffic in NYC (especially midtown Manhattan) are very aggressive.
Pedestrians do regularly walk out in front of traffic against the light. Cars, especially taxis, will speed up to run yellow/red lights, even when there are crowds of pedestrians at the corner spilling onto the streets. Bikes often run lights and ride against traffic. Cars and pedestrians block bike lanes constantly.
It's remarkable so few accidents happen, really. I think part of it is, although NYC drivers can be annoying and aggressive, they are also skilled and attentive.
I totally agree. I now live in NYC and have a car, which I use exclusively to leave NYC every month or so. I haven't had any real close calls, but still I can't help but become aggressive after about 15 minutes when driving through the packed streets in Queens, Brooklyn, or Manhattan. You have to take every inch you can as soon as you can, or you aren't getting anywhere anytime soon.
Additionally, the shoulders are always packed with parked and stopped cars, and cars or trucks are always stopping in travel lanes because there's no room on the shoulder and they have to stop to drop off or pick up. It's amazingly frustrating. It leads to the perplexing saying "no one has a car, the roads are too crowded" or something like that.
It's probably also due to near-gridlock at times which "forces" cars/trucks to force turns when they really shouldn't be--but if they really played by the rules they'd be stuck there. The last time I was in NYC I saw at least a couple of occasions of pedestrians almost being hit (with lots of shouting involved afterwards) for this reason.
It's also true that many NYC pedestrians tend to cut across streets whenever they perceive an opening.
I was walking up one of the avenues in Manhattan once, and came to the next intersection. The cross-street had the green light, and no traffic just them. But a van was parked on the corner, obstructing the view. I peered around, saw a car approaching at 30 mph, and shouted "Stop!" just in time to keep some people next to me from stepping out in front of it.
I cross against lights quite regularly, if I can see that it is safe. Some people drop the condition.
I just visited Sweden where I learned that cars are not allowed to park 10 meters from the corner. I could be wrong on the 10m (someone on the street just told me when I was parking) - but the idea that cars should not be parked adjacent to the intersection is great.
There are rules in much or most of the US on distances from corners. They just happen to be violated, a lot. I live in Washington, DC, where one does find signs explicitly setting the distance, but it seems to me from long ago driver's tests that jurisdictions do have a standard distance.
In addition to the many other reasons people have given, there actually is a fairly regular stream of news stories from NYC about drivers driving onto the sidewalk and/or into buildings and hurting/killing people walking on the sidewalk or even inside!
1. tourists everywhere
2. tourists staring up at buildings (big no no)
3. NYPD has better things to do than go after speeders. everybody is flying
4. culture of impatience...people are in too much of a hurry to cross safely
I'm honestly curious what sorts of "pedestrian accidents" people have seen in NYC?