Driver hits 69-year-old man who was crossing East Village street, leaving him in critical condition https://t.co/nDgOneJqow pic.twitter.com/vzhxSpynfz
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) September 21, 2018
There were several reader reports last night about a car striking a pedestrian last evening on Second Avenue and Ninth Street.
According to the Daily News, a 69-year-old man was crossing west on Second Avenue when a Honda Accord making a left turn from Ninth Street struck the pedestrian around 8 p.m.
Per the News:
A bicyclist riding down Second Ave. said the driver had the green light but was turning too fast to stop for the victim who was in the crosswalk.
The victim was taken to Bellevue and is reportedly in critical condition.
No charges were immediately filed against the 35-year-old motorist, according to the News.
12 comments:
Why fill charges? Drivers can hit anyone they want. Stop for pedestrians in crosswalks, pffffff.
Right. Driver takes the corner at high speed like it's a bend on the Long Island Expressway, smooshes old dude. Cy Vance and NYPD shrug, go "Hey, he had the light and the old man was jaywalking, stuff happens and life is a mystery, yadda yadda." Driver gets off scott free because it's effectively legal to kill people with cars in NYC, expresses surprise because this never happens to him on the Long Island Expressway. Rinse and repeat ad infinitum.
I saw this on the Citizen app and it did not look good as they were loading the victim into the ambulance. My condolences to the victim and hopefully he pulls through what was a totally avoidable accident, The Daily News goes to pains to report that the driver had a green light, but so did the pedestrian, who was legally in the crosswalk and was mowed down because the driver was turning too quickly. If a car can’t stop in time in order to yield to pedestrian in a crosswalk, then they might as well just ignore all other norms of safe driving blow through red lights.
This Vison Zero thing is nonsense and needs to be rethought. Hit and run accidents are actually up 26% over the past 5 years, and only 9% of hit and run drivers who cause an injury are ever arrested. While fatalities are down, at least 1 person is killed by a car every single week.
This accident is similar to the female cyclist who was mowed down by a truck on 1st Avenue and 9th Street. Again, a vehicle that had the light was turning too fast and killed someone who also had the right of way. Perhaps it’s time for 4 way stop lights at all intersections, since obviously it’s just too hard for some drivers to yield to pedestrians.
I've become less and less likely to call them car "accidents," favoring the no-fault car "crashes." People, it's only an accident if you thought the accelerator was the brake—and even then, it sounds fishy.
Giovanni quoth:
If a car can’t stop in time in order to yield to pedestrian in a crosswalk, then they might as well just ignore all other norms of safe driving blow through red lights.
Why not? As Matt said, "it's effectively legal to kill people with cars in NYC." Sad but true.
The other side of the coin of course is that many pedestrians cross the street: without looking/without regard to the light/looking at their phone/talking on the phone/stopping in the middle of the crosswalk/challenging cars who have a break in pedestrian traffic and are carefully trying to make their turn/listening to music/
etc. Throw in cyclists who: don't stop for lights and/or ride the wrong way or ride outside of the bike lanes and you have a real recipe for disaster. I'm not trying to excuse or minimize what happened to this poor man, but this problem is a 'two way street'.
It would be interesting to know the direction the man was walking and the part of the car that struck him. If he was hit by the center of the car, that would indicate that the driver wasn't paying attention to the crosswalk and didn't notice the victim. If he was hit by the front side that he was walking away from, that might indicate that the driver misjudged his walking speed and expected to avoid him. If he was hit by the front side as he was walking off the curb that might indicate that the he was not looking for turning cars. While I generally believe that the crosswalk belongs to pedestrians, New Yorkers in particular tend to walk off the curb then check for traffic. I'm not saying that's what this man did or that it would absolve the driver of all responsibility.
Dear careful driver,
Your comment lamely attempts to blame pedestrian victims. Here's a New York state Driving 101 refresher: When both the car and the pedestrian have the light, the pedestrian has the right of way, the car does not. The pedestrian may be walking slowly, may be on the phone or may have headphones on, in ANY circumstance a pedestrian in the crosswalk, crossing with the light, has the right of way and any vehicle or bicycle MUST yield. It may entertain you to posit otherwise but there is no other side to this coin.
For a good karma bonus, check the intersection for pedestrians before turning, if they are even near to crossing, make eye contact with them and give a courtesy hand wave to indicate you see them and would like them to cross in front of you.
You're welcome.
- A midwesterner
Agree with many of the comments here. It's too easy to drive recklessly and not suffer the consequences. Increase the penalties for bad drivers. This WILL deter bad behavior.
There is truth to both sides of this argument..as both a motorist and pedestrian in this densely populated, hyper aggressive City I have seen too many pedestrians with their heads down staring into their little plastic smart phone screens with their earplugs in walk right out onto the street oblivious of on coming traffic or if the light is red or green and I had to quickly break in front of them where they barely even look up and keep texting away. As a pedestrian I have seen too many motorists especially the TLC Uber/Lyft drivers too quickly speeding down streets and taking turns too quickly while using their horns on pedestrians who they feel are not getting out of their way fast enough. Only if both motorist and pedestrian start behaving better and showing more respect for the traffic rules and paying better attention will this City become safer to walk and cross the streets on.
A pedestrian always has the right of way walking across the crosswalk, with the light. End of story.
Dear Atticus's Mom,
Of course you are correct. But please know I am not attempting, lamely or otherwise to blame pedestrians. Pedestrians always have the right of way, end of story. Honest question: do you always wait until you have the "walk" signal before crossing? I was trying to draw attention to the fact that in addition to aggressive, law-breaking drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians share the blame for these types of accidents. Not in this particular instance, but everyday there are accidents and many more 'near misses' where the fault is not with the driver. I follow your good karma guidelines, but I can honestly say that nearly every time I am driving I witness reckless/irresponsible/law-breaking pedestrian and bicyclist behavior.
That some pedestrians/cyclists are “irresponsible” is irrelevant to this story, as he was crossing in the crosswalk, with the light.
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