NYMTC Regional Pedestrian Safety Study - New York Metropolitan ...

IV. PEDESTRIAN SAFETY ISSUES IN THE NYMTC REGION
This chapter presents and describes the pedestrian safety issues in the NYMTC region based on
the interviews and public meetings. It should be noted that in several cases people were stating
opinions that they did not support with evidence; some of their opinions may be controversial or
incorrect. This chapter attempts to fairly represent the input, and therefore included what people
said with few qualifications.
In several cases, details from national studies have been included to give increased insight into
the regional issues. Additionally, Chapter 2 uses regional and national statistics to describe the
level and nature of pedestrian safety and to contrast pedestrian safety characteristics in this
region with national characteristics.
The issues have been organized under the following categories: behavioral issues, issues of
specific high-risk groups, issues that are specific to a particular situation or location,
infrastructure and land use issues, and other issues not pertinent to these categories. As was
frequently noted, the NYMTC region varies considerably, from the extreme density of buildings,
traffic and pedestrians in Manhattan to rural areas in the further parts of the outer suburban
counties; in places the issues are attributed to a specific area, frequently based on the location of
the organization that brought the issue. However, many of the issues that one part of the region
claimed as specific to their area were also brought up in contrasting areas. Also note that this
chapter deals specifically with the problems and issues. Potential solutions are discussed in the
next chapter.
4.1 Behavioral issues
One of the most frequently mentioned issues was the behavior of either pedestrians or drivers or
both. Many of the behavioral problems are common to both groups; motorists and pedestrians
do not respect each other’s right of way, and motorists have not absorbed the concept of sharing
the road with non-motorized users.
Common issues
Alcohol and drugs are problems for both drivers and pedestrians. There is better evidence for
alcohol involvement than for drugs. Nationally alcohol use by either the pedestrian or the driver
or both was reported in 47 percent of pedestrian fatalities. The pedestrian had been drinking in
38 percent of the cases, the driver in 16 percent. The overlap of crashes where both driver and
pedestrian were drinking was nine percent. (NCSA, 2006) The problem is worse at night; 54
percent of pedestrians killed between 9 PM and 6 AM had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08
or more (IIHS, 2006). It is probable that limited nighttime visibility is compounding the effect of
the alcohol.
NYMTC Pedestrian Safety Study 35