The New York City Department of Transportation unveiled a plan to make the city’s streets safer for senior citizens who are more likely to be victims of pedestrian accidents. According to a report on Streetsblog.org, safety advocates say that the new plan does not do enough to address the magnitude of this problem.
A ‘Data Driven’ Initiative
DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez made the announcement at a news
conference in Washington Heights that 50 intersections each year will get turn-calming treatments such as plastic bollards, rubber speed bumps and paint markings in an attempt to get drivers to slow down. However, critics of the plan said it would take the city at least 800 years to hit all of the city’s 40,000 intersections at this rate. One safety advocate said on social media that making 50 intersections safer each year is like “pushing a boulder up a hill with a toothpick.”
However, officials defended their plan by saying that it is “data driven” and will target neighborhoods with high rates of senior injuries and fatalities. Rodriguez said that the city doesn’t plan to fix every single intersection. Instead, they are focusing on the ones that present most hazards, particularly to elderly pedestrians, she said.
Under the plan, Streetsblog says several neighborhoods are left out including Washington Heights (where the news conference was held announcing the plan) and vast sections of Southeast Brooklyn including Brighton Beach and Coney Island, which are both areas with large senior populations. Staten Island was also completely left out, the report said.
Elderly Pedestrians at Risk
The new initiative is based on the results of a study titled “Pedestrian Safety and Older New Yorkers,” which revealed that senior pedestrians are not struck more frequently than pedestrians of other age groups, but that they do suffer much more severe injuries. The study also showed that senior pedestrian deaths are more likely to occur close to the victims’ homes and that they are often struck in the middle of the day.
According to DOT, in spite of comprising less than 15% of the city’s population, New Yorkers who are 65 or older represent more than 45% of the total number of pedestrian fatalities each year. Older Asian New Yorkers are killed in traffic accidents at a higher rate than Black, white or Latino New Yorkers, the study says, most likely because of densely populated older Asian communities in neighborhoods such as Chinatown, Sunset Park and Flushing where people are more likely to walk than drive.
Seeking Compensation for Injuries and Damages
Injured victims of pedestrian accidents and bicycle accidents can seek compensation from at-fault parties for damages including, but not limited to, medical expenses, lost wages and benefits, hospitalization, rehabilitation, permanent injuries, disabilities, past and future pain and suffering, etc. Families that have lost loved ones in pedestrian accidents can seek compensation for damages such as medical and funeral costs, pain and suffering, lost future income, etc.
Pedestrian accident victims and their families should also remember that they can seek compensation for injuries or losses in collisions even if the victim was not walking in a marked crosswalk and even if the driver involved in collision was not charged. Our law firm recovered the full one million dollar insurance policy for a girl who was not in the crosswalk when a motor vehicle hit her.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If you or a loved one has been injured in a pedestrian accident or bicycle accident, or if you have lost a loved one in an auto accident caused by a negligent (careless) driver, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you.
For over 50 years, our skilled accident attorneys have established a proven track record of helping injured victims get fair compensation for their losses. We recently recovered $5,600,000 for a bicyclist who was hit by a van, and $2,550,000 for another victim of a truck accident, and $3,000,000 for a pedestrian who was hit by a car, and $2,000,000 in a hit-and-run accident, and the full $1,000,000 insurance policy for a pedestrian who was hit by a truck, and $4,625,000 for a driver who was in a car and was hit by a van, and $2,500,000 for a man who fell through an improperly secured hole. Also, one of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury and/or medical malpractice cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other TOLL FREE phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Please visit us at: www.WORK4YOULAW.com
Source: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2022/06/15/citys-plan-to-make-streets-safer-for-seniors-would-take-800-years-to-fully-roll-out/