Newly-elected New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio is moving quickly on many fronts, and one of them is to reduce the City’s frightening number of pedestrian fatalities — 176 in 2013.
DeBlasio’ s administration has issued a 42 page plan that is based on a Swedish program called “Vision Zero,” which is based on the philosophy that every traffic-related fatality is preventable, and sets a goal of zero deaths. New York’s Plan includes some conventional and sometimes controversial ideas such as more red light cameras. The Mayor says the City will not rely on citywide blitz of jaywalking tickets. The program will, however, include such items as wider parking lanes, lowering the speed limit on city streets from 30 to 25, “precinct level” (that is, neighborhood based) assessments of pedestrian high-risk areas, greater fines for distracted walking (walking against the light while being distracted by an electronic device), restrictions on double parking by delivery vehicles, and — gotta love this idea — a proposal that taxicab meters will be automatically turned off if the taxi exceeds the speed limit.
New York City’s plan highlights an area of teen driver training that, in my view, is often neglected, which is pedestrian safety. In other words, when we teach teens driving skills and the rules of the road, how often do we teach them about where they are most likely to find pedestrians putting themselves at risk? Three of the biggest examples are in the area of double parked vehicles, especially trucks; where lots of people are on their cell phones or distracted by headphones or earbuds; and anywhere in a congested shopping area. Parents would do well to take a cue from NYC’s plan and spend a few minutes with their teen drivers about watching out for pedestrians and bystanders — where to expect them, and thus where the most vigilance is needed.
