Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Pedestrian fatalities on the rise in New York City.

http://nypost.com/2013/11/30/pedestrian-fatalities-on-the-rise-across-city/
If there was one claim Bloomberg supporters could make that would shut me up it was that his traffic honcho  Janet Zaddick-Khan had reduced traffic fatalities . And the numbers would seem to say so.
Then along comes the New York Post to rain on the parade. They have crunched the numbers and found that it's more and more dangerous to be a pedestrian everywhere in New York City.
I know that with the slow non Wall Street economy and with a fierce reduction in curbside parking there are fewer cars on the road. I don't know if this should result in fewer or more pedestrian deaths but that is what we are getting. If the Bloomberg Administration can take credit for fewer accidents overall it has to take the blame then for more pedestrians being killed.
The Montreal based company that owns bike sharing programs world wide is in deep financial mud. The plan to expand Citibike past the wealthy and tourist centered parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn are not mentioned any more. Is this a sign of a program that's doing well? I doubt that.
A guy in my garage was talking with an emergency room nurse from Roosevelt Hospital. She said they're pretth busy with Citibike accident victims- especially on weekends.