Ped fatalities are up: NJN coverage says distracted peds are to blame

According to the Tuesday, December 29th edition of NJN News, "distractions... by pedestrians ...are the main problem" leading to the increase in pedestrian fatalities (news report starts at 8min 14sec).

NJN reports that, according to a recent report by the NJ State Police* one of the reasons (others not fully explored by NJN) why pedestrian fatalities are up is that pedestrians are distracted by, phones, PDA's, MP3 players, etc.

Further in the NJN report they interview Tracy Noble of AAA Mid-Atlantic Region offices talks about "walking while distracted" however she also gets in a few seconds to talk about need for proper engineering that includes the needs of pedestrians.

The NJN report goes on to also interview Trenton Police Detective Rick Rivera who also talks almost exclusively about distracted or obstinate pedestrians. However, streetwise Trenton crossing guard, Antonio Wiley is able to get a quick quip in about drivers not respecting his authority and the pedestrians' right-of-way.

Now, I'm not at all saying that pedestrians are 100% innocent. We all know there is and have seen some really bad pedestrian behavior out on the streets. I am absolutely sure that many pedestrian crashes and fatalities are totally the fault of an obstinate and/or distracted pedestrians even on streets where all the best pedestrian facilities were provided.

However the tone of this article is completely unbalanced and sends a message that places most if not all of the blame for the rise in deaths on the pedestrians themselves. Not once, save for crossing guard Wiley, is there ever a mention of driver behavior being a cause.

For a comparison take a look at The Record's coverage of the same topic from the same date. While touching upon a pedestrian's responsibility while negotiating traffic, it in no way lays the blame at the feet of pedestrians the way NJN did.

As a avid follower of NJN News, I expected better of them.


* - Unable to locate cited report online so to provide link.

Linwood officer yields to a pedestrian; Deserves praise

I got a sad laugh out of this letter published in The Press of Atlantic City on Thursday, December 3, 2009.

The letter reads:

"Linwood officer deserves praise"

On Nov. 25, at approximately 12:20 p.m., my wife and I were walking our dog, Mick. For about two minutes, we waited to cross west over Route 9 at a designated pedestrian crosswalk. To our surprise, yet pleasure, a Linwood police officer stopped his patrol vehicle in the northbound lane of Route 9 and employed his safety lights, thereby signaling both lanes of traffic to yield to us, which allowed us to cross safely.

We are not impatient people, as we frequently wait several minutes to cross Route 9. And yes, I realize that at that time of day, traffic is usually heavy and was compounded by the holiday.

But my reason for writing this letter is to commend the officer for his courteous action and for enforcing a traffic law that was designed to promote safety for all residents and pedestrians in New Jersey. Thank you, officer, for your courtesy.

RICK McGUIRE, Linwood

Dear Mr. McQuire,

You should NEVER have to wait several minutes to cross a road at a marked crosswalk. While it's great that this police officer did the right thing by yielding to you and using the overhead lights to force people to yield, it should never need to come to that. A driver of a car yielding to pedestrians shouldn't be such an exceptional event that you take the time to write your local paper. It should be a mundane everyday occurrence that doesn't even register in your memory, like stopping at a red traffic light

Drivers must ALWAYS yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk wanting to cross. It's the law!

39:4-36 Driver to yield to pedestrian, exceptions; violations, penalties.

a. The driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, except at crosswalks when the movement of traffic is being regulated by police officers or traffic control signals, or where otherwise prohibited by municipal, county, or State regulation, and except where a pedestrian tunnel or overhead pedestrian crossing has been provided, but no pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close that it is impossible for the driver to yield. Nothing contained herein shall relieve a pedestrian from using due care for his safety.
(For complete statute follow link above)

The 9W Bicycle Phenomenon - Part 2

Continuing north on 9W past those annoying "Bicyclists are required by law to ride single file" signs, the road is soon surrounded by the Palisades Interstate Park on both the east and west sides. Here is where the ride begins to get rather scenic and is reminiscent of roads much further away from New York City. This is part of the allure that brings so many New Yorkers over the GWB and onto 9W in the first place. At this point 9W has a nice wide shoulder on both sides that is mostly swept free of debris which provides for relatively relaxing riding.

Things are pretty uneventful along the route until we reach the site of Jessica Purcell's severe crash that Jen Benepe reported about last month. Short before 9W cross into New York State there is a traffic light that allows motorist to make a left to enter the Palisades Interstate Parkway. This light is located at the bottom of a valley and bicyclists easily reach speeds in excess of 35 mph so they can maintain their momentum to help get up the other side. When we passed through the light was green and there were no issues but I can see how a cyclist could get distracted for a moment and not be able to stop if a car stops for the light at this intersection. Unfortunately the right side shoulder was eliminated recently to make for a left turn bay for cars to increase motorist safety but this has left no run-off room for cyclists.


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What I did notice however was that the center yellow gore striping went on for quite a ways on both sides of this intersection. While done to increase motorists' safety by making sure to keep cars separated around the blind curve leading up to that intersection, the nature in which it was done eliminated the shoulder on both sides. As such cyclists have no where else to ride in except the travel lane. While not such a big deal in the north bound direction, the elimination of the shoulder becomes a big deal going south since there is a considerable climb and bicyclists' speeds are sure to be rather slow.

Interestingly enough an older streets view image shows this stretch of 9W prior to the recent restriping.


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What is sad here is that during the reconfiguration of the roadway, the engineers did not seem to take into consideration the needs of the thousands of cyclists that use the roadway, as evident in the design. While undoubtedly safer for motorists, the new design sure did not feel safer to this cyclist. What is somewhat annoying from a cyclist's perspective is that the center gore striping leading up to the intersection pictured at top seems excessively long. It wouldn't be so bad if it were for a 100 or 200 yards but it goes on for nearly half a mile!

Anyway soon after this we enter New York State and took a right turn down to the exquisitly beautiful riverside town of Piermont. Riding north now along quite Piermont Ave cyclists are treated to stunning views of the Hudson River along with beautiful homes. Soon after leaving Piermont the road changes names and turns into River Rd. Along the way there are non-regulation signs posted very high stating that cyclists must ride single file. Now I'm not an expert on NY State law pertaining to cycling so local towns may be able to pass there own ordinances that further restrict how a bicycle may operate. Still Jen told me that the relationship between the local police and cyclists here is also rather confrontational. From these signs, I didn't find that hard to believe.

Still the traffic is very light on this road and the scenary just to stunning to worry about such things. Soon we passed underneath the Tappanzee Bridge and enter Nyack which is also a very beautiful river town. After we made a few turns we entered Nyack's downtown and took a break at a cafe' / bakery. What greets me here is a sight rarely seen in the USA; dozens if not 100 or more bicycles and they were everywhere! There must have been at least 1/2 million dollars worth of bikes there. This cafe' has obviously profited handsomely by catering to these cyclists and bicycle parking was at such a premium that one or two on-street parking spaces were converted over to bicycle parking, something VERY rarely seen, particularly on the East Coast. The picture below only captures a small part of the scene and one of Jen's gregarious friends.

I was amazed by what I had seen. There was no doubt after seeing this velo-spectacle that Route 9W must have the greatest concentration of cyclist anywhere in New Jersey.

Soon Jen and I, along with several of her friends headed back south to Jersey. As we continued south dozens of cyclists kept on coming north. That newly restriped section of 9W proved to be rather uncomfortable as cars passed us as we climbed. Fortunately traffic volumes were still rather light. Further south still, Jen and I parted ways as she needed to get back to her place and I wanted to ride the enchanted (if very bumpy) Henry Hudson Drive that actually enters Palisades Interstate Park and goes below the cliffs. From there I went underneath the GWB and used the new bike path that leads to the bridge so I could ride to Manhattan and do a loop around Central Park. All the while cyclists are still coming and going. Even when I return from my loop and cross back to New Jersey, dozens of cyclists continue to cross the bridge in both directions.

If the sight of hundreds of bicycles at that cafe' in Nyack didn't prove the incredible popularity of the 9W ride, this continued stream of riders over the GWB, over a period that spanned several hours sure did.

The 9W Bicycle Phenomenon - Part 1

Two weekends ago I had the opportunity to investigate what is probably the single most popular bicycle ride in New Jersey. I was invited by the ever so lovely Jen Benepe of Benepe's Bike Blog to do the 9W ride. Jen has been reporting about the New York City competitive bicycle scene for some time with her blog and recently moved to this side of the Hudson. The popularity of riding 9W for New York City cyclists and two recent violent bicycle crashes on 9W in New Jersey (that Jen reported here & here) had me curious to see for myself what was going on.


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For those of you who don't know about what is happening in this northeastern corner of the state let me take a moment. Everyday hundreds and often thousands of athletic New York City cyclists cross the George Washington Bridge to ride up 9W to the towns of Piermont and Nyack just over the boarder in New York State. After doing the ride for myself I can understand why. It was one of the most beautiful rides I've ever done in New Jersey.

Jen and I started out around 9am on a foggy Sunday morning only to find dozens of riders already returning from the north. The first couple miles north of the GWB, 9W is 4 lanes with no shoulder. Jen told me that only recently were the shoulders eliminated in this section to add more travel lanes. Car traffic was light early that Sunday and cyclists were clearly outnumbering the cars however I was told that 9W is a totally different beast on weekday evenings when many NYC cyclists ride the route to train. Jen also told me that the elimination of the shoulders has made things very difficult for cyclists and has caused aggravation between drivers and cyclists. Fortunately that wasn't an issue this morning.

Further along we passed the sight where Camille Savoy was killed last November by, what seemed by all accounts, an incompetent driver (killed by an overtaking driver while riding to the right of the fog line). My observations of the sight found nothing about the area that would indicate a problem with the roadway that could have contributed to the cause of the crash.

Further along I notice signs that said something like this (I'm paraphrasing):

Bicyclists are required by law to ride single file.
Strictly Enforced

To which I say BULLSHIT!

And I quote:

NJ Provision -39:4-14.2. Keeping to right; exceptions; single file

Every person operating a bicycle upon a roadway shall ride as near to the right side of the roadway as practicable, exercising due care when passing a standing vehicle or one proceeding in the same direction; provided, however, that any person may move to the left under any of the following situations:

(a) to make a left turn from a left-turn lane or pocket;

(b) to avoid debris, drains or other hazardous conditions that make it impracticable to ride at the right side of the roadway;

(c) to pass a slower moving vehicle;

(d) to occupy any available lane when traveling at the same speed as other traffic;

(e) to travel no more than two abreast when traffic is not impeded.

Persons riding bicycles upon a roadway may travel no more than two abreast when traffic is not impeded, but otherwise shall ride in single file except on paths or parts of roadways set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles.

As you can clearly see that sign is obviously wrong and the right for cyclists to travel two abreast when traffic is not impeded is actually mention twice in Provision - 39:4-14.2.

Unfortunately, Jen told me that a cyclist friend of hers was recently ticketed for riding two abreast while both he and his wife were riding in the shoulder. The two of them obviously couldn't be obstructing moving motor vehicle traffic in the shoulder so it would seem that the ticket was totally bogus. Someone needs to educate the local police and take down or at least modify these signs. We happened to bump into this fellow later in the trip and he reassured me that he was going to fight the ticket.

Wow this has gotten long really quickly!

Well then you will just have to stay tuned till I have the time to write Part 2 (there will be no Part 3, I promise). There is much more to this story.

Camille Savoy's Killer Gets off Scot-Free

Benepe's Bicycle Blog is reporting that the killer of NYC cyclist, Camille Savoy got off scot-free in a New Jersey court even though the evidnece indicated that the driver was a foot and a half over the fog line when she hit him in the shoulder of Rt 9 in Alpine.

Even a pathetic careless driving ticket couldn't stick to this killer!

Would the results have been the same if she killed the driver of another car?!?!

Driver charged with vehicular homicide in hit-and-run of Old Bridge resident

The only caveat here is that the crash happen and is being prosecuted in the Pittsburgh area.

You may have read via the New Jersey Bicycle Pedestrian New Digest an article that recently appeared in The Star-Ledger concerning a Old Bridge man killed in a hit-and-run accident that also left another woman critically injured. A local Pittsburgh NBC affiliate covered the crash in a bit more detail. The suspect, Derek Powell faces numerous charges including:

• aggravated assault,
  
• accidents involving death or personal injury,
• homicide by vehicle

I'm quite sure leaving the scene of an accident and tampering with evidence is also on the list but was not mentioned in the article. But what you DON'T see on this list of charges here is DWI or any other charge indication that Powell was intoxicated during the accident.

All too often in New Jersey drivers get off with little more than a 2 point moving violation for failing to yield to a pedestrian (slightly more if they are unlucky) if they kill a pedestrian and are clearly at fault (but dead men tell no tales) and are not drunk or fleeing from police.

I'm glad to see that there is a prosecutor somewhere that understands the harsh realities of vehicular violence and just doesn't dismiss such crashes as mere "accidents."

Okay, admittedly there are some occasional exceptions to the lax prosecution of vehicular violence against bicyclists and pedestrians here in New Jersey but this is all too rare.

So what can be done? Solution #1 - Educating Enforcement

Earlier we talked about how bicyclists and pedestrians now account for nearly 27% of all fatalities, up from hovering around 23% for the previous 4 years. Well here is one idea to improve these statistics. I came across this while reading on the Association for Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP) listserve and it really seems to have merit.

The story comes from Robert Johnson at a group called PedNet out of Missouri. Since I'm quoting him I'm purposely going to hide some names but the story is telling and his idea is something that should be given a try her in Jersey.

In September I had the opportunity to train all 150 (Blank) Police Department officers on bicycling law and issues. I went through the laws line by line, explained why the laws were written the way they were and gave them video examples what we were talking about.

This has made a tremendous difference in (Blank). Before the training the police department ignored bicyclists except for occasionally admonishing one for taking the lane even when the law allowed. They simply did not know the laws which led to their inactivity in enforcing laws for both motorists and bicyclists and led to some unfortunate remarks in local media outlets. The month after the training the PD made about 100 “contacts” with bicyclists who were breaking the law and one officer told that was about 100 more than ever before. Most of those were red light runners and riding at night without lights. That was 5 months ago and even now bike shop employees tell me story after story of a bicyclists coming into the shop, talking about getting pulled over and buying lights for their bicycle. They are also much more active when a bicyclist reports an incident of motorist harassment. It seems to me that every officer really believes that bicycles are vehicles which some clearly did not understand before the training.

The other thing I tried to convince them is that if a bicyclist is in a crash with an automobile then tell the media what led up to the crash. Most crashes in Columbia involve a bicyclist riding at night without lights or a sidewalk bicyclist. The newspaper articles typically state something like “bicyclist hit by suv” with no details as to why it was typically the bicyclists fault......or at least they were riding in a way that we teach not to. Since the training we have had three bike/car crashes severe enough to make the media and in all three the it clearly stated that the bicyclist was riding on the sidewalk and hit in the crosswalk. I think that is important because even though bicycling/car injuries happen much less frequently than auto/auto injuries in Columbia people tend to dwell on the bicycle injuries much longer and its a real detriment to people riding.

A personal failure of mine was the University of (Blank) Police Department. The chief just could not get past their ego’s to accept any training. They said that people already ridicule them and do not think of them as a “real police force.” Pulling over a bicyclist would only further that belief according to them. I have gently pushed as far as I can with them but they refuse and as a result we have 30,000 students in (Blank) who have no idea how to ride a bicycle. They sometimes find themselves under a automobile when they decide to leave campus and take a trip to Wal-Mart at 2 am, without lights and enter a crosswalk at 15 mph which is how they have ridden on campus and its the normal way to ride on campus.

So in my experience if you can get the Police Department to accept training that is well thought out, balanced on the issues of bicycle/auto and presses to them that bicyclists have RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES that it can go a long way towards safety and public relations.

If anyone has any specific questions about our training or how we made such an arrangement with our PD then just drop me a note.

This definitely seems like a great idea for New Brunswick and Rutgers University. With 40,000 college students and a large population of migrant workers in town, there is plenty of bike riding going on. Unfortunately 95% of riders I see usually violate at least one traffic law in a very flagrant manner. Many ride on the sidewalk (which is dangerous as well as being illegal in New Brunswick), ride with no lights at night, run red lights and ride against traffic just to name the most typical violations.

If we want cycling to be taken seriously and as a viable for of transportation just like motor vehicles then we must ride and act responsibly (I know most reading this blog already do). We must also expect the police to take our violations seriously and treat them with equal seriousness.