Eyes on the Street
Jim Holt asks:
12:49 PM EDT on September 18, 2006
Jim Holt asks:
What percentage of the ambulances that blare their sirens to go through red lights are actually carrying patients? Less than 50 percent based on my observations of ambulances arriving at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Greenwich Village. And in no case have I seen the ambulance driver behave with any urgency in getting a patient out of the vehicle and into the hospital upon arrival. So is there any point to the ambulance sirens that are always deafening pedestrians and pulling down the quality of New York street life?
Aaron Naparstek is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparstek's journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. He was also one of the original cast members of the "War on Cars" podcast. You can find more of his work on his website.
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