Does the Box Blocking Crackdown Ignore Crosswalk Violations?
Manhattan Community Board 2’s Ian Dutton sends along this shot of a motorist about to be ticketed for blocking the box on Broome Street at W. Broadway in SoHo. Yesterday, police and traffic agents stepped up enforcement of what is a normally ignored traffic regulation. However, writes Ian:
Note that blocking the box only applies to getting in the way of other cars, not blocking the crosswalk making it dangerous for pedestrians.
Commenter ddartley elaborates:
The bigger problem is blocking pedestrian crosswalks. It’s a bigger
problem because it happens more often, it affects more people
(pedestrians outnumber motorists), and the risks of harm are far
greater than mere car-obstructing (peds are forced to walk out into
moving traffic every minute of ever day all around town). Nevertheless, the new law, while great, only deals specifically with
cars in the middle of the intersection. It does not define ped
crosswalks as part of “the box,” so I wonder if TEAs are now ticketing
cars blocking crosswalks.
Anyone else who witnessed yesterday’s action notice whether agents were also ticketing for crosswalk violations?
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