Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Media Watch

CBS 2: Careless Pedestrians Walking Into Cars, Sinkholes, Hungry Bears

12:29 PM EDT on May 10, 2012

Ft. Lee police chief Thomas Ripoli has had it with people getting hit by cars. So he's taken the logical step: ordering a crackdown on pedestrians.

"Pedestrians are now the new threat to street safety," warns CBS 2's Kristine Johnson, before segment reporter Derricke Dennis runs down the list of common misadventures the chronically distracted get into while walking -- the kind of thing we've all seen at one time or another: people stumbling into fountains, falling into sinkholes, getting chased by bears.

This is not a parody.

Ripoli says he knows of 23 pedestrian-involved crashes in Ft. Lee in 2012, including three fatalities. From the chief's point of view -- if we're to believe CBS 2's take, at least -- those people have no one to blame but themselves.

"They’re not alert and they’re not watching what they’re doing," says Ripoli. "As of now, they are to give summonses to pedestrians who do not adhere to crosswalks and the lights."

It appears Ripoli has also invented the offense of careless walking. Says a stern-faced Dennis: "Unlike careless driving, there’s no specific charge for being a careless pedestrian, but Chief Ripoli said his officers are watching -- they’ll know it when they see it."

Naturally, Dennis can't leave well enough alone. Cut to Manhattan: "Imagine if New York did this," he says. "Just about every pedestrian in Times Square would get a ticket."

To back up their story, Dennis and his camera crew diligently track down and interrogate scofflaw pedestrians. The hazardous conditions they catch on film in Ft. Lee -- wide roads designed for high speeds with no crosswalks in sight -- get no mention. And if Dennis had done his research, he would have found that driver error is responsible for more than 78 percent of the thousands of crashes that kill or seriously injure New York City pedestrians each year, with failure to yield as a factor in 27 percent of those crashes. But why bother with actual journalism when you can simply point a camera at the street and let the anecdotal evidence pour in.

CBS 2 devotes one sentence to Ft. Lee's reckless drivers, who are reportedly also subject to increased enforcement from Ripoli's force. Befitting a footnote, the web video cuts out before Dennis can deliver the line.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Maximum Rage: Delivery Workers Protest Low Wages, App ‘Lockouts’

Couriers with bikes and signs urge the city to step in as Uber Eats, GrubHub and DoorDash withhold work, they say.

March 28, 2024

The Toll of History: MTA Board Approves $15 Congestion Pricing Fee

New York City's congestion pricing tolls are one historic step closer to reality after Wednesday's 11-1 MTA board vote. Next step: all those pesky lawsuits.

March 28, 2024

Company That Fought McGuinness Safety Project Wants to Seize Bklyn Street for Private Backlot

Broadway Stages to Greenpoint residents: "Street safety for me, not for thee."

March 28, 2024

SEE IT: Hit-and-Run Driver With Fake Plate Seriously Injures Cyclist

The 5 p.m. crash occurred at Flushing and Waverly avenue near the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

March 28, 2024

Thursday’s Headlines: Shakira Shakira Edition

Pop superstar Shakira performed for a crowd of 40,000 packed into the Times Square pedestrian plazas. Plus congestion pricing news and more.

March 28, 2024
See all posts