AARP: Older NYC Pedestrians Concerned About Drivers Failing to Yield

Four out of 10 New York City voters age 50 and older consider motorists who fail to yield to pedestrians a serious problem, and one in four say traffic signals don't allow enough time to cross the street, according to a poll by AARP.

As part of its 2013 voter survey, AARP asked a series of questions related to transportation and street safety. The results were released Tuesday. Of all respondents across the boroughs, 40 percent said drivers not yielding to pedestrians is a “major problem.” Twenty-eight percent said traffic lights are timed too fast for pedestrians to cross safely.

Staten Island residents were most concerned about failure to yield (45 percent), followed by respondents in Queens (42 percent), the Bronx (40 percent), Brooklyn (40 percent), and Manhattan (34 percent). More Staten Islanders also cited short pedestrian signals as a major problem (35 percent), followed by residents of Queens (30 percent), the Bronx (29 percent), Brooklyn (28 percent), and Manhattan (21 percent).

The survey further categorized responses by race. From an AARP press release: “When it comes to the timing of traffic lights, more Hispanics cite them being too fast for safe crossing as a major concern, followed by Asians and African Americans. Concern about cars not yielding to pedestrians is again highest among Hispanics, followed by African Americans and Asians.”

The survey was conducted before the advent of Vision Zero. AARP praised Mayor de Blasio for prioritizing street safety.

“Our city streets can be a rough place for pedestrians, especially those 50 and older. Being struck by a vehicle is the second leading cause of injury-related death for older New Yorkers,” said Beth Finkel, director for AARP in New York State, in the press release. “AARP commends Mayor de Blasio’s focus on addressing this issue and for working to make New York City’s streets safer for pedestrians of all ages.”

The pedestrian fatality rate for people age 60 and older in the tri-state region is nearly three times the rate for residents under 60, according to the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. TSTC’s 2013 “Older Pedestrians At Risk” report found that older NYC pedestrians suffer disproportionately from traffic violence.

Crash data compiled by Streetsblog show that drivers have killed at least 27 pedestrians age 50 and older in 2014, compared to 29 fatalities during the same time period last year.

The complete AARP survey is here.