How Much Does DOT Use Daylighting to Reduce Dangerous Turns?
Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg told the City Council there's only so much DOT can do to prevent drivers from hitting people while turning, but there's a relatively simple safety measure the agency could put to widespread use: keeping parked cars away from intersections.
Last week, Kate Hinds at WNYC reported on the problem of motorists fatally striking people while turning left. According to crash data compiled by Streetsblog, drivers making right and left turns killed 30 pedestrians and cyclists in NYC in 2014.
WNYC noted several factors that contribute to such crashes, including traffic signals that direct pedestrians and motorists into crosswalks at the same time, drivers who are occupied with several tasks at once (the feds call it “driver workload”), and "blind spots" caused by wide A pillars.
In March, Hinds reported, Trottenberg told the council "there are limits to what can be done" to prevent turning crashes.
"Left turns are a big source of crashes," Trottenberg said. "But there's another way to look at it: speeding and failure to yield, which are also pieces of the puzzle, are also sources. There's no question, in cases where we can minimize left turns, or give vehicles their own turning phase, we want to try to do that."
She added, however, "We won't be able to do it everywhere in the city. You can't create a special turning lane and a special signal in every intersection for left turns."
One factor that Trottenberg didn't mention is that many fatal turns occur at intersections where visibility is hindered by cars parked to the edge of crosswalks, a practice that is permitted in New York City but against the law in other places. As we reported earlier this year, NACTO recommends 20 to 25 feet of clearance around crosswalks.
In 2011, acting on recommendations in its Pedestrian Safety Study and Action Plan, DOT daylighted the corners on several blocks of Lexington Avenue in Midtown. The project seemed like it could set a precedent for quickly improving other dangerous intersections around the city. How many intersections is DOT daylighting now?
We asked DOT to what extent the agency is daylighting intersections to improve visibility at corners, and if DOT follows NACTO daylighting guidelines. DOT said its practices are consistent with NACTO, and that the agency "uses daylighting as appropriate." DOT said it reviews crash reports and crash data to "develop strategies and interventions," and is conducting a study, mandated by the City Council, which will guide the agency's approach to addressing turning conflicts.
DOT didn't offer any specifics about where and to what extent it has employed daylighting.
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
More from Streetsblog New York City
Friday’s Headlines: Yes He Said Yes He Will Yes Edition
That headline above is a reference to the last line of James Joyce's Ulysses, which we won't pretend to have read. But we have that ... and other news.
Madness: Port Authority Will Spend $8M to ‘Study’ Widening Outerbridge Crossing
Will this $8.3 million find out anything we don't know about induced demand?
Study: How Low-Income People Really Use Micromobility
Shared bikes and scooters are meeting low-income people's basic mobility needs — but they're not being subsidized like it.
School Bus Driver Hits Cyclist, Injures 3, On Major Brooklyn School Bike Route
The crash happened on the route of the weekly Bergen bike bus.
City of Yes Yes Yes! Adams Calls for Elimination of Parking Mandates on ALL New Housing
Mayor Adams today announced the historic end to one of the city’s most antiquated — and despised — zoning laws requiring the construction of parking with every new development.
