Driving, Bicycling and Walking Is Insane on the Streets of New York

By Wednesday June 8, 2011



32 Comments
  1. deowll says:
    6/8/2011 at 12:10 pm

    Nobody got hit. Everybody seems to be getting where they want to go. If it isn’t broke don’t fix it. The English or some of them have started taking down traffic control signals because they learned that people trust them and that was causing accidents.

    In other words in many cases if you just leave people alone they’ll figure it and you don’t need the nanny state to tell everyone exactly what to do.

    Reply
  2. Yankinwaoz says:
    6/8/2011 at 12:49 pm

    #16 (denacron )… thanks for the link to Monkey Dust. Brilliant! Love that show.

    Regarding the video. That all looked normal, except for the idiots on the bicycles. And #4 is right. A roundabout is a perfect solution for confusing intersections. Too bad US drivers don’t know how to use them. We have a couple of them here in my town, and I must be the ONLY person in town who signals out. I’ve yet to see anyone else do it.

    Our driver training in the US does not teach us anything about roundabouts. The rules, how to enter, and how to leave. This lack of training shows.

    Also, the signage for roundabouts varies widely… sort of.. from poor to piss-poor. Often, it is only when you get into the roundabout here are the exits indicated. So going in you have no idea how many exits to pass before you get to the one you want.

    The only decent signed roundabout in SoCal is the one in Long Beach on PCH. But even that one, the drivers act like morons. They just drive on in, no yielding, and even not looking. They come to halts inside of it while thinking about what to do. Arrrrrgh!

    Reply
  3. msbpodcast says:
    6/8/2011 at 12:51 pm

    Notice that none of the people getting around were handicapped, (walking with canes, walkers, getting around on a mobie,) despite the fact that almost 15% of the population is disabled at some point from something or other.

    Its just that we don’t dare go out because we’ll get run over by some [expletive deleted] idiot from the 85% whose handicaps run to ADHD caused by Ritalin addiction.

    BTW: I hope that people caught the fact that the music (Peter Gunn by The Art Of Noise) was credited but that no links were given to Amazon or the iTMS for purchase. Another opportunity to spread the word (and to collect some kudos and some coin) was missed.

    Reply
  4. Thomas says:
    6/8/2011 at 1:02 pm

    #21
    In other words in many cases if you just leave people alone they’ll figure it and you don’t need the nanny state to tell everyone exactly what to do.

    Why do you suppose they put in traffic lights in the first place? It certainly wasn’t to act like a nanny. I bet it was for one of two reasons:
    1. Problems with people barreling through intersections causing accidents.

    2. Gridlock. Sometimes, even with lights, you get gridlock in NY but without them, cross traffic in one direction would routinely get screwed.

    Reply
  5. PistolPete says:
    6/8/2011 at 2:04 pm

    I spent a summer in NYC and rode my bicycle with no brakes everywhere.

    At the time I was so young I didn’t think it was a big deal, it was just fun.

    Reply
  6. herlhym says:
    6/8/2011 at 4:44 pm

    #20 – as an avid bicyclist who adheres to 95% of rules of the road – probably more than the average car driver – I agree with the potential penalties.

    Something needs to be done, and not anywhere near the perceived “typical” cyclists are wrong-way, red light-running anarchists.

    At least in the great state of NH…

    Reply
  7. foobar says:
    6/9/2011 at 2:02 am

    Americans are a bunch of pussies with all their rules and traffic lights. Take a cab in Rio, or even here.

    Reply
  8. gear says:
    6/9/2011 at 2:04 am

    In the video there were cars, cyclists and pedestrians breaking the law in potentially life threatening ways.

    A survey of comments would indicate that only the cyclists were at fault.

    Must be a case of selective memory.

    Its like when you pass a cyclist in an unsafe manner because (you feel) cyclists are always holding up your progress, but you are selectively forgetting that all the traffic jams you have been in during your lifetime were caused by drivers not cyclists. Other cars impeded your progress more than cyclists do.

    The fact is that people using all sorts of modes of transportation break the law, they all should be caught and punished. To pick out one group is just ridiculous.

    Reply
  9. zdiggler says:
    6/9/2011 at 6:00 pm

    I rather Drive, ride bike and walk in NYC than any other suburb. At least people in NYC knows how to drive, ride bikes and walk!

    Reply
  10. ray says:
    6/9/2011 at 9:32 pm

    I don’t get it, why doesn’t the city just install proper traffic/walking lights on the worse intersections. Bicyclists weren’t the only problem in the video.

    Reply
  11. chris says:
    6/10/2011 at 9:39 am

    #28

    “A survey of comments would indicate that only the cyclists were at fault.

    Must be a case of selective memory.”

    MANY city cyclists have casual sense of invulnerability that is infuriating. Either you’re on a real vehicle or you’re not.

    One morning I saw a backup develop behind a guy who would ride between lines of cars at a light, and then get back in the middle of the lane at the front of the queue on green. The same cars would attempt to pass him multiple times as did this at 4 or 5 lights until I could get past him.

    At one of the lights, he was next to me, I told him it would make me happy to see somebody hit him and spread him across the street.

    He told me I was horrible, and I’m sure you’d agree.

    :)

    Reply
  12. rabidmonkey says:
    6/10/2011 at 10:47 am

    Y’know, if I wanted to see stories from “www.boingboing.net” I would actually go and visit that website. Is this site merely a mirror-site for “boingboing” in case they for some unholy reason drop off the face of the inner-netz?

    Reply

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