Flatbush is a four-lane menace. Between buses and dollar vans, double-parkers and extreme motorcyclists, plus livery cabs and the run of the mill idiot NY drivers, it's a disaster. Rogers Ave is also in our district, and recently won the distinction of most sped. Want to test your skills of agility? Try walking across Ocean at Woodruff. Have working ears? Try ignoring the constant honking along Clarkson. The whole sector is a bloody disaster, if you ask the Q. Exciting, but deadly. Wasn't it just a couple months ago a lady was killed on Flatbush at Lincoln?
For those who want to see the plan to change the intersection down the block, the plan is at the DOT website. A key point from the presentation is that this intersection ranks in the top 2% of most dangerous intersections city-wide, as does Parkside/Flatbush. Further proof of that is not needed. Here's a couple pics I just scanned for the click-o-phobic, but I suggest looking at the nicer pdf copies with all the bells and whistles:
17 comments:
According to news12.com, the woman was killed. It was supposedly Parkside and Flatbush, but the intersection in the images is Parkside and Ocean.
Oh no! I happened upon it just after it happened. An elderly woman said that a motorcycle sped around a bus and hit the pedestrian. She was surrounded by a number of do gooders who diverted traffic and directed the FDNY and ambulance personnel to her location. She was moving around, clearly in pain, and bled from her head. I didn't stick around too long - I thought she was in able hands.
Very, very Sad.
A driver missed hitting me by inches a few weeks ago at this spot.
I've always thought this intersection to be more dangerous than Parkside/Ocean where there is more visibility.
Good thing those cops are giving out tickets to cyclists in the park. That's a great use of policing that makes us all safer.
Pedestrians are being hit by wild cyclists in the park as well as in the streets, anon. It wasn't that long ago that a ped was mowed down in park, sustaining severe cerebal injuries in the process, by a racing cyclist. Today's tragic street incident at Parkside and Flatbush only underscores the more salient point that lawful, mindful use of the public roadways -- whether by motorists, cyclists or peds,as well as good policing, is critically needed all over and especially in densely populated urban environments. May the poor soul who died today rest in peace.
This accident underscores the idea that 2 wheeled vehicles are potentially legal to pedestrians.
i'm interested to see the parkside/ocean redesign but couldn't make the meeting. tried to look at the link to the pdf's but it's not working for me. where can i find this info on the DOT site?
Sorry...the link was busted. Try it again!
or paste:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/20111206_ocean_parkside_slides.pdf
As dangerous as this intersection is this woman died because the cyclist defied all laws and common sense and zoomed around a stopped bus to fly blindly into a crosswalk. I'm all for traffic calming measures but scarily it won't stop sociopaths like this cyclist; the only thing that stops people who only care about themselves is to hit their wallets hard. The NYPD must stop their policy of refusing to ticket and fine speeders and bad drivers. I once heard from somebody who inquired with a 71st precinct officer about it, that the NYPD doesn't do it because it hurts community relations. Wow. Well that's what comes out of accusing the NYPD of "harassment" for doing something like give out speeding tickets. So thanks folks for that. And I'm sure this woman's family thanks you too.
@Anonymous 9:05 am: It wasn't a cyclist. It was a person on a motorcycle, you idjit.
Dear lovely person at 9:37, to my knowledge, motorcyclist are called cyclists too. And if I'm wrong, so what. Correct me with some civility. If you're trying to defend bicyclists you are doing a horrible job of it with your attitude.
Who is the "idjit" now, 9:37?
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Cyclists
"cyclist [ˈsaɪklɪst] US, cycler
n
a person who rides or travels by bicycle, motorcycle, etc."
@very defensive anonymous one: go up to twenty people in this city, complain about a cyclist, and then ask them whether they pictured a person on a bike or on a motorcycle. I feel pretty certain all twenty will say "bike."
And "idjit," as internet insults go between anonymites, is, to my mind, pretty darn mild.
What darn difference does it make anon? An unsuspecting neighbor lost her life while crossing the street this week because some maniac, selfish motorcyclist chose lawlessness and speed over patience and respect in order to cross that same street. And so now we're to to sit here on some blog, reading arguments over use of the terms "cyclist" and "ijdit"? This conversation has gotten way off point. :-(
Sorry, CF, the above comment by "KitchenWishin" is actually mine (posting error that). I say "sorry" 'cause The Q is not just "some blog." It's a great blog! So thank you for the excellent job you are doing and many thanks for keeping us current on what's happening in our beloved PLG! That said, I'm not sorry for the substance of my last comments. There are times at which the snark and one upmanships of our internet chatter threaten to overcome our sense of civility and reason. Out of the respect for the person who died on our streets this week, I ask us all to please let's not go there on this one -- cyclists, motorcyclists, motorists and peds included.
Only on the internet, 9:05, is the person who FIRST slings insults (erroneous ones at that) superior to the person who merely points out how rude they are. As the last two posters are saying, WHO CARES what term was used? It's off topic.
First of all... get the facts straight. The woman ran in front of a stopped bus against the light into the intersection, the motorcyclist has suffered both physical and psychological harm from what has happened because he tried to stop but couldn't whether he was speeding or not the hit would have happened. It was an accident because even when you follow all of your rules for the road others sometimes don't and you have this happen. I avoided hitting a biker not too long ago he ran a red light right in front of me but I got rear ended by a police car. Reaction from the biker he gave me the middle finger and got away. My damage was minimal but had I hit him he would have died too. The cops didn't go after him because they were concerned with me first I wanted the biker. Bottom line is people are too distracted or too self centered to think they have to follow rules. All it takes is one fool.
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