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STREET SAFETY PLAN

We can save lives by making pedestrian and cyclist safety a key priority

 According to a new research study, Jackson Heights, Corona, and Elmhurst are among the most dangerous neighborhoods to pedal or walk through. With more than 1,500 injuries – and nearly two dozen deaths – in five years combined, our neighborhoods are the most dangerous hot spots throughout New York City, where pedestrians and cyclists are three times more likely to be hurt or killed in a crash.* From January 2013-2018, crashes in Jackson Heights killed nine people and injured a staggering 499 pedestrians and 240 cyclists from 79th to 84th streets between 37th Avenue and Broadway.* Corona saw another nine people killed in its most dangerous area between 35th and Roosevelt avenues from 94th to 108th streets while another 455 pedestrians and 332 cyclists were injured in crashes.

We must work together to make pedestrian and cyclist safety a key priority and save lives by:

• Reinstating New York City’s speed safety camera program around our schools and expanding it to additional key locations like parks and playgrounds to better protect our community.

• Increasing penalties for drivers who flee the scene of a hit-and-run, and placing significant criminal and financial consequences for negligent and liable drivers.

• Adding time to pedestrian walk signals, where needed, to provide seniors, children and people with disabilities with adequate time to cross.

• Ensuring that there is a safe route to school for every child. School redistricting plans must account for the safety of walk paths for children and their families, ensuring that children are not required to cross arterial thoroughfares in order to get to and from school.

• Collaborating with the NYC Department of Transportation to develop a plan to implement new protected bike lanes on every street by 2025. We need to upgrade existing Class II and III lanes to Class I. All milling and repaving projects should include an automatic safety review to evaluate potential pedestrian and cyclist safety improvements.

• Working with doctors and medical ethicists to evaluate fair ways of re-testing drivers to ensure all motor vehicle operators can drive safely. We must remove drivers with potentially dangerous medical conditions, declining hand-eye coordination, or fading cognitive functioning, while also protecting doctor-patient confidentiality.

• Implementing Select Bus Service in transportation deserts in our community, especially in sections of Corona, Elmhurst, Maspeth and Rego Park.

*August 2018 study by Localize.city