| Issue
286 |
September
18, 2000 |
Bad Drivers Everywhere, NYDOT, NYPD Nowhere
During a field visit to the corner of Manhattan's 7th Avenue
and 36th Street from 2:35 to 3:05pm last Friday, a Tri-State
Transportation Campaign observer counted 19 cars and trucks running
red lights. The high number ¾
more than one every two minutes - suggests that flagrant disregard for
elementary traffic rules is epidemic among motorists in NYC, and that
such behavior is winked at by city transportation and police officials.
The light runners were well represented among both 7th Ave.
downtown and 36th St. travelers east-bound, with a slight edge
to the avenue scofflaws.
The number would probably have been higher had the intersection
not failed completely during part of the observation, with trucks blocking
the box in both directions around 2:55pm. The light-running count did not
include vehicles that cleared the intersection against the signals during
this situation.
The count was also conservative in that it did not include
vehicles that gunned into the intersection during the last millisecond
of the yellow phase.
