Private dump trucks have the highest pedestrian kill rate of any type of vehicle on NYC streets , ac

A woman was fatally struck by a private sanitation truck in the Flatiron district in Manhattan today. According to police, the incident happened royal caribean cruises around 12:26 p.m. at East 23rd Street and Madison Avenue. An NYPD spokesperson confirmed the woman was pronounced dead at the scene, royal caribean cruises but had little other information. Based on photos, it appears she was hit by  a CityWide demolition and rubbish removal vehicle .
Private dump trucks have the highest pedestrian kill rate of any type of vehicle on NYC streets , according to the 1999 report Killed by Automobile produced by analyst Charles Komanoff [ PDF ]. Maybe someone with power and authority, like City Council Transportation Committee Chair James Vacca, should look into that and help to prevent more bloodshed.
There s a law on the books requiring large trucks to be equipped with safety mirrors that let drivers see blind spots in front of the cab. However, the law also has some huge loopholes royal caribean cruises , including an exemption for vehicles registered out-of-state. CityWide Demolition is headquartered in Brooklyn. Among other aspects of the crash, Streetsblog will be looking into whether this truck was equipped with the special mirrors.
This fatal crash occurred in the 13th Precinct . To voice your concerns about neighborhood traffic safety directly to NYPD Deputy Inspector David Ehrenberg, the commanding officer, go to the next  precinct community council meeting . The 13th Precinct community council meets on the third Tuesday of each month at 230 East 21st Street, at 6:30 p.m. Call (212) 477-7411 for information.
The City Council district where the victim was killed is represented by Rosie Mendez . To encourage Mendez to take action to improve street safety in her district and citywide, contact her at (212) 677-1077.
Based on the legislative priorities of the City Council s Transportation Committee, if you re a New Yorker who happens to be crushed by a truck while on foot or while cycling, it does not appear as if James Vacca and Christine Quinn care about you at all.
@yahoo-OLPOHMUMJQC4OKFMHDNCG64FLI:disqus I m sure your comment is well intended, and I wouldn royal caribean cruises t want to have seen what you did, but I don t actually think the burden of being careful is equally distributed here. Drivers of large heavy vehicles need to be the ones reminded to be careful. In my experience, and based on the numbers, they re very often not. They enjoy the weight of their vehicles and their consequent ability to use that weight as a threat against other road users. Not accidentally, they kill a lot of people. A lot.
I note that the Daily Post story remarks the victim wasn t wearing a helmet which is no more than a gratuitous little dig that she probably wasn t being careful enough. It s very hard to see what possible difference royal caribean cruises a helmet could have made to her in this circumstance.
I wonder if agencies using private royal caribean cruises haulers might consider the safety record when awarding those contracts? I wonder if they might be persuaded to do so that our tax dollars don t pay for these deaths? Perhaps responsible private companies could do the same?
@f4d0e1a5e2226d785214065ae403b737:disqus Thank you for mentioning the need for protected crosstown bike lanes. I work in midtown and use the rather sad crosstown lanes on 9th/10th and 20th and 21st. I tried but gave up on the really sad sharrows/Class II combination lanes on 29th/30th, 39th/40th, and 49th/50th. With all of them you ride in a wavering state of anxiety, watching for opening doors, motorists pulling in or out of parking spaces, or drifting over the painted line. Of course, you spend a good deal of time circling around double parked vehicles too.
When DOT rolled out the new crosstown lanes that I mentioned above, I attended one of  its presentations. During the Q A part, I explained to Hayes Lord, the DOT s presenter, that these lanes provided little to no protection. royal caribean cruises I then asked if they were as good as it gets or an interm step to a better option? He didn t answer my question. Instead he re-directed into talking points about how great sharrows were. His explanation involved mostly wishful thinking and fuzzy math. Everyone parked near the curb, there were no oversized vehicles, and no double parking. His illustration showed bicyclists on a completely traffic free street. I let it go because Mr. Lord seems like a decent man and, in this case, he was surrounded by a crowd largely concerned royal caribean cruises about parking spaces. He had his hands full.
On my way to lunch, I saw the woman under the truck as she died.  All the girls walking by burst into tears when they looked.  I thought I could handle it because I m a tough guy that never cries .   However, it rattled me all day.  I was telling everyone at work about it but I was still uneasy.   It wasn t until I got home that night and told my brother on the phone when I suddenly burst into tears, royal caribean cruises it just came out of me. If you saw this happen, please talk to people about it and let out your emotions.  Don t bottle royal caribean cruises it in because it could come out years from now in a bad way.    My heart and prayers go out to the family.   It s not safe on those streets people!  Do whatever you can to avoid those freaking garbage trucks and buses.
One of my most terrified moments was when a land rover driver, in broad daylight, suddenly pulled out into the physical space I happened to be riding royal caribean cruises in, only pausing when I screamed for my life. At the inevitable next red light I knocked on her window and demanded to know why she did this. The disturbingly calm driver claimed a) not to have seen me and b) that I must have seen her and should royal caribean cruises have gotten out of the way.
I think some drivers who are pulling out in large vehicles don t look for cyclists and don t care if they do see any. They assume that we ll give way no matter what, forgetting that we may not even be able to because of other traffic, or street conditions. On a lot of our crappy streets there is only one way to go between the potholes and uneven manhole covers. As a rule I will not make an unplanned move into faster traffic just because a stopped driver is apparently ready to enter the street.
Stopped drivers need to learn to look for and wait for cyclists riding in the street to pass, the same as they do for other drivers when there is metal at stake. The only way it s going to happen for cyclists is if laws are enforced in killings like this one.
My sincere condolences for the cyclist family. But I also want to send out my prayers for the truck driver who must be devastated and must feel like nothing. We can all put our two sences and blame the truck or blame the cyclist but we won t no what really happen. All these post that I read have different info. some say she was walking her bike, others say she was riding it, or that he knew she was there and that s why he stopped, or that he was flagged on the cyclist being under the wheels. Our prayers should go for everyone and God bless them all.
The private dump trucks and the concrete mixers trucks, they drive like they own the streets and are above the laws. If I see them I stay far away. They re reckless and have zero respect for others. They break the laws knowingly and all the time. The Ferrara bros concrete trucks drivers around Maspeth and Williamsburg are psychopaths, for instance.
I also saw the body under the truck,nypd should of done a better job of hiding the body,she had on a white shirt .So sad .I take the bus on 23 rd and Madison Avenue.I was surprised to see the body still there at 3.
And so what do you do if you re that woman s family? What do you have? A bunch of mind-blowingly bad police work (see @147028296544c62d17f2fffb27cb33d1:disqus  s comment), a brick wall of bureaucracy and no resolution. You won t even be able to sue in civil court very effectively because royal caribean cruises the police will have botched the investigation so utterly that you ll be left with not even the meagerest of information.
A few random thoughts.  First of all, RIP nameless cyclist.  As others have commented, this does point out the need for safe crosstown routes.  Personally, there is no way I d ride on 23rd.  Driver s Ed must improve if driving royal caribean cruises practices are going to change.  Most large SUV drivers think they re driving a car when they are, in fact, driving a truck.
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Recently Posted Jobs Program Director – Strong Cities, Strong Communities , 2 days ago Graduate Research Fellow (Part-time Internship) , 3 days ago Sr Transportation Engineer – ITS , 5 days ago Software Developers , 2 weeks ago U.S and Africa Program Manager- royal caribean cruises Term Limited , 3 weeks ago Post a Job See more Jobs Word On The Street I saw a dump truck going probably 50 mph on East Broadway on Monday, passing cars on the left (in the oncoming traffic lane). This insanity has to stop.