Bad Data Alert: Council Tears Apart DOT Daylighting Study - Streetsblog New York City

"City Council investigators have eviscerated a city study that trashed the safety design also known as daylighting, calling out the Department of Transportation for relying on deeply flawed data and then using it to throttle support for a popular Council measure. DOT leaders have for months claimed that banning parking near intersections to clear up sight lines would actually increase crash injures, but a new review by a Council data team blows apart that argument."

"The Council team could find "no statistically significant association" between the DOT's daylighting data and increased crash injuries, according to a summary of findings obtained by Streetsblog. The summary also accused the agency of skewing its results by lumping in danger spots and locations without any daylighting. Advocates said the latest findings underscore the need for city politicians to finally enact a common-sense bill for universal daylighting before the end of the year."

"The Council data team conducted a months-long review of DOT's original January study [ PDF]. DOT claimed it found a 30-percent higher injury rate at crossings that not only banned parking but also lacked hard infrastructure to keep out cars. But the Council team pointed out that the DOT study relied on corners with fire hydrants and bus stops, even though the former often has a car parked there and the latter are prone to higher injury rates because there are typically so many more pedestrians there, according to research."

The City Council data team reviewed the Department of Transportation's January study on daylighting and identified major data flaws. DOT had claimed a 30-percent higher injury rate at certain crossings that banned parking but lacked physical barriers. The Council review found no statistically significant association between DOT's daylighting data and increased crash injuries and accused DOT of skewing results by including fire hydrant corners, bus stops, and locations without daylighting. Advocates called for passage of a universal daylighting bill, arguing that banning parking near intersections is critical pedestrian safety infrastructure.

Read at Streetsblog