#traffic-safety

#traffic-safety

If a dense fog advisory is issued for your area, it means that widespread dense fog has developed and visibility often drops to just a quarter-mile or less. These conditions can make driving challenging, so exercise extreme caution on the road, and if possible, consider delaying your trip. If you must drive in foggy conditions, keep the following safety tips in mind:

New York City motorists with a documented pattern of excessive speeding would be required to install speed-limiting devices inside their cars under a proposed pilot that Gov. Hochul will include in her state budget - a move that takes passage of the long-sought initiative out of the legislative process where it has consistently been thwarted by pro-car lawmakers. If it's successful, the program could be expanded to municipalities across New York to keep recidivist reckless drivers at the speed limit.

Did the Upper Great Highway closure make Sunset neighborhood streets less safe? Supervisor Alan Wong claimed it did at a January 8 press conference, citing a simple year-over-year map comparison of crash data. But my analysis, using the same DataSF crash data with rigorous statistical controls, finds no evidence to support that claim, and if anything, the data suggest the opposite.

Safe streets advocates renewed their call on Monday for installing a two-way protected bike lane along Brooklyn's Lafayette Avenue following an early morning crash that, police say, left an e-bike rider in critical condition. The group Transportation Alternatives says the intersection of Lafayette and Bedford Avenues in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where a 40-year-old e-bike rider was struck by a 27-year-old driver behind the wheel of an Acura SUV on the morning of Dec. 8, is deadly.

Stoneham is mourning the death of a teenage boy who died following a crash into a car on an electric dirt bike on Friday, a tragedy that has pushed lawmakers to reconsider safety rules and regulations for the increasingly popular vehicles. A preliminary investigation by the Middlesex District Attorney's Office and Stoneham police shows that around 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21, a 73-year-old Toyota Corolla driver began making a left turn from Oak Street onto Royal Street when an electric dirt bike crashed into the car.

The amended bill is such a no-brainer that it should even pass a brainless legislature; all it requires is for repeatedly and excessively reckless drivers to have their cars rendered unable to be driven recklessly. It doesn't take away the car; it doesn't suspend a license; it doesn't raise insurance fees. It just makes the car itself less able to a death machine.

Oakland Critical Mass is a monthly group bike ride that takes place every first Friday of the month, which starts at 8 pm at the BikeLink bike lockers at 14th and Broadway, and ends at 23rd and Telegraph where Oakland Art Murmur is underway. Critical Mass is argued to be a political-protest for bikers' rights, but it's also a fun social ride that takes over the streets.

It's no secret that the United States has a fatal love affair with speed. And our overly permissive relationship directly leads to over 11,000 deadly crashes on our roads every year. Hit by a vehicle going 20 mph, a pedestrian has an 18% chance of death or serious injury. Yet, hit at 40 mph, that same pedestrian suffers a 77% likelihood of death or serious injury. Every mile per hour counts when it comes to saving lives.

If you've ever lingered by a bus lane in your car thinking "just one second," that second might now cost you up to $250. The MTA has quietly expanded its Automated Camera Enforcement (ACE) program -those bus-mounted cameras that catch drivers blocking bus stops, double parking or cruising in bus-only lanes-and the buses themselves are now acting as ticketing agents.

"I'm not anti-car, I'm anti-speed," explained Oakland DOT director Josh Rowan, at a SPUR talk Tuesday in Rockridge. The key, he said, to making a city inviting all comes down to how it feels to walk around, and it's a big deterrent when people don't feel safe crossing the street. "We have challenges in Oakland with reckless drivers, speeding... how do we scrub some of that speed off?"

The bike lane along Flushing shares sidewalk space with pedestrians, who must cross paths with cyclists to reach a bus stop at North Elliot Place. The two men, ages 41 and 39, were taken to the hospital in stable condition. Police officials said neither of the men was arrested. Their e-bike remained at the scene of the crash, which remained under investigation.

A woman, 75, walking through a Brooklyn intersection was run down by a driver running a red light, police said. The woman was crossing the street around 9:30 p.m. Saturday night next to Sunset Park when she was struck, according to the police department. Officials said the woman was crossing at 7th Avenue and 41st Street. The driver of the SUV ran a "steady red light" and did not stick around after striking the woman, police said.

On [Tuesday], we responded to another example of the perils of riding an E-Bike and lack of safety awareness by riders. The juvenile operator of the e-bike has been charged with numerous infractions,

Fernando Velazquez, 94, was stopped on the shoulder just south of Shiloh Road when the driver of a northbound Range Rover veered off the road and struck him, California Highway Patrol Officer David deRutte said. Velazquez was taken to Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, where he later died. Velazquez rode his tricycle every day, joking it was his secret to a long life, according to a GoFundMe set up to cover funeral expenses.