New Haven Independent

Posted by: Bruce | April 22, 2008 9:32 AM

This is a terrible tragedy. My heart goes out to all who are affected by this.

The really sad thing is that this was probably a preventable death. Wouldn't she be alive if the driver was obeying the 25mph speed limit? There are four times as many fatalities from traffic incidents as there are from gun violence in this country. Yet traffic laws and speed limits are seen as little more than a nuisance to be avoided wherever possible.

Drivers in some other communities stop when they see a pedestrian in a crosswalk. Drivers in some other communities obey the speed limit. What is fundamentally different about us that we can't do the same here?

Posted by: DesignNewHaven | April 22, 2008 11:25 AM

This is a horrible tragedy. I hope that the state will stop stalling on road redesign & traffic calming and work to make our cities more pedestrian-friendly. Call your legislators and ask them.

I agree with Bruce that many if not most of these accidents are avoidable. So much so that Sweden has a plan to completely eliminate traffic fatalities. Imagine how many hundreds of thousands of needless deaths and injuries that would prevent every year (see below from the DNH blog).

Anonymous writes: "Sweden has adopted a plan called Vision Zero which is taking steps to ensure that zero, imagine that - zero! - people will die in motor vehicle fatalities in 2020. ... why can't we adopt a Vision Zero for Connecticut? Traffic accidents are not a force of nature - even when no particular actor is "at fault", as here, there are ways of preventing the accidents: safer crosswalks, better traffic enforcement, speed bumps etc. etc. Take a look: the Connecticut General Assembly has taken a look at Sweden's Vision Zero and came up with this report... Let's get our state behind this. http://www.cga.ct.gov/2007/rpt/2007-R-0635.htm "

Posted by: Dan | April 22, 2008 12:08 PM

This is a very high-traffic pedestrian intersection, and one of the most dangerous intersections in New Haven. As the article notes, drivers are constantly endangering the lives of pedestrians, who need to wait at least 5 seconds after seeing the walk sign before safely crossing. What really irks me is that a police officer is almost always present on foot at this intersection, especially at rush hour, yet I've never seen them pay attention to even the most egregious examples of speeding and traffic light violations. Hopefully this senseless tragedy will make some kind of difference in the repercussions of reckless driving here and elsewhere throughout the city, but until cops start enforcing basic violations, drivers will continue to put all on foot at risk.

Posted by: david streever | April 22, 2008 12:10 PM

This is a horrific tragedy: my heart & condolences go out as well.

Bruce is entirely right. This didn't have to end with her death: if the driver had been following the speed limit, if the street had proper visibility.... so many what ifs, but at the end of the day, all we can do is keep working as hard as we can to make the police & the city take to heart the lessons we learn over & over.

Motor vehicle traffic can easily be fatal: we absolutely need to enforce & educate on laws & keep speed down. Erica has excellent points when she expresses her anger about police priorities.

Posted by: Alex Lipovsky | April 22, 2008 4:50 PM

I urge everyone reading this to become more conscious of how dangerous street traffic really is. NEVER count on the drivers to ensure your safety. Wait for a while before crossing an intersection to let all the cars pass EVEN IF the pedestrian light is green. Look around: there will always be cars crossing the intersection at the last moment!

As a Yale grad student who crosses this very same street where Mila was struck all the time I can testify to the dangers inherent in counting on the drivers to stop in time.

Although I did not know her personally, I am shocked and depressed by the passing of this talented and promising individual. Make no mistake: any of us could have been her.

The city of New Haven should do a better job of encouraging safe driving in dangerous areas such as this and we, personally, should become more cautious pedestrians.

Posted by: Jenny Blair | April 23, 2008 1:23 AM

That intersection is as terrifying as it is ugly. I'm all too well acquainted with its dangers.

A fitting tribute to Rainof would be to make that intersection safe. Install a camera that photographs red-light scofflaws and mails them a whopping ticket. (They do it in Chicago. It works.) Or a speed bump. Or a pedestrian overpass.

Make it happen. Then her death will have led to some good.

Posted by: Chris Gray | April 23, 2008 3:49 AM

I feel sorrow for this entire community of people who are so deeply touched by this death and I certainly regret downplaying the traffic problems and lack of traffic law enforcement in New Haven in earlier posts but I am heartened by the surprising rise in mass transit which really must, ultimately, be the solution to traffic deaths, the energy independence crisis, the global warming crisis, etc.

The fact that mass transit has proven dangerous for me, as a disabled person, only proves that we haven't taken that alternative very seriously for a long time, but my grandfather drove a bus, as did Ralph Kramden. Grandmother drove the family car, on weekends.

There will still be accidents; we've never really figured out how to integrate truck traffic and the rest. That and the occasional bridge collapse.

Posted by: jms | April 23, 2008 7:47 AM

I agree 100% with what Alex Lipovsky posted above. As a regular runner and former bicycle commuter... you simply cannot assume that traffic will behave as it should. I can't even count how many times I have had to take evasive action to avoid wandering cars over the years. In no way am I suggesting that we "blame the victim" in this case. What happened to her was tragic and very likely preventable. I drive through that intersection several times per week. Drivers are constantly doing battle for position to gain access to the highway entrance... speeding around the far right lanes and then cutting back over to the far left where the highway begins. I see it all the time. So sadly I was not suprised to read about this event in the news. I also agree that a traffic camera would be very effective. If people started getting tickets for speeding and running the light in the mail things might improve in that spot.

JMS

Posted by: PDCH | April 23, 2008 10:32 AM

Bruce says: " Wouldn't she be alive if the driver was obeying the 25mph speed limit?"

David Streever says: "...if the driver had been following the speed limit..."

Everyone keeps making comments like this on here and other forums but so far I have not seen anything stating that this particular driver was speeding, in fact, all I've heard was that the driver was "speeding up in order to get onto the ramp", and that they were not at fault at all. Anyone who is stopped at a red light will have to "speed up" in order to go forward once the light turns green.

And yes, I agree, this is a terrible area and lots of people speed and run the red lights. I drive it everyday and see it, but that does not mean that everyone drives like that.

My condolences to Ms. Rainof's friends and family.

Posted by: DesignNewHaven | April 23, 2008 11:45 AM

PDCH, even if the driver was going, say, 27MPH instead of 25MPH, that is a big deal. 2MPH means an exponential increase in force and therefore, death risk is increased. That is why speed limits in the vicinity of the hospital should probably be reduced to 10-15MPH max.

The best way to do that is through road design, because the amount of money needed to pay police for enforcement is much higher. Having roads that limit traffic speed frees up the police to work on other problems.

Posted by: PDCH | April 23, 2008 1:20 PM

I doubt that he was even going 25 since he was at a red light and had just started to cross that intersection. You cannot gain that much speed that quickly from a dead stop unless you really stomp on the gas and there is no other traffic in front of you. We already know that there was other traffic in front of him because that was why the driver did not see her.

All of New Haven needs better road design, I will not argue that.

Posted by: Kate | April 23, 2008 2:49 PM

My condolences to the family and friends, all those who are touched by Mila. Unfortunately, I can see things from both sides. The traffic in an around the medical school is trecherous. Unfortuantely as pedestrians we also have to carry the responsibility of safety.

Posted by: DesignNewHaven | April 23, 2008 4:05 PM

I wouldn't be so sure, PDCH. Especially considering that pedestrians hit at speeds of less than 25MPH usually don't die of their injuries (unless, of course, an SUV or truck is involved). People can accelerate to 30MPH in a matter of seconds.

Posted by: TrueBlueCT | April 23, 2008 8:30 PM

This isn't a time for blame games. Mila is dead, and there is nothing that can be done to bring her back....

That being said, this is just one of many dangerous intersections in New Haven, where heavy pedestrian traffic comes in close contact with cars moving at 30, 40 even 50 miles per hour.

What have the City and Yale done to mitigate the dangers? With millions spent on crime safety, why is pedestrian safety little more than an after-thought?

I don't know if Ms. Rainof's death was in fact preventable, but I do know many of downtown's intersections are tragedies waiting to happen. Why don't we work together to ensure that the next pedestrian casualty doesn't happen? It starts with slowing down traffic and targeting the overly aggressive driver. We need a commitment to better planning and stronger enforcement.

Posted by: david streever | April 23, 2008 11:58 PM

The average car is more than capable of doing 30 mph in under 6 seconds--you don't have to believe me, but you should check.

http://www.keepkidsalivedrive25.org/facts/
Further, go here, and read this:
Speeding extends the distance necessary to stop a vehicle.
*At 20 mph the total stopping distance needed is 69 feet.
*At 30 mph, the distance needed is 123 feet.
*At 40 mph, the distance needed is 189 feet which may not be enough distance and time for you to avoid hitting an object or person on the road (USDOT, NHSTA)
If you hit a pedestrian:

*At 20 mph 5% will die

*At 30 mph 45% will die

*At 40 mph 85% will die

(Source: NHTSA)

I'm sorry, but can you explain to me, how that isn't significant?

So, the article states the car was speeding up: which I assume means increasing it's speed beyond the posted 25 miles per hour. We now know through the virtue of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that this increases chance of death by up to 40%--from 5% at 20 mph.

You don't think that the drivers speed was an issue in this crash?

I agree that we need better design, but let's get real. That takes years. We need the police to do their job NOW:
Speeding in residential neighborhoods represents the single greatest complaint issue to police departments and city council representatives throughout the U.S. (KKAD25)

The single greatest complaint.
The leading cause of death.

Let's face it. We place our priorities on issues that are irrelevant to the vast majority of people (death by terrorism? being shot by a gun in New Haven?) and we ignore the fact that the majority of people in the ER on a given day are there because of cars.

The police need to enforce the law, and they need to do so now.

Posted by: jms | April 24, 2008 7:39 AM

For the record (and purposes of the above debate) I can easily hit 30... 40... even 50mph (if I really wanted too)... from a standing start from just a few spaces back from that light. I don't have a fancy sports car... I'm not deliberately racing anyone... and I don't make a practice of it... but on occasion I am forced to jockey for position with drivers who insist on trying to merge from the far right lanes over to the left to try and gain access to the highway on-ramp. My point is that anyone in a modern automobile could exceed the speed limit easily in that space.

Everyone is looking for some kind of rational explaination for this tragic event... which is understandable. Blame traffic design or planning by the city or YNHH or the medical school... blame the ongoing construction... blame the drivers... blame the victim or other pedestrians who don't pay enough attention. Most likely it was simply a combination of all of the above. New Haven can be a hectic big city at times with hectic big city traffic... both car and pedestrian... cars rushing around and students rushing around to get to class, etc. These kinds of accidents are bound to happen. Let it serve as a tragic reminder for everyone to pay more attention in and around town so it doesn't happen again anytime soon.

If there are going to be any actual changes or recommendations as a result of this incident I would suggest the following...

1. Yale should send out a letter/email to all students reminding them to be extra careful when crossing the streets of this busy city on foot. This message should be a regular part of their student handbooks, etc.

2. There is an existing foot bridge that spans that intersection... from the parking garage to the entrance of YNHH. (Shown in photo above) Yale should encourage any students who are concerned for their safety to make use of this bridge.

3. A camera could be installed at that intersection to catch and ticket speeding and red light violations.

4. YNHH (or the medical school?) is doing the construction. While this disruption is going on they should be required to hire full time traffic patrol (private Yale cops or city cops) to ensure the safety of those passing through the construction zone... driving or on foot.

5. There should be a full time YNHH security guard or attendent to police traffic when deliveries are being made to the corner lot... often oversized trucks sticking out into traffic... blocking the sidewalk... etc. This is regular occurance and definately a disruption and potential hazzard.

These are just casual observations. I'm not a traffic planner or expert by any means. But I have lived in New Haven most of my life and passed through that intersection thousands of times. At one point I was commuting to work and entering 91N via that intersection 5-6 days per week for a period of about 4 years. I have seen every conceivable variety of bad driving (and bad pedestrian behavior) displayed in that location. So as I said before... this is a terrible tragedy... but not unexpected when I read it in the news.

JMS

Posted by: Bruce | April 24, 2008 11:11 AM

PDCH, you're right, this story gives no indication that the driver was speeding. I read in the Yale Daily News that "Rainof was hit so hard that she flipped in the air..." I think at 25mph you're more likely to roll over the hood.

You are also correct that we need some road redesigns. The problem in this case was compound -- road design, crossing against the light, speeding, lack of visibility. Hopefully we can make progress on all these fronts before more people die.

Posted by: Leo Amezcua | April 24, 2008 4:32 PM

My sincere condolence to the entire Rainof Family. Dr. Alexander Rainof is like a father to my Long Beach State Colleagues and I. I mourn the passing of Mila Rainof, she was an inspiration to all of us, because she cared for others who were in need for help. Dr. Rainof always talked about how good Mila was, as a student and as a daughter.

In Loving Memory of Mila Rainof.

From all us students at California State University, Long Beach. Class of 2006, Spanish Translation and Interpretation.

Leo Amezcua

Posted by: E. Isis Jackson | April 24, 2008 8:08 PM

My deepest condolences to the entire Rainof family.

Dr. Rainof,

I'm so sorry to hear of your recent loss--I remember when you used to talk to the class about your daughter--I hope from my heart, that your pain will decrease, that your spirit will gain strength again and I pray that your faith will create inner peace and that God will send blessings--Amen.

From all of us students at University of California-Los Angeles. Class of 2006, Legal Interpretation and Translation Spanish/English.

E. Isis Jackson.

Posted by: Patricia Ortega | May 8, 2008 7:05 PM

Dr. Rainof,

I am deeply saddened by the loss of your daughter, Mila. I remember you talking about how proud you were of her when I took your program at UCLA back in '94-'95. I pray that God give you and your family strength and solace. The fact that Mila chose a profession in medicine speaks volumes of who she was as a human being. I know that there is nothing I can say that can take away your pain right now, but I will continue praying for you.

Much love.

Patricia Ortega,
Court Certified Interpreter since 1995
(thanks to you, Dr. Rainof)