New Haven Independent

Amid Deadly Zoom, “Calmers” Petition

by Melinda Tuhus | June 19, 2008 8:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

truck%20blocking.jpg A tractor-trailer blocked the entire width of South Frontage Road at York Street. Drivers sped through the red light at the corner. Just another day on New Haven’s dangerous streets — except safety activists were there, too, petitioning to make it safer.

That’s the same corner where Yale medical student Mila Rainof was killed in April, in a similar scenario of a truck blocking her view when she decided to cross York Street against the light. Her memorial — flowers surrounding a photo of her in her white medical jacket and stethoscope — that had rested against a pole on the corner has been removed. The memory of what happened was fresh in the minds of many as Juli Stupakevich asked passersby to sign the petition created by New Haven Safe Streets.

The petition drive has spread citywide as neighbors from Fair Haven to Wooster Square to Westville have embraced the cause of “traffic-calming.” ((Read about that here, here here, and here.)

The petition calls for strict enforcement of all traffic laws and making accident data public, among other measures. It aims to reduce traffic-related injuries and fatalities 90 percent by 2015. One of the “wherases” states: “Marginally slower traffic speed limits and law-abiding traffic does not result in longer commute times to work, but actually may increase traffic efficiency, while resulting in exponential increases to public safety (for example, USDOT figures show a 5 percent fatality rate for pedestrians hit at 20 mph versus a 40 percent fatality rate for pedestrians hit at 30 mph).”

juli%20and%20black%20woman.jpg After signing the petition Wednesday, Catherine Dorsey (pictured, with Stupakevich on the left), said Rainof had worked with her in the HIV clinic at Yale New Haven Hospital. Of the petition she said, “I think it’s an excellent idea that should have happened a long time ago, because this is a very dangerous corner. Even when the pedestrians have the walk sign, the cars don’t even pay attention to the pedestrians crossing the street.”

woman%20and%20juli.jpg Stupakevich, who had a friendly, graceful way of stepping into the path of approaching pedestrians to engage them in conversation, works nearby at one of the Yale art galleries. She said, “The feedback has been very positive, and people are interested in getting involved. The number of traffic violations that people see in this area is astounding.”

Standing for a few minutes on the corner was long enough to see several cars scoot under the light as it turned red. While this reporter was unlocking her bike 20 feet away, a collective yell arose from many throats as a motorist ran the light in a particularly egregious manner.

people%20at%20tables.jpg Other petitioners collected signatures around the food carts in front of the hospital, where workers were enjoying the mild weather at outdoor tables.

two%20women%20and%20jason.jpg A few blocks away, on the Green, Jason Stockmann was chatting with workers on their lunch break. He estimated 80 percent of those he approached signed the petition, including Kelly Aingworth of Wallingford, a runner (pictured in the middle with Stockmann on the right and Kathryn Biehler on the left).

“I tend to have to jump up on the curbs,” she said, “because people are traveling a little too fast around corners and don’t see runners in time because they’re really not aware and they’re going too fast to really slow down. So I’m just very cautious when I run. Actually, I’ve thought about getting into biking, and road biking actually just terrifies me because I’ve seen people on bikes and how close the cars come to them.”

Activists said motor vehicle collisions with pedestrians and cyclists can and must be prevented. Since Rainof’s death, 11-year-old Gabrielle Lee was struck and killed two weeks ago. On Monday, Scott Borrus, a doctor who worked at Yale New Haven Hospital, was hit by a truck on Montowese Street in Branford and died at the hospital where he had worked. (In that incident, it was determined that Borrus first had a heart attack.)

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Comments

Posted by: East Rock resident | June 19, 2008 10:16 AM

"Traffic calming" isn't the solution, enforcement of traffic laws is. People would stop running traffic lights if they didn't know they could get away with it every time. Let's get some legislation on the table that enables tickets via traffic light camera.

Posted by: Kelly Aingworth | June 19, 2008 10:21 AM

Hi Kelly,

I was going through our marketing clips and saw this. Did you see this yet?

Lisa Galella

Posted by: dwightstreetrenter | June 19, 2008 10:38 AM

In Albany, NY, cars do not run red lights. The traffic signals run on a relay switch; the very instant the signal turns Red on one part of the intersection, the light turns Green on the other. If one were to run the light, an accident is assured. Why is there a 2-second delay when a light turns red, for the opposite street's light to turn green? Perhaps making the signals change at the same time, people won't have an incentive to "beat the light."

As a first-time driver in Albany serveral years ago, I had to slam on the brakes when the light turned yellow...but I quickly got used to STOPPING ON YELLOW instead of racing through the Red, but before the other side's light turned Green.

Here's a solution, and it doesn't cost the City a dime!

Posted by: anon | June 19, 2008 10:57 AM

We need drastic measures before another person is killed. Put up bollards, slow traffic to 15mph, place an empty cop car in one of the lanes to block it altogether, move the stop line back 30 feet. Long-term measures can redesign the area, but the time for immediate action is now.

Posted by: Dee | June 19, 2008 11:09 AM

For the sake of clarity, the truck that ran the yellow light on the day Mila was hit was running the light on York Street, not Frontage Road. It was a Crate & Barrel truck and was not affiliated with the hospital or their loading dock. The truck was not blocking her view. She darted out against the crosswalk sign and during a green light at her own risk. It turned out to be a fatal judgement call on her part.

Posted by: Ben | June 19, 2008 12:29 PM

I agree Dwightstreetrenter,
The same is True in DC and you learn to take yellow lights very seriously very quickly.
It would be interesting to see if there is a spike in accidents at lights in cities where they have changed their policy to shorten light delays if there are any that have done so.

Posted by: JackNH | June 19, 2008 12:50 PM

These are all great ideas. But is anyone in City Hall, Hartford or the NHPD reading our comments? It seems to me that folks are worked up enough that SOMEONE has to do something about traffic (and pedestrians like Mila, who broke the law as well). Or will it be the (usual) business as usual? Aldermen and Mayor: if you've read this, please respond. Otherwise I'll know my worst suspicions are true.

Posted by: anon | June 19, 2008 1:04 PM

""Traffic calming" isn't the solution, enforcement of traffic laws is."

I disagree. Both are important of course. Traffic calming is used in every other Western country, and can lead to better driving conditions (like fewer pesky stop signs) and massively raise land values, by reducing traffic noise, increasing walkability and bikeability, making it much harder to speed, etc.

Posted by: -fairhavener- | June 19, 2008 1:26 PM

JackNH,

I don't know what your worst suspicions are, but city employees (some anyway) do read NHI articles, the comments, and post, as well. Wouldn't your worst suspicion be that they are reading but just don't care?

East Rock resident is partly right, ""Traffic calming" isn't the solution, enforcement of traffic laws is." While I think better design would solve a lot of the problems (definitely not all), we aren't going to see any of that for a long time - if ever. So enforcement is our best strategy. When are we going to see that happen? Maybe the new Chief will hook us up.

Posted by: Red | June 19, 2008 2:22 PM

That's a good point, Fairhavener. I think traffic calming is very effective, but it does cost money. Red-light cameras, on the other hand, would be a revenue gainer for the city.

Posted by: Carole | June 19, 2008 2:39 PM

East Rock Resident,

""Traffic calming" isn't the solution, enforcement of traffic laws is."

We definitely need enforcement. We also need traffic calming, which works around the clock -- not just when there's a cop on the corner.

From a traffic-calming group called Complete Streets:

"A Federal Highways Administration safety review found that designing the street with pedestrians in mind -- sidewalks, raised medians, better bus stop placement, traffic-calming measures, and treatments for disabled travelers -- all improve pedestrian safety. One study found that designing for pedestrian travel by installing raised medians and redesigning intersections and sidewalks reduced pedestrian risk by 28%." (http://completestreets.org/brochure.html)

ERR, you and others (including City Hall) keep advocating for red-light cameras. I would join you if it's clear that they work. Can you post some data on that?

Posted by: nfjanette | June 20, 2008 7:14 PM

Carole,

Good engineering would provide both improved traffic flow as well as safety for all, but let's note an important difference between "average" city street situations and the one in question by the hospital. In this case, those roads are major arteries leading from multiple highways to and from west of downtown. The volume of traffic that travels along the route is significant and if slowed too much, would result in massive traffic jams with vehicles adding to the city smogscape.

One cannot reasonably try to impose the same methods that are appropriate for other areas in this type of area. The best solution might be to isolate pedestrians and traffic as much as possible. The mayor's office, in its foolishness, prevented using the garage as designed to pass traffic under it - we're all paying for that choice every day in that area. I hope the tax revenue from Pfizer was worth it.

Posted by: East Rockette | June 20, 2008 10:53 PM

Happy to oblige, Carolyn. As this article explains it, it depends what you mean by "work":

http://blogs.chron.com/cityhall/archives/2007/11/redlight_cams_d.html

If you mean do they re-educate drivers about the meaning of red, then yes, they work. The short version: masses of tickets are issued and revenue pours in; as drivers learn to stop at red lights, rear end collisions go up while more lethal T-bone collisions go down; eventually fewer and fewer tickets are issued and revenue goes down. (And presumably the rear-ending stops at some point, too.) However, if you then remove the cameras, light-running starts up again. This article is a useful overview:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23710970/

A blitz on red-light-runners would be a fine thing. A bunch of "dummy" camera sites, with actual cameras rotated around the sites is also a smart and budget-conscious way to do it. Where I come from, the same automatic cameras are used to catch people speeding along particularly dangerous stretches.

Some other useful links on the subject:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-02-14-redlightcameras_x.htm

http://www.offthekuff.com/mt/archives/010701.html

There's also a pretty active anti-red-light-camera faction, as you'd expect - follow the links in the articles to assess the value of their arguments. I'm not wildly sympathetic.

Graphic billboards and ads help too - they've been a major part of New Zealand's aggressive and successful campaign to reduce the road toll over the last decades, even as the population has boomed. You can't drive anywhere or watch TV in the evening without being confronted with some sort of reminder that bad driving is a bad idea. Check out this supremely creepy ad for just one example:

Amid Deadly Zoom, “Calmers” Petition

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