Pedestrian, 27, Killed By Car On Whalley

When Whalley was redesigned and widened, about 150 neighbors came to a community meeting and told ConnDOT that their new design would result in dozens of fatalities over the lifespan of the street. Did they listen? Not at all. No city in the world would design an urban street like those engineers did, and because of that they are directly responsible for all of the recent, and future, deaths.

When I drive from Amity to downtown on Whalley, at least 5 people jay walk in front of my car every time. Add in cars turning in front of you or running red lights. The road is a free for all.

Why doesn't the NHPD enforce the speed limits and jay walking laws? There is an epidemic of both in New Haven which is a lethal combination.

@CatDude… overall vehicle inforcement has declined for a few reasons, primarily is low staffing. From what I’ve been told is since the department is so understaffed officers respond to calls for service all day long leaving minimal time for traffic enforcement. Another issue is the state pursuit policy, people have figured out that if you put a plate on your car that doesn’t belong to your car and you just don’t stop for the police nothing will happen to you. The cops can’t chase for motor vehicle infractions.

Traffic enforcement has declined for several years. It was going down before the BLM protests but has accelerated since. The drop has nothing to do with police resources. It's true that the NHPD is very busy on Fri and Sat nights with violent crime, and with babysitting the drunks leaving downtown clubs. BUT there are plenty of times during the week when the NHPD has time to enforce traffic. Each month the NHPD makes LESS THAN 1 stop per day per ward. You could easily triple traffic stops if each shift made 1 traffic stop per day per ward.

When I raised the issue of the drop in traffic stops at a Town Hall meeting over the Summer, Elicker was quick to reference the racist history of traffic stops. Chief Jacobson was more candid and said the NHPD needs to do better, and he promised to do so.

Why do we collectively put up with this death toll? In other parts of modern life we try to eliminate almost all chance of death or serious injury. On our roads, we just remove the bodies and change nothing. It's chillingly heartless.

Urban roads must be designed for a pedestrian heavy environment. We need automated traffic enforcement plus heavy policing of parked cars to tow fake plates.

Why think that law enforcement is deficient here? The police can't be everywhere all the time. Maybe if this poor person had walked to a crosswalk instead of jaywalking she would be alive today.

@NHNative - I agree. Pedestrians need to be more careful. In this instance it appears the pedestrian was at fault. But we need enforcement as well.

I’ve never, EVER seen people run red lights like they do in New Haven. It’s blatant and reckless. And I see it every day. I just want to say that it’s not like this other places. I’ve lived in PA, VA, DE, and DC, and the drivers in CT run red lights like they wanna kill someone.

We should have red light cameras and speeding cameras and serious enforcement. Otherwise our civil society will descend further into chaos. Driving is a PRIVILEGE.

NewToCT: Try eastern Massachusetts. A friend of mine who travels the world rates it as having the worst drivers, equalled only by Lima. My first time driving in Boston/Cambridge, I was surprised at someone running a red light in front of me, then realized he could not have seen the light since he was going the wrong way on a one-way street. Sen. Winfield and the NAACP have opposed cameras as racist.

Perhaps it's time to start asking CTDOT why most of our pedestrian deaths constantly happen on state owned and maintained roads?

May I make a suggestion? Since we'll be in the darker months out of the year, perhaps people should wear lighter colors when out at night. Yes, I know, black looks wonderful. But it's not so great when it makes you invisible to motorists.

I have friends and relatives who have almost been hit in the crosswalk. It’s not about the pedestrians being at fault. It’s about road designs that prioritize vehicles moving swiftly over pedestrian, bus rider, and bicycle rider safety on state roads. It’s about crossing signals not being long enough for the elderly or people with disabilities or small children to cross safely. It’s about vehicles running traffic lights. It’s about vehicles speeding. It’s about vehicles turning right on red or at stop signs failing to yield to pedestrians. It’s about lack of crosswalks, sidewalks, crossing lights, or bike lanes/bike left turn boxes on major roads with pedestrians living on both sides of the streets, and schools, houses of worship, businesses, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, parks, services, bus stops and more that pedestrians, bicycle riders and bus riders need to cross the streets to get to.
We must demand that the state of CT redesign all state controlled portions of roads that go through highly populated areas with high pedestrian, bicycle and bus rider traffic and fewer people owning vehicles to get around, and through urban and suburban and town centers with lots of reasons to cross the streets, for the safety of humans, not the swiftness of moving vehicles.

That section of road needs a speed hump or two. Cheaper than traffic cops.

The only request i have for the police is to start giving jay walking tickets. Some pedestrians have 0 regards to traffic. This is true in all parts of the city, but this area makes me nervous. You have aggressive pedestrians testing you. Yes it's wide and things can be done hopefully with State help.