Reasonably contemplating the frenetic and complex mix of traffic across the vast New York City metro is a mind-boggling endeavor.
Just consider for starters that the city’s boroughs comprise highly varied neighborhoods marked by constant flow and movement. New York City is one of the world’s largest and busiest urban areas.
And it is notably crowded and congested, especially concerning its traffic flow. City streets and varied roadways stream with motorized movement. Trucks of virtually every description vie for space with passenger cars. City buses jockey for position alongside the nation’s largest urban fleet of taxis. Delivery vans are constantly on the move. There are scores of thousands of motorcyclists and bicyclists. Construction and emergency vehicles are prominent across the city.
That can make for more than challenges. It routinely breeds a complexity not remotely realized in any other American city.
And its poses heightened and singular risks for one specific group.
Spotlighting NYC pedestrians: outsized risk, scant protection
“Traveling by foot in a densely populated area such as New York City presents risks for all pedestrians.”
So states one New York legal source on the injury risks routinely assumed by New York City pedestrians. Its assessment of walker-linked challenges is unquestionably on the mark.
Moreover, it is further fleshed out by sobering and dire empirical evidence that starkly underscores walkers’ peril amidst complex traffic conditions.
To wit: A New York government website addressing adverse pedestrian outcomes in the state stresses that walker injuries “are among the top 10 leading causes of injury-related hospital admissions and death for almost all age groups.”
That reportedly leads to this sad reality: about 300 pedestrian deaths a year, coupled with a stunning 15,000 injuries.
Pedestrian vulnerability predictably leads to catastrophic injuries
Walkers are not ensconced in steel or moving fast enough to avoid many accident catalysts. Unsurprisingly, the injuries they suffer are frequently severe, including these:
- Head/skull trauma, including traumatic brain injury
- Broken and fractured bones
- Skin lacerations
- Neck, back and spinal cord injuries
The causes of pedestrian injuries are multiple and varied
Factors contributing to pedestrian harm on NYC roadways are many and diverse. Here are some common injury agents:
- Hit-and-run incidents
- Accidents occurring in parking structures
- Crosswalk collisions (an obvious given in New York City)
- Distracted drivers
- Reckless motoring behaviors like speeding and failure to yield
- Drunk driving
That bulleted list is wide-ranging, but merely a snapshot of some dangerous variables within a much broader universe of downsides.
Pedestrians are not second-class citizens when negotiating metro roads and streets. They command strong legal rights, which can be exercised in the wake of a traffic injury via consultation with a proven personal injury legal team.
