Bad roads are to blame for added costs

From CBS 2:

A new report finds they cost drivers in our area an average of $2,800 a year.

Part of that $2,800 is spent at car mechanics, reported CBS2’s Aundrea Cline-Thomas.

Drivers consider it a necessary evil to get to work, but traffic backups and potholes are an all-too familiar site in our area.

The cost of wear and tear adds up. A new report from TRIP – a national transportation research group – found drivers in the New York City area spend nearly $2,800 a year. It’s more money spent on car repairs, wasted gas by sitting in traffic and being late for work, all because the roads are so bad.

“It’s distressing to see that here in the metro area 2/3 of pavements are in poor condition,” said Carolyn Bonifas Kelly of TRIP. “That means two out of every three miles you’re driving on you’re hitting potholes, you’re hitting rough roads.”

The larger concern is that the deteriorating infrastructure could keep more jobs from coming to the area.

Experts say the solution is more transportation funding from the state and federal government.

Discounts for dashcams

From NY1:

State Senator Jose Peralta and Assemblymember Alicia Hyndman introduced legislation Thursday that would give drivers of non-commercial vehicles insurance discounts if they install and operate a dashboard camera.

They say it is part of an effort to promote greater safety for drivers and pedestrians.

In a statement, Senator Peralta said that devices capturing road footage can provide visual evidence and protection for drivers and pedestrians in case of accidents.

“We must ensure that we use available technologies to promote safety,” Peralta said. “With a dashboard camera installed in your car, you can provide footage in case of hit-and-runs and accidents. You can also fight a ticket, and you can even capture footage of unrelated events as you drive.”

If the proposed bill becomes law, New York would be the first U.S. state to require car insurance premium reduction for vehicles that have an operating dashboard camera.

Guess who pays 1/3 of all U.S. tolls?

From the Daily News:

Drivers in New York and New Jersey pay the heftiest price for their commutes — accounting for almost one-third of all tolls collected across the U.S., a new report says.

The report, which was released by the International Bridges, Tunnels and Turnpike Association, indicated that drivers in the two states forked over an astounding $4 billion of the $13 billion in tolls accrued across the country.

“The primary reason (for New York and New Jersey drivers paying the highest tolls) would be the concentration in the region of bridges and tunnels connecting the greater New York metro area,” said Neil Gray, director of government affairs at IBTTA.

“The facilities have been in place for a long time, they were very expensive to build, they are expensive to maintain and they are tremendously expensive to replace.”

Gray added that the greater New York metro area has a very high concentration of commuters, which is likely to account for the costliness.

No left turn GPS option could improve road safety

From CBS New York:

Many people turn to Google for answers, and now two New York City Council members say the technology giant has the answer to making city streets safer.

As CBS2’s Tracee Carrasco reported, members Brad Lander (D-39th) and Ydanis Rodriguez (D-10th) have asked Google maps to include an option for drivers to select a route with reduced left hand turns.

The councilmen believe the request falls in line with the city’s Vision Zero plan to reduce the number of deaths on city streets.

According to the NYPD, so far this year there have been 62 pedestrian fatalities, and 5 bicyclist fatalities. The Department of Transportation’s stats show that approximately 10 percent of all pedestrian fatalities in the last 18 months involve left turns.

New law makes it easier to feed meters

From CBS New York:

A new city law allows drivers to prepay one hour before muni-meters go into effect so that they don’t have to sit in their cars watching the clock tick.

“Let’s say you’re going to a doctor’s appointment or you’re taking your kid to school and the meter starts at 8:30 in the morning and you get there at 8:15, well, up until now, you have to wait until 8:30 to actually get the receipt,” said Councilman David Greenfield, who sponsored the legislation passed in June 2013. “What my law does is it allows you to get the receipt an hour before to prepay that muni-meter.”

The new law also requires parking meters to shut themselves off at the end of their posted hours of service and when they run out of receipt paper.

Bad traffic situation in Sunnyside

From CBS New York:

The signs on a street in Sunnyside, Queens make it clear that it is for one-way traffic only, but some drivers are ignoring it.

As CBS2’s Dave Carlin reported, residents say they are scared for their lives. Living on what should be a quiet one-way street is like living on the edge, they say.

They say too many drivers are using 39th Place in Sunnyside to short cut away from an often jam-packed service road alongside the Queens-Midtown Expressway.

CBS2 spotted the driver of a sport-utility vehicle and a white van backing up the wrong way. More brazen was the driver of a blue minivan who moved forward illegally against the traffic.

Drivers trying to shortcut out of expressway traffic over to Queens Boulevard are not the only lawbreakers. Others set aside safety in a crazed competition to find parking.

Residents said another problem is that drivers see in the rearview mirror that a parking space opened up behind them. But instead of going around, they back up this one-way street.

Lancman wants clarification of safety law

From the Daily News:

Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Queens) says he plans to introduce an amendment to the mayor's Right of Way law tomorrow that would further define when a driver could be handcuffed for hitting a pedestrian or cyclist.

Mayor Bill de Blasio's law, which went into effect last August as part of his Vision Zero initiative, made it a misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail for a driver to injure or kill a pedestrian or cyclist who had the right of way.

Lancman's amendment would require cops to take into consideration "visibility, illumination, weather conditions, roadway conditions, roadway design, faulty vehicular equipment or design," and whether the pedestrian was also following the rules.

Lancman says he's pushing the bill because the NYPD would not clarify for him what constitutes a driver failing "to exercise due care" under the law.

"We cannot let people get arrested and potentially sent to jail without a clear understanding of what type of conduct is criminal and not criminal," he said.

Left turns can be killers

From NBC 4:

New numbers reveal more people are hit and killed by drivers making left turns in New York than any other state. In New York City, left turns are more likely to hurt or kill a pedestrian than right ones.

NBC 4 New York partner WNYC Radio, which crunched the numbers, found reckless or inattentive drivers may not solely be to blame for left hand-turn accidents.

Crash standards have expanded the size of what are called vehicle A-pillars -- the pieces of a car that hold the windshield in place. The larger pillars are routinely used to protect people in rollover situations, but experts say they can also reduce visibility.

Crappy driving!

Hi Crapper,
Saw this on my way to the Post Office in Flushing today. A real "Crappy" driver drove through the fence while parking on Depot Rd and Northern Blvd. He was trapped behind the fence until a good Samaritan and I pushed the fence to release him. Luckily no one was hurt. - Mike

Chuck wants black boxes for trucks

From WPIX:

Sen. Chuck Schumer discusses legislation directed at tractor trailers and drivers. One solution is a black box which documents how long drivers are on the road and how fast they are going. Dan talks with a driver who voluntarily uses the black box.

Drivers ignore fact that pedestrians have the right of way

From DNA Info:

Dozens of complaints have been made about reckless drivers in Kew Gardens and Forest Hills this year, and parents say they're increasingly fearful to cross the streets with strollers.

A group of several mothers from Central Queens, an area with a growing population of young families with children, said crossing the street with kids can be a terrifying experience, especially along Queens Boulevard and Kew Gardens Road.

Michael Cohen, a spokesman for Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz, said reckless drivers are a big problem in the neighborhood. In this year alone, he said, the office received about 75 complaints from residents being concerned “either with lack of observance by motorists or the need for enforcement or the need for new or modified traffic restrictions.”

One of the most dangerous spots is Queens Boulevard at the intersection with 71st/Continental Avenue, where two pedestrians were killed in the past two years. Some 28 pedestrians were injured there between 2008 and 2012, according to the DOT.

The good news is that DOT is reviewing the intersection.

DOT studying traffic controls near Flushing Commons project

From CBS 2:

Along Union Street, the sidewalk is cut off; instead of adhering to signs, people walk in the traffic lanes anyway.

“I have to follow the flow I guess,” one pedestrian said.

As Murdock reported, having no sidewalk is just one issue—the traffic is another.

The area is a mass transportation hub with thousands of people and hundreds of cars at any given time. Because of construction, three lanes are now down to two.

Senator Tony Avella says right now, there are more questions than answers about how this nightmare came to life.

“Why was permission given, if it was, to the contractor to close off that one lane of traffic, which is also a bus route? Two, why was the contractor allowed to close off the sidewalk?” he said.

Murdock repeatedly asked the same questions of the Department of Transportation, to which it said it was exploring the addition of a left turn signal and other traffic controls nearby.

Shouldn't this have been figured out before construction started?

You'll probably still be overcharged for parking

From the Daily News:

A proposal to spare drivers extra charges if their time on a meter runs out shortly before parking regulations expire for the day is a nice idea, Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg told the City Council on Wednesday.

The city has 10 million reasons why it can’t give motorists a break on parking meter charges.

A proposal to spare drivers extra charges if their time on a meter runs out shortly before parking regulations expire for the day is a nice idea, Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg told the City Council on Wednesday.

But she said it would cost the city big bucks.

“While I sympathize with motorists who may be overpaying at our meters, this bill raises serious financial and technical challenges,” Trottenberg said — adding that the city could lose $8 million a year in parking revenue, plus $2 million to reprogram the meters.

Currently, drivers have to pay for an entire 15-minute increment, even if there are only a couple of minutes left until parking regulations end. Parking costs 25 cents for every 15 minutes at most outer-borough meters, and more in central Manhattan.

Under the bill, a driver who parked at 6:39, for instance, and paid for 15 minutes would have meter time extended until regulations end at 7, instead of having to drop in another quarter for the last six minutes.

City Council adds fine for leaving scenes of accidents

From AMNY:

Drivers who flee the scene of an accident will now have to contend with new fines up to $10,000 from New York City on top of any criminal charges under a bill the City Council passed [Monday].

The bill would add the first local civil penalties for drivers in hit-and-run cases. The most serious violators would get hit with a fine between $5,000 and $10,000 if someone dies.

No conviction during a prosecution for leaving the scene of a crime is required for a judge on a city panel that hears fines on quality-of-life laws, called the Environmental Control Board, to hand down the new penalties, though they can be appealed after they are paid.

End-of-year start for work on Jackie Robinson Parkway

From the Queens Chronicle:

A massive two-year project is slated to begin at the end of this year to completely overhaul the entire length of the Jackie Robinson Parkway.

The $12 million project, announced at last week’s Community Board 5 meeting, will be done by the state Department of Transportation. The work includes resurfacing the entire length from Pennsylvania Avenue in Brooklyn to the Kew Gardens interchange, taking out the existing asphalt overlay and putting in a new one, changing all signs to make them more visible, more reflective and more readable, putting reflectors on the outer guide rails and inner concrete barrier, which is especially important where the parkway makes sharp turns through the Glendale cemeteries, clearing some mounds to enhance drivers’ sight distance on the eastbound side at Metropolitan Avenue in Forest Hills and building a retaining wall there.

The state DOT said the work will require closure of all lanes in particular segments of the roadway at times.

“This project will follow the principles of Gov. Cuomo’s Drivers First Initiative which focuses on minimizing the impact of roadway construction on traffic,” said NYSDOT spokeswoman Diane Park in an email. “To meet this goal, the department has specifically planned the work schedule so that construction will occur at night, when traffic volume is lowest.”

According to Park, the work will be done one section at a time, permitting all other sections of the parkway to remain open and traffic will be detoured at the designated section. She said the department will post signs clearly directing drivers back to the parkway.

NYPD inspector warns drivers not to be morons

From DNA Info:

A trio of bungling motorists had their cars boosted in Corona and Elmhurst recently after they left them running to keep warm while they got coffee, delivered pizza and ran errands.

The spike in auto thefts has gained so much traction that the local precinct commander vowed to ticket motorists who keep their cars running under the city's idling regulation.

"If your car's running, and my officers see it and they observe it for three minutes, they are going to write a summons." said Deputy Inspector Ronald Leyson, the commanding officer of the 110th Precinct, which covers the neighborhoods.

"And I do not feel bad for you."

Conflicting info about safer or more dangerous streets

I'm going to throw a bunch of links up and allow you to make heads or tails of the data.

Mayor Bloomberg's aggressive traffic policies have caused massive drop in traffic deaths - Daily News. Subheadline: "Widened sidewalks, redesigned intersections and speed zones have brought traffic deaths down by more than 30% since Hizzoner took office."

Could it be that fewer people are dying in car accidents because cars have been made safer for drivers and passengers and not because of Bloomberg or Sadik-Khan? Unless they are talking about pedestrians, which would make the following headline from the same paper more curious:

Elmhurst Hospital doctors say pedestrian injuries are continuing to rise in Queens" - Daily News. Quote: The hospital recorded 296 pedestrian injury cases in 2012, up from 275 the previous year and the highest number in a decade. Figures are not yet available for 2013. The hot spots for accidents in the area — Queens Blvd., Roosevelt Ave. and Northern Blvd. — would come as a surprise to nobody.

Bayside Patch reports that as a whole and compared to other states, NY state drivers are average.

Yet the NY Post reports that DWI deaths in NYC have - get this - doubled since last year. What's the deal with that? We've had DWI education programs in place since the 1980s...

Drunk driving aside, the observant among us have seen pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists all do stupid things and take unnecessary risks, mainly because everyone in this city is in such a damn hurry for some reason.

And then think about the series of really bad choices by various people that led up to this past Friday's tragedy and yesterday's deadly accident in Woodside.

Police have been cracking down on bad motorists lately, but it never seems to be enough.

This is complicated stuff, and no matter how "improved" things appear to be, there is still a lot of bad stuff happening, with plenty of blame to go around.

Council seeks to reduce speed limit

From The Politicker:

The New York City Council hopes to pass legislation that would reduce the speed limit on most residential and side streets to 20 miles per hour, Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced today.

“We are actively working on that bill and our goal is to pass it before the end of the year,” Ms. Quinn said during an unrelated press conference this afternoon before the month’s final council meeting. “We’re actively working on it right now.”

The bill, introduced by Councilman David Greenfield, is aimed at reducing serous pedestrian injuries and traffic fatalities. Last year, 148 pedestrians were killed in traffic accidents and crashes.

“We are working to fine-tune this life-saving legislation that will slow down automobiles on narrow residential streets. I am hopeful that we can get consensus on this important legislation, which will literally save lives once it is enacted here in New York City,” he said in response to the speaker’s comments.

But there are complications. The city’s Department of Transportation has argued the proposal would conflict with state law, which only allows limits that low if other traffic-calming devices are used. Last Friday, Councilman Jimmy Vacca, chair of the council’s transportation committee, told WNYC the bill was being “tweaked a little bit” and that members were “aiming for 25 miles per hour on narrow, one-way streets.”

In other traffic safety news, a problem intersection in Astoria is under scrutiny and Woodhaven Blvd solutions are being pondered.

Schumer wants extension of transit tax break

From Crain's:

A mass transit tax break that saves over hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers $1,000-a-year each in commuting costs is set to expire at the end of the year.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, standing beneath the famous timepiece in Grand Central Terminal Monday, called on Congress to extend the benefit before Jan. 1, vowing to withhold his support for a host of additional tax extenders if the program for mass transit failed to pass.

"New York commuters need every break they can get," Mr. Schumer said.

The current benefit allows commuters to spend up to $245 per month of their pre-tax earnings on mass transit and commuter costs like parking. Over the last year, approximately 700,000 New York residents saved over $330 million through this benefit. More than 2.7 million commuters use the tax break nationwide.

"$330 million is a lot of money, any way you slice it," Mr. Schumer said.

Until 2009, drivers received a greater tax break than those who took mass transit. That year, Mr. Schumer almost doubled the benefit to $230 per month. Without the extension, the benefit will drop back to the previous level of $125 per month.

Governor unveils highway texting locations

From Metro:

New York State drivers will now have designated areas to pull over and send a text message.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled on Monday 91 texting zone locations along the state thruway and state highways in the latest effort to cut down on distracted driving.

“In addition to tougher penalties, new detection methods for state police and ongoing public outreach efforts, we are now launching special Texting Zones to allow motorists to pull over and use their phones,” Cuomo said. “We are sending a clear message to drivers that there is no excuse to take your hands off the wheel and eyes off the road because your text can wait until the next Texting Zone.”

The governor also announced a 365 percent increase in tickets issued in summer 2013 compared to summer 2012 for distracted driving. This summer, state police issued 21,580 tickets, surpassing last summer’s total of 5,208 tickets.

The texting zones are located in areas throughout upstate New York and in Suffolk County in Long Island.