Brad Aaron
Brad Aaron began writing for Streetsblog in 2007, after years as a reporter, editor, and publisher in the alternative weekly business. Brad adopted New York's dysfunctional traffic justice system as his primary beat for Streetsblog. He lives in Manhattan.
Recent Posts
84-Year-Old Jaywalker Could Get Jail While Deadly Drivers Get Off Scot-Free
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Kang Wong, the 84-year-old pedestrian left bloodied during last weekend’s NYPD jaywalking crackdown, was arrested and charged by police. If convicted, Wong could get a jail term for an incident that stemmed from crossing the street without a walk signal. At the same time, the drivers who killed three pedestrians in the 24th precinct in […]
Drunk Driver Avoids Homicide Charge in Brooklyn Pedestrian Death [Updated]
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A motorist who has admitted to driving drunk in a crash that killed a Brooklyn pedestrian was not charged with homicide by District Attorney Charles Hynes or his successor Ken Thompson. He was allowed to plead guilty this week to a top charge of misdemeanor DWI, court records say, and faces a maximum sentence of […]
Does Marty Golden Really Need Convincing That Lower Speeds Save Lives?
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The Daily News didn’t need to send anyone to stand in traffic for man-on-the-street reaction quotes on Dan O’Donnell’s bill to lower the speed limit in NYC to 20 miles per hour. Instead, all they had to do was call up Marty Golden. [Golden] called O’Donnell’s bill an “overreaction” and warned the lower speed limit […]
Assembly Member Dan O’Donnell Intros Bill to Set NYC Speed Limit at 20 MPH
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Assembly Member Dan O’Donnell has introduced a bill to lower the speed limit in New York City to 20 miles per hour. O’Donnell represents the Upper West Side, where two pedestrians have been killed by motorists in 2014. He attended the vigil held last night for Cooper Stock and Alexander Shear. O’Donnell’s office released a statement this […]
Bratton’s Bad Data on Pedestrian Injuries Won’t Get Us to Vision Zero
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Yesterday NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said that in 73 percent of crashes in which a pedestrian was struck by a motorist in 2013, the pedestrian was at fault. Bratton presented that figure as an indictment of pedestrian behavior, and the stat was later parroted by the press. But more than anything it speaks to the victim-blaming bias […]
Now Arriving on the Brooklyn-Bound Track, the Worst Ad Placement Ever
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Whoever convinced Jaguar to buy this ad wrap, spotted by Doug Gordon, is earning his or her salary. I mean, what do the F train and the F-Type have in common, other than the letter F? Yes, they’re both transportation vehicles. But one costs around $2 per trip while the other starts at $69,000 — plus […]
New Yorkers Call on Cuomo to Back Complete Streets Law With State Funds
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A coalition of advocacy groups and government representatives called on Governor Cuomo today to dedicate state funds toward improving infrastructure for walking and biking. New Yorkers for Active Transportation (NY4AT), which consists of over 50 organizations, delivered a bike loaded with 1,300 postcards to the capitol. The postcards ask Cuomo to allocate $20 million in […]
For One Reckless Driving Survivor, “Life Looks a Lot Different Than Before”
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Traffic fatality numbers usually get the headlines, but as a measure of how safe or dangerous it is to walk and bike, injuries are the more stable metric. Since 2003, according to state DMV data, an average of just under 14,000 people were injured by motorists while walking and biking in the city each year. Of […]
Film Maker Captures Everyday Motorist Law-Breaking at Deadly Crossings
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Here are two excellent shorts from film maker Anna Zivarts that document conditions at intersections where pedestrians lost their lives. On the morning of January 2, 75-year-old Xiaoci Hu was struck by two motorists at Seventh Avenue and 65th Street in Sunset Park. Zivarts took a camera there and filmed several drivers, including one in a […]
9-Year-Old Boy, Mother, and Senior Killed in Weekend of Motorist Violence
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Three pedestrians were fatally struck by motorists over the weekend, bringing to seven the number of people killed while walking in New York City in the first two weeks of 2014. Twenty pedestrians were killed by city motorists in January 2013, according to NYPD data, and 12 pedestrians and one cyclist died in January 2012. […]
NYPD: 1,384 Pedestrians and Cyclists Injured, 27 Killed in Traffic in November
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Thirty-five people died in New York City traffic last November, and 4,692 were injured, according to the latest NYPD crash data report [PDF]. As of the end of November, 161 pedestrians and cyclists were reported killed by city motorists in 2013, and 14,721 injured, compared to 138 deaths and 13,965 injuries for the same period […]
Koo Will Try Override After Bloomberg Vetoes NYPD Hit-and-Run Bill
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As one of his last acts in office, Mayor Michael Bloomberg vetoed a bill that would have required NYPD to report to the City Council and the public on hit-and-run crashes. With lead sponsor Leroy Comrie also gone from City Hall, Council Member Peter Koo plans to marshal an effort to override the veto. Intro […]