How Dangerous Is a Three-Way at a New York Intersection?

If you suffer from Agyrophobia, do not watch this video. Made by Ron Gabriel for his MFA thesis at the School of Visual Arts, it shows an intersection in New York that looks a lot like a game of Frogger, complete with flashing motion graphics. While New York, with about 270 traffic deaths a year, has fewer road fatalities per capita than any other large U.S. city, its fatality rate is double that of European cities like Paris and London.

And yet, as dangerous and unruly as this intersection seems, the “collision zones” here don’t seem terribly unusual for New York streets, at least to this native New Yorker. Nor does proximity between people and cars necessarily translate to collisions. Certainly, better street design can make streets safer, slower and more comfortable to non-drivers, and the Department of Transportation has been working hard on adding bike lanes and traffic calming measures to New York streets, alongside better signage and awareness campaigns. But any communication about street danger – like this one – risks overstating the case, which can also deter people from walking and cycling, which is precisely what a city like New York doesn’t want to do.

It’s worth remembering too that cars pose a bigger risk to non-drivers in other ways: around the world, urban air pollution causes one million premature deaths a year.

Connections:
UK Town Puts A Stop To Red Lights
Shared Space on Wikipedia