I'm honestly curious what sorts of "pedestrian accidents" people have seen in NYC?
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| | |Edit: Most of the close calls were straight on, no turn. Some son-of-a-bee-biscuit suddenly decides he needs to stop his car right in front of you for some important business, you end up in the middle of an intersection. In your eagerness to get you and your family out of harm's way, you inch around the car in front, and the pedestrian pops out of nowhere. They thought you weren't moving when suddenly you realize you need to get the heck out of the middle of Madison Ave and accelerate like a mofo so you don't get rear-ended by that bus.
I suspect it's only a small part of the big picture why driving in NYC is categorically different than suburbs.
Pedestrians do regularly walk out in front of traffic against the light. Cars, especially taxis, will speed up to run yellow/red lights, even when there are crowds of pedestrians at the corner spilling onto the streets. Bikes often run lights and ride against traffic. Cars and pedestrians block bike lanes constantly.
It's remarkable so few accidents happen, really. I think part of it is, although NYC drivers can be annoying and aggressive, they are also skilled and attentive.
Additionally, the shoulders are always packed with parked and stopped cars, and cars or trucks are always stopping in travel lanes because there's no room on the shoulder and they have to stop to drop off or pick up. It's amazingly frustrating. It leads to the perplexing saying "no one has a car, the roads are too crowded" or something like that.
I cross against lights quite regularly, if I can see that it is safe. Some people drop the condition.
It's also true that many NYC pedestrians tend to cut across streets whenever they perceive an opening.