In many parts of the country, biking and walking are summer, spring and fall activities and people retreat to the warmth and comfort of their cars during the winter months. This, of course, isn’t the case in Manhattan or the surrounding boroughs (and thank goodness- imagine the traffic jam!) Still, while those in the greater New York City area continue to both walk and bike over the winter months, the poor weather does create some hazards. For instance, cars and trucks, impacted by low visibility, slippery roads or other bad winter driving conditions, may be more apt to cause accidents involving bikers or pedestrians.
With winter presenting a risky time for pedestrians and bicycle riders, our New York City accident lawyers urge everyone- pedestrians, bike riders and drivers to think about safety this winter season. By working to share the road, paying better attention and following some basic safety principles, hopefully there will be fewer bicycle accidents and pedestrian accidents in the winter of 2013. 
Avoiding Bicycle and Pedestrian Accidents this Winter
The best way to avoid a bicycle or pedestrian accident this year is to understand the most common causes of these crashes. New York City officials know how many people walk and bike within its borders and, as such, a Pedestrian Safety Study & Accident Plan was created and published in 2010 by the city’s Department of Transportation. Among other things, this plan identified some of the top causes of pedestrian accidents.
Since certain bad driving behaviors are responsible for many of the pedestrian accidents in the city, avoiding them can help everyone to be safer. For example, when driving, biking or walking, you should:
- Avoid driving while distracted. 36 percent of all of the accidents resulting in death or serious injury to pedestrians happened because a driver was focusing on something other than fulfilling his responsibility to drive safely. Don’t text, don’t brush your hair or put on makeup, don’t eat, and don’t do anything else when you are in the car other than keep your eyes on the road and on the lookout for pedestrians and bicyclists.
- Yield when it isn’t your turn. This goes for bicycle riders, pedestrians and cars. Bike riders and pedestrians can’t assume they can just cross whenever or wherever they want to, and cars and trucks can’t run roughshod over the rights of walkers and riders. A failure to take turns has serious consequences: 27 percent of the crashes causing pedestrian injury or death happened because of a failure to yield.
- Cross when you are supposed to cross. Twenty percent of pedestrian fatalities happened as a result of pedestrians crossing against the light. It may seem tempting to just run out into the road and try to cross when you see a gap in traffic, but the chance of saving a few seconds isn’t worth the chance of losing your life.
- Don’t drive too fast, especially if it is slippery. Going faster than was safe for the road conditions or faster than the legal limit caused 21 percent of crashes that injured or killed pedestrians. Slippery winter pavement exacerbates the risk of this type of crash.
Bike accidents and pedestrian accidents can both be avoided if drivers, bike riders and pedestrians take these rules to heart and exercise some extra caution and common sense this winter.
The Law Offices of Nicholas Rose, PLLC offers free consultations to accident victims. Call 1-877-313-7673 to speak with someone about your case and to discuss your rights today!
Additional Resources:
NYC Traffic Accidents in Focus as Holidays Approach, New York Injury Lawyer Blog November 19, 2012
