A visual art student filmed a New York City intersection (Park Avenue and 28th Street), in an attempt to show "long-standing bad habits — such as pedestrians jaywalking, cyclists running red lights, and motorists plowing through crosswalks."I've ridden my bike all over the city, but usually keep to the much quieter West Village. This video was jawdropping!
(Top photo of a Linus Bike)
Wow... that's crazy.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember if he called it "traffic culture" but this topic is so interesting. ...how each city/state/country has their own practices- even when it comes to crossing the street, riding a bike, driving!
That really is jaw dropping.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, that's scary!
ReplyDeleteI wish it was easier to get around in LA!!! cute bike!
ReplyDeletehttp://mstwirlyskirts.com
Absolutely brilliant - yet horrifying!
ReplyDelete- simplystylishmom.com
even walking around 28th street is dangerous with all the traffic & bikers
ReplyDeletei know, so scary when the truck suddenly does a U turn. what the?
ReplyDeleteWhoa! I work one block from this intersection and I see this mayhem every day! I also organize the New Amsterdam Bicycle Show here in NYC. This video needs to be SHARED.
ReplyDeleteCrazy! Houston is, unfortunately, not pedestrian or bike friendly. :/ But then again, pedestrians and bikers commit all of the above here a lot too.
ReplyDeletexoxo
-linh
http://la-lalinh.blogspot.com
This kills me. We live on a very wide sidewalk with lots and lots of constant foot traffic, and 99% of ppl on bikes consider themselves no different than a pedestrian even though they are going ten times as fast. It is so dangerous!
ReplyDeleteBummer! The video is not showing up for me :(
ReplyDeleteWow that's scary... actually it reminds me of my days in Paris, same thing really, horrible traffic, cars not paying too much attention, crazy scooters poping out of nowhere all the time and pedestrians who don't wait their turn to cross the street... I actually found people to be much more respectful of each other on the road when I moved to the US (ok Boston is NOT New York :)
ReplyDeleteAnd ok what's up with that truck ?
JV, we loved the new amsterdam bike show!
ReplyDeleteyou know which city is AMAZING AMAZING for bikes? Berlin. their bike system is ridiculously awesome. there are big bike paths on almost every single road.
ReplyDeleteps. and in berlin, people REALLY follow the rules. no one would cross a street if they didn't have the green light--even if there's not a car in sight. they just wait for their turn.
ReplyDeleteUhmm...those bicyclists riding into oncoming traffic!? And I was cringing, just bracing myself for one of those drivers to hit a pedestrian. People are crazy lol.
ReplyDeleteThat was scary.
ReplyDeletehttp://nomadic-d.blogspot.com
jawdropping is right, jo. thanks for sharing this. i was out on a leisurely date the other night when a cyclist running a red light hit a pregnant woman in a crosswalk. i'm heartbroken for this woman. her baby is fine, but she has serious damage to her teeth and high medical bills. i am so heartbroken about it.
ReplyDeleteno way, erica! that is so sad!!!! many, many cyclists are really careful, but then there are those who aren't. they give the rest of us a bad name. how heartbreaking for that poor woman.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Cassandra— I was cringing with my shoulders tensed the entire time I was watching that video. Holy smokes. Let's try not to kill each other, ya?
ReplyDeleteThat is outrageous! I would love to see a close u of people's reactions as those little "interactions" were happening. I live in Portland where bicycle culture is HUGE. I mostly stick to walking downtown but when I do drive it infuriates me that the cyclists don't follow the same rules of the road that cars do (running red lights, going the wrong direction, weaving in traffic, not staying in the bike lanes - which are usually a full half of the road). It just makes it so dangerous for everyone!
ReplyDeleteThis happens in every street in Buenos Aires, is unfortunate really.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this. I hate it when pedestrians say "well, I have the right of way." Well, yeah, but you're life is horrible after being hit by a car. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI have been so surprised by the increasingly audacious bikers in this city!! I have had more close calls with bikers ignoring rules of the road in the past year than cars in my entire lifetime.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh. This is a crazy video. I'm also surprised when I go to New York and there are not more accidents. Felt the same way in Rome. That city is crazy.
ReplyDeleteWOW. amazing to see our risky behavior from above. we just moved out of the city, and i can't say that i miss this. although, in my new town, i find myself inching out into the street with impatience to cross. :) old habits die hard.
ReplyDeleteInteresting project. Someone should replicate this around the different US major cities to see which cities are the worst.
ReplyDeleteOne of my BIGGEST pet peeves are bike riders who don't obey traffic laws (not sure of NY but here in CA it's the law). I understand not wanting to stop at every stop sign, but at least slow down and acknowledge that there's a car! I will always let a bike rider go ahead but have almost hit a few who have flown by while I was moving forward in my car. Makes me pissy.
ReplyDeleteOn the flip side, I hate it when cars don't stop for pedestrians at zebra crossings (at least, that's what I call them from having lived in London). It's also the law, and no one seems to do it.
SF for sure is the scariest city as a pedestrian.
My goodness! I'm constantly worried about hitting a cyclist + being hit. I suppose I need to keep to the quiet neighborhoods of Denver!
ReplyDeleteMegan
What's funny is that this is the intersection of my office--I cross one way or the other (28th or Park) all the time--and it seems like a mildly busy intersection (not crazy at all for NY!). Looks so different from this vantage point!
ReplyDeleteWow, lots of close calls... scary!
ReplyDeleteI used to work a few blocks away from that corner and it was insane at all times. Its amazing what us NYers deal with on a daily basis!
ReplyDeleteoh my! I plan to walk.. so i'll have to watch myself!
ReplyDeleteon my word!!!!! makes me want to stop j-walking. ;)
ReplyDeleteI can't believe some of the bikers are even weaving through traffic against the traffic! I cycle to and from work in Dublin every day and it's a mean world out there! Pedestrians are usually fairly friendly but man, some bikers are awfully tough on each other!
ReplyDeleteWOW! Be careful out there! Especially with a stroller paving the way!
ReplyDeletethat is seriously insane! i'm going to give it a whirl this weekend on my green vintage schwinn! :)
ReplyDeleteI used to live in Seattle where walkers obey the "walk/do't walk" traffic signals most of the time. Now in Boston, people look at me funny if I wait for the "walk" signal.
ReplyDeletewe love you at dos
ReplyDeletehttp://dosfamily.com/2011/06/blog-love-month-a-cup-of-jo/
Hey Joanna we LOVE you and A CUP OF JO!! New Amsterdam Bicycle Show 2012!! 5/4 and 5. You should speak at Bikelandia!
ReplyDeleteHoly smokes! This is nuts. The music is pretty perfect, though!
ReplyDeleteHOLY COW. I know I'm a bad pedestrian, but I'm too scared to be a bad cyclist. I behave myself on my bike.
ReplyDeleteEveryone is very well behaved on the streets in the Netherlands. Cyclists have their own designated stop lights (and lanes of course)!
I just bought this bike in cream about a mth ago. I adore it! Love that you posted it.
ReplyDeleteeeps! this is a little bit of a sidenote, but i was wondering how you worked up the nerve to bike around nyc? (especially since you describe yourself as the cautious type!) i live in seattle, a much smaller city, and i'd love to get a bike but i'm pretty intimidated to ride in traffic!
ReplyDeleteGood LORD. Me, my legs, my car, and my bicycle are all staying indoors for ever and ever.
ReplyDeleteThis is nutty!
ReplyDeleteWow, that video is crazy!!!
ReplyDeleteStar Hughes Living
Concept is fantastic, Video freaks me out. I'm awe struck that people rarely moved out of the way... Definitely speaks to the "culture" part.
ReplyDeleteWOWZA!! I thought Houston was bad!!!!
ReplyDeleteBeing from Hawai'i this is crazy!!
ReplyDeleteLove,
Camie
http://lovecamie.blogspot.com
Love this, so interesting!
ReplyDeleteI hate when people decide that getting where they want to go is more important than anyone else's desires to get where they want to go (and safely).
ReplyDeleteThere are only a few people who need to get somewhere more than anyone else, and those people are riding in ambulances or other emergency vehicles. People not yielding to them are even worse, and that happens all the time.
This is my intersection at the subway! They got it on a good day.
ReplyDeleteSo interesting you put this up today, when another friend posted this:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzE-IMaegzQ&feature=player_embedded
Whew-eeee! As a bike-commuter in Boston, I can sympathize...
that is insane. scary kinda.
ReplyDeleteanywho... i gave you a blog award http://wackylittlehouse.blogspot.com
cray-zay! i bet san fran would be similarly cringe-inducing... neat project, neatly executed.
ReplyDeletehow ironic, i walked past you yesterday while you were on your bike w. your bebe on 14th st. i would have said hello, but was rushing to a yoga class. i know that intersection only too well as i work down the block. thanks for posting this video, the overhead pov gives wonderful clarity to the craziness of nyc traffic.
ReplyDeleteSo, I can't tell if people are shouting things at one another beside the one man who seems to be giving the finger to a car. but one difference I see between the east coast vs the west coast (as I'm in LA) is that east coasters just figure a way out of the cluster-fu*&. Where here I find people sit there they can't figure a way to wiggle out and it creates a total jam. It's unsafe and awful but at least they all keep moving.
ReplyDeletevery interesting video.
Yikes!! This is pretty scary! I just came back from the Art Walk in Downtown LA and saw a few j-walking pedestrians get tickets from the LAPD. I've heard that the fines are pretty hefty!
ReplyDeleteHi Joanna, coming from little old Perth in Western Australia this gave me anxiety just looking at it :-)
ReplyDeletewe noticed that whilst holidaying in NYC! crazy! scary,...everyone is in a mad rush to be somewhere. by the end of our 2wk trip we were doing the same exact thing - ignoring lights, crossing in front of stopped cars haha...if you cant beat them join them!
ReplyDeleteBikes are the way to go... !
ReplyDeleteOMG that is horrible. I work doing injury claims from motor vehicle accidents in Australia. 4 people die a day?! that is awful.
ReplyDeleteadelaidelaundry.com
that is a great video!
ReplyDeletewow thats insane. I almost got hit by a bike once up at columbia those guys are crazy sometimes.
ReplyDeleteFashionable Collections
wow. very interesting. I deal with this everyday when walking around uptown but I never feel as threatened as I should!
ReplyDeletesusannah
http://stylepourlavie.tumblr.com/
http://lavieetme.blogspot.com/
I agree with what AnastasiaC said above. jaywalking is not nearly as bad where I live (Toronto) but I have still been doored, etc. I couldn't even imagine riding my bike in NYC. It looked too scary imo. But I didn't see too many cars parked in bike lanes. I couldn't imagine driving in NYC for that matter either. I was expecting to see accidents everywhere I went.
ReplyDeleteThis video is hilarious and gutwrenching at the same time. It's amazing what people think they can get away with. I have seen cyclists do crazy things like that here in Australia. But that Truck just really went for it!
ReplyDeleteOh dear, it's scary to see so many near misses all in under 5 mins *puts helmet on tightly*
ReplyDeleteincredible.
ReplyDeleteJay-walking also happens here in my country.. sometimes worst happen.
ReplyDeletejaw dropping indeed - madness!
ReplyDeleteI ride my bike to work most days in our sleepy beach town...If my husband gets into an MFA program at either Hunter or Columbia and we move to New York, there's no way in hell I'll ride my bike in the city.
ReplyDeleteSo, I don't really believe it may have success.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the post, very helpful info.
ReplyDeletemario games | play free games | full pc games online | full pc games online | free game plus
you have a great information and of course I like the pictures this sport is one I like
ReplyDelete