STATEN ISLAND, NY- Silive.com reports that a pedestrian was hit by a taxi on Friday, June 1, 2018,in Stapleton. The victim was not identified, but according to a witness, the cab struck a male child. The boy was brought to the hospital where he was treatedfor injuries that were not consideredlife-threatening.
The boy was crossing Hill Street a little before 3 p.m. He was reportedly talking to people following the accident. Witnesses say he was bleeding.
The accident occurred about a block from a local middle school.
New York has experienced a decrease in pedestrian accidents in recent years. One strategy used by NYC is to install speed cameras in NY school zones. When the cameras catch a driver traveling more than 10 miles per hour above the speed limit, they automatically issue a ticket for $50. The program started in 2014, and speeding has dropped by about 63%. Pedestrians appear to have benefited as a result, because pedestrian injuries have dropped in the city by 23%, even while the number of people killed across the United States has increased.
Currently, 140 school zones have operating speed cameras, but this only covers 7% of New York City schools. The initiative is set to expire, but Mayor de Blasio and others who support the program are pushing to extend it and to increase the number of speed cameras to 290 school zones.
The proposed extension of the program is not without critics. Some feel the cameras are more designed to bring in money for the city than they are to protect kids. However, some skeptics are beginning to side with the Vision Zero initiative now that the numbers seem to indicate that the program is working.
