Pedestrian safety matters a lot to me, not just as someone who walks daily, but also as someone who has seen the consequences.
My brother biked every day, to and from our high school in downtown Jersey City. In November 2016, before I could leave for the bus, my mom got the call that he had been injured by a semi-truck on 440 right outside our neighborhood.
A witness at the scene stated on the police report that the truck driver had ran the light and that my brother, walking his bike across the crosswalk, had been in the right of way. She also told us that his head had been very close to the back tire of the truck.
Thankfully, my brother walked away, but there are plenty of people who have walked across 440 and not walked out.
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Serious Injury Traffic Crashes on City Streets (2023)