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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Lynn Nevins, Street Safety Advocate from Queens
3:15:07
·
116 sec
Lynn Nevins, a self-described full-time pedestrian and street safety advocate from Queens, testifies in support of measures to prevent drivers from blocking crosswalks. She emphasizes the dangers posed by scofflaw drivers and the need for physical prevention methods like hardened daylighting.
- Nevins describes witnessing increasingly emboldened and entitled driver behavior, including blocking crosswalks
- She explains how blocked crosswalks force pedestrians into dangerous situations, creating "deadly domino effects"
- Nevins argues that physical prevention methods are necessary, as softer approaches won't deter scofflaw drivers
- She provides an example of multiple drivers blocking an entire corner, highlighting the severity of the issue
Lynn Nevins
3:15:07
Thank you.
3:15:08
My name is Lynn Nevins.
3:15:09
I live in Queens.
3:15:11
I consider myself a full time pedestrian, and I've become a street safety advocate gradually over time, particularly over the past few years due to what I've witnessed on the streets, what I felt on the streets.
3:15:25
Drivers as a whole have become far more emboldened, entitled scofflaw, and that includes the blocking of crosswalks.
3:15:35
I think a lot of drivers think, what's the big deal?
3:15:38
People can just go around me.
3:15:40
But it actually is a big deal.
3:15:42
It creates deadly domino effects.
3:15:44
We've already talked about the lack of visibility.
3:15:47
But when a crosswalk is blocked, it also forces pedestrians to walk behind or in front of a vehicle further into traffic in the intersection, creating more dangers for the pedestrian.
3:16:01
My observation is that the only way to get certain scofflaw drivers to not block crosswalks is to physically prevent them from blocking the crosswalk in the first place, harden daylighting, any other soft form.
3:16:16
From what I've seen in my neighborhood in Queens, it's not going to stop these drivers.
3:16:21
And I just wanna mention something I've seen on multiple occasions in my neighborhood.
3:16:26
If you can imagine a street and an avenue where they meet and the two adjacent crosswalks, I've seen one driver block one crosswalk, the other block the adjacent crosswalk, and a third driver have the audacity to come in at an angle and park at the apex of that corner.
3:16:45
There are now three vehicles blocking the entire corner.
3:16:49
It's time that New York City start to protect its most vulnerable citizens, which are pedestrians and cyclists against certain scofflaw drivers and their two ton machines on wheels.
3:17:02
Thank you very much.