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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Theresa Behnen, Former Public School Teacher and Current Healthcare Educator
2:30:17
·
115 sec
Theresa Behnen, a Brooklyn resident and healthcare educator, testifies in support of Intro 1138 for universal daylighting to improve pedestrian safety when crossing streets. She emphasizes the challenges and fears pedestrians face due to limited visibility at intersections.
- Behnen shares personal experiences of feeling vulnerable while crossing streets, despite following all safety rules.
- She highlights the involuntary "freeze" response she experiences when faced with oncoming vehicles, emphasizing the need for better visibility.
- The testimony underscores the importance of universal daylighting to help drivers see pedestrians before it's too late, potentially preventing accidents and fatalities.
Theresa Behnen
2:30:17
name is Theresa Baynen.
2:30:19
I'm a fifteen year Brooklyn resident, former public school teacher and current healthcare educator.
2:30:24
I'm testifying in support of intro eleven thirty eight universal daylighting because I don't want to be afraid to cross the street.
2:30:31
I follow the basic safety rules, crosswalks, walk signals, always look both ways, never text and walk and always look where you're going.
2:30:38
But that's not enough, I also have to look back over my shoulder for the cars rushing to take a left or right turn from the parallel street.
2:30:45
And you know what, it's difficult to do that at the same time I'm looking where I'm going and both ways.
2:30:50
Still I'm at the mercy of a driver's ability to see me and to stop for me.
2:30:54
That's because of the fight or flight response.
2:30:57
When faced with danger, your body reacts involuntary in some pre programmed way, usually fight or flight.
2:31:02
I know which way I respond to danger because several times in New York City, while crossing the street, legally, in the crosswalk, while looking both ways and ahead and even over my shoulder, at the same time I see a car coming at me too fast to be sure they see me and are going to stop.
2:31:17
So when I've had two tons of metal hurtling towards me, it turns out my body does that third thing that begins with f.
2:31:23
I freeze.
2:31:25
I thought I'd be a fighter, I'd just jump on the hood like an action hero or dodging out of the way would be even better.
2:31:31
I think of myself as brave and strong but I am no match for a car.
2:31:36
So even following all my safety rules as I cross the street, my life is still in the hands of drivers and I need to know the driver will be able to see me before the last second.
2:31:45
That I won't be in the blind spot caused by a parked car while they're focused on the other cars on the road.
2:31:51
Crossing the street shouldn't feel like a daily gamble with my life.
2:31:54
I shouldn't need the reflexes of an action hero to survive someone else's mistake and I don't want to be that first fatality that puts an intersection on the DOT's radar to maybe consider possibly targeted daylighting in the future.
2:32:08
I support intro 11:38 to help drivers see us before it's too late.
2:32:13
Thank you.