New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

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New campaign aims to reduce traffic injuries

New York City has been successfully proceeding with its campaign to reduce traffic injuries traffic injuries.

Since July, the New York City Department of Transportation, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Transportation, has been rolling out the new LOOK Safety Campaign. The new safety campaign aims to strengthen pedestrian safety at intersection of fast-moving yellow cab blurs and wheels rushing to catch changing lights.

So far, it has targeted 110 intersections with histories of fatal or injurious crashes with curbside markings that read “LOOK!”

According to the DoT, last year, distraction — of both drivers and pedestrians — caused at least 9,200 injuries and 41 deaths in New York City alone. Nationally, the death toll rolls into the thousands, and the number of injuries tops the 400,000 mark.

The city’s DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said the simple act of looking can prevent thousands of crashes and injuries every year.

“Everyone needs to keep an eye out for each other on our streets,” Sadik-Khan said.

The campaign’s goal is to expand to a total of 200 intersections in the city and spread the message to drivers, with plans to install driver-level signs on the back of more than 300 Metropolitan Transit Authority buses, according to the DOT.

The campaign, which began in 2006 to raise awareness about the increasing number of bike riders sharing the road with pedestrians and automobiles, was recently restarted by Sadik-Khan to ensure that New York City’s streets are and remain the safest of any big city in the United States.

NYU sociology professor Dalton Conleysaid the signs are a great idea but getting and keeping people’s attention in the long run is a trickier design problem in this day and age.

“The problem is that while a sign might get folks attention for a while during the period it’s new and fresh, after a little while it won’t have any effect as we will tune it out,” Conley said.

Although Gallatin freshman Hannah Cohen acknowledges the campaign’s potential use, she also pointed out that pedestrians should just be more mindful of their surroundings.

“I think it’s pretty pathetic that people are so oblivious enough to their surroundings to need them,” said Cohen. “There’s so much around us to see that I don’t know why people feel the need to always be plugged into something and have to have signs telling them where to look.”

LSP freshman Priya Chidambaram said she has already seen many of the new signs around town.

“They’re a good idea because sometimes even I forget to look,” Chidambaram said.

A version of this article appeared in the Oct. 1 print edition. Andrew Karpan is a contributing writer. Email him at [email protected]

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