Advocacy & Safety - Who Causes More Accidents: Drivers, Cyclists Or Pedestrians?

Yes, the survey results really shouldn't surprise you—though some aspects might? 68 percent of those asked gave the reasonable answer that people driving cars are the most frequent cause of accidents. Things get interesting, however, when you look at the borough, educational, and income breakdowns of the respondents.

Read the full article:
http://gothamist.com/2012/05/17/the_most_obvious_poll_of_all_time.php

NYC Adults
Which one of the following do you think causes the most accidents on city streets:
People driving cars People riding bicycles People walking
Row % Row % Row %
NYC Adults 68% 19% 13%
NYC Registered Voters 65% 22% 13%
NYC Borough Bronx 70% 15% 15%
Brooklyn 74% 18% 8%
Manhattan 59% 31% 10%
Queens and Staten Island 67% 16% 18%
Income Less than $50,000 71% 15% 15%
$50,000 or more 65% 22% 12%
Race White 67% 24% 9%
African American 71% 13% 16%
Latino 62% 21% 17%
Education Not college graduate 75% 14% 12%
College graduate 61% 25% 14%
Age Under 45 68% 17% 16%
45 or older 68% 22% 10%
Age 18 to 29 72% 20% 7%
30 to 44 63% 13% 23%
45 to 59 67% 22% 11%
60 or older 68% 22% 10%
Gender Men 70% 18% 12%
Women 65% 20% 14%
Interview Type Landline 68% 19% 14%
Cell Phone 68% 21% 11%
NY1-Marist Poll NYC Adults: Interviews conducted April 10th through 17th, 2012, N=886 MOE +/- 3.5 percentage points. Totals may not add to 100% due to rounding.

Drivers... They kill somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 other motorists and passengers each year.

There are not enough peds or cyclists to come close to causing those numbers.

I bet it depends on if you drive or use other means of transportation. I'm thinking that drivers probably know that cars are the biggest menace in NYC. At least that was my experience. I crossed paths with very few cyclists in my recent trip to NYC, but the drivers are nuts.

I'm honestly surprised the system works as well as it does. With all the millions of cars on the roads and all the millions of brain-dead troglodytes behind the wheels of those cars, one would expect a lot MORE chaos.

At any rate, what constitutes an "accident" is different depending on the medium. Two pedestrians bumping into each other on the sidewalk usually doesn't require an accident report, insurance companies, sidewalk-rage, etc... Two cars bumping each other usually does (even if only minor).

Things get interesting, however, when you look at the borough, educational, and income breakdowns of the respondents.
How, the results are amazingly consistent across each group?

Yes, Manhattan is high in the cyclist area, but that is where most people see bike messengers, right.

Drivers... They kill somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 other motorists and passengers each year.

There are not enough peds or cyclists to come close to causing those numbers.

The article only has paraphrases of the question asked. I really would like to see the exact question asked.

If it really does parse out to be just the number of accidents then anyone saying anything other that automobiles is an idiot.

The article only has paraphrases of the question asked. I really would like to see the exact question asked.

If it really does parse out to be just the number of accidents then anyone saying anything other that automobiles is an idiot.

The article is based on polls of what people suspect, and it turns out that there are some rather high numbers of people thinking that cyclists cause collisions in some areas. (well like 37%). This is not based on anything but perceptions.

This poll is silly. What people think is not well-related to reality and therefore provides no knowlege. The people who cause the most accidents are the people who exhibit one or more of the following behaviors:

1) They don't have their mind on what they are doing
2) They are complacent about the risk to themselves or others
3) They place themselves in the line of fire (risk junkies) causing others to react.
4) They are fatiqued.

Any of those groups in the poll could be fingered as the biggest cause.

Why not ask who causes the most accidents? You or others? Guess what the answer will be.

Geez! what kind of news is this? Groundbreaking? Hardly.

-G