'Three-Way Street' Shows Hazards Of New York City Commute (VIDEO)

Bike wars, road rage, jaywalking--it's no secret New Yorkers are aggressive and often reckless commuters. But we had no idea just how hazardous we were until we saw this bird's eye view of a single New York City intersection.

As part of his master's thesis project at the School of Visual Arts, Ron Gabriel's "Three Way Street" shows cyclists swerving through crowds, riding against traffic and on the sidewalk--an 18-wheeler making a tight U-turn--a whole slew of cars almost getting into accidents--and all the while, hapless pedestrians unaware of how close they are to meeting their maker.

And all of this in one intersection of New York's 12,370. According to Gabriel, 74% of the city's accidents (which kill or seriously injure 4 people a day) happen at these crossroads where all types of commuters collide.

Maybe we should all just ride the subway? Nothing crazy ever happens down there, right? Or take the new East River ferry?

Gabriel's video is part of his developing "NYC Goes Three Ways" project to improve the "safety and usability of our streets".

3-Way Street from ronconcocacola on Vimeo.

[via Gawker]

Comments

[coolblueice]

04:21 AM on 06/12/2011

Hmmm... Looks pretty tame to me. Try crossing a street in Guangzhou China, Mexico city, or Cairo. ;-)

[Moarku]

12:19 AM on 06/10/2011

They should do this at night when the garbage trucks are out. You want to talk about reckless driving for no reason (is it really worth almost plowing someone down just so you can get to that pile of bags 20 feet away 3 seconds sooner?).

[Majestry]

12:16 PM on 06/09/2011

Looks like Park Ave South and 28th street.

Also, let me note that a lot of those "close calls" weren't really close at all because each party was aware of the other parties and even though they were close to each other, they were all timed out. Only a handful of those were actually dangerous situations and those mostly involved drivers being jackoffs and trying to race through crosswalks when pedestrians had the walk.

I have those "close calls" almost every single time I cross the street. I see the car/bike/bus/whatever and know how fast it's going and I will get across shortly in front of it or right behind it because it's very easy to judge these things. Is it dangerous? Probably. With that said, you're in much MUCH greater danger from getting hit by a car turning onto a side street than you are crossing an avenue while traffic is flowing. I can't tell you how many times that some dude has knifed onto a side street while there is a walk and almost hit me. I've spit on more than one cab driver for doing that to me.

[LonosCurse]

09:32 AM on 06/09/2011

Here's a thought, why doesn't everyone just follow the rules? I know it's cool to be a bada$$ but getting hit by a car really hurts.

[rockgod]

09:46 PM on 06/12/2011

Wow! So profound.

[Wisconsin Bison]

07:28 AM on 06/09/2011

Most of this was not too surprising (I mean how many hours did he shoot to get 3-4 minutes of crazy), but what gets me are the cyclists going against traffic in the middle of the moving cars. I bike a fair bit around the city, so the crazy bicycle messengers (speeding through red lights) and pedestrians (those crossing busy streets in the middle of on-coming traffic). And I cut everyone slack if they go 1 block against traffic or ride up on the side walk to get to the bike rack. But going the opposite direction in the middle of moving traffic?!?! No reason for that.

[Moarku]

12:13 AM on 06/10/2011

No kidding. Biking can be scary enough without being an idiot about it. Sad thing is, lots of people seen one or two events like that and instantly peg all bikers as being evil lawbreakers who ride ride like that. Doesn't help the discourse much, which is the main thing we all need.

[Waldimore]

09:31 PM on 06/08/2011

There are too many cars in NYC. Intersections are a NIGHTMARE.

[LonosCurse]

09:33 AM on 06/09/2011

If there were no cars the bicycles and pedestrians would still be running into each other.

[jeffp26]

09:01 PM on 06/08/2011

This is an excellent example of why we need cameras on every traffic light. Americans care about one thing, and that's money. Fine the jaywalkers, the bike riders and cars that do stupid things. And lock the tractor trailer driver up until he can pay the fines he accrued by breaking many laws at once.

[rikster]

08:59 PM on 06/08/2011

try the reckless yellow cabs too.....

[FidellaFaulds]

05:47 PM on 06/08/2011

Didn't they make an app based on this?

[jetle25]

04:50 PM on 06/08/2011

i have to say people can't just stop and go when its their turn. Its always me me me I gotta get there outta my way attitude. Most of it is completely ridiculous. But sometimes its just avoiding the morons and then it becomes a ripple effect if you can't avoid them. Saw the classic two hands up "wtf" and the hood pound.

[jetle25]

04:47 PM on 06/08/2011

for the most part this is nothing. Ever seen those China videos? Holy Crap.

[Moarku]

12:16 AM on 06/10/2011

Ever been to Egypt? No traffic lights. No crosswalks. The way you cross a street is basically like playing Frogger. When there's an opening in one lane you cross quickly, and stand between the lanes with cars passing on either side until the next lane opens up and do it again.

In. Sane.

[jetle25]

06:37 PM on 06/21/2011

Your description was the same feeling in some parts of China

[emmeaki]

04:23 PM on 06/08/2011

I almost get hit by a bike going the wrong way almost every other week. I'm tired of bikers acting like they don't have to follow any traffic laws just because they aren't in cars.

[Moarku]

12:17 AM on 06/10/2011

And I'm tired of people painting all bikers with a wide brush. Especially when pedestrians do crazy stuff with a lot more frequency (I'm saying this as both a biker and pedestrian).

[jackdaniel58]

02:25 PM on 06/08/2011

Beyond belief. NYC is out of control. What intersection was that?

[MahatmaCoat]

02:54 PM on 06/08/2011

Taking a stab here, but it looks like Park Ave So. ... Maybe at 28th St? Traffic really isn't difficult to navigate at all from a pedestrian's standpoint, but -- as with everything in NY -- you only need to be observant of your surroundings.

[Wisconsin Bison]

07:18 AM on 06/09/2011

It is definitely 28th & Park.

[Majestry]

12:18 PM on 06/09/2011

That's the one.

[AnApp4That]

01:19 PM on 06/08/2011

Wow. This was something to observe through a bird's eye view. Desensitized through living this every day, and it is scary to see all the potential and actual danger.

[MahatmaCoat]

01:00 PM on 06/08/2011

Bikers are worth 10pts on the Death Race scale. Just saying.