Prominently on the Town of West Hartford’s website, its mayor is quoted as saying:

Our residents are enriched by excellent public schools, outstanding public safety, vibrant public spaces, and programs and services for all ages

Is public safety outstanding? Can we call public spaces vibrant when they’re challenging to reach?

Let’s see what the data tells us. 

From January 2015 through the beginning of May 2022, there were 237 reported collisions of motor vehicles (cars) with people outside of cars. This breaks down to mainly pedestrians (160) and cyclists (68) but includes a few people on skateboards and scooters. But, for all the pearl clutching over scooters, during this time, three people who were inside buildings were injured by drivers not yielding to actual buildings. There was also someone injured while using a mobility scooter. So, if you’re coming at this with certain beliefs about who is the cause of street chaos, you might want to put a pin in that while you read on.

In this time period, 35 pedestrians and cyclists age 65+ were injured by collisions with motor vehicles; 43 youth age 18 and younger were injured as pedestrians and cyclists.

When drivers hit pedestrians and cyclists, there are folks quick to turn themselves inside out to excuse bad driving and bad street design. I compiled this information to show a few things:

  1. Collisions involving pedestrians and cyclists happen far more often than most people realize; the majority of  crashes do not receive news coverage.
  2. Pedestrians and cyclists are not in the wrong most of the time — certainly not in the ways which they are often accused of. Most did not “come out of nowhere.” Many may not have obeyed traffic signals, but they were in the marked or unmarked crosswalk where they would expect to be seen. Most did not “dash” or “dart” into traffic. In 108 cases, the pedestrian/cyclist was described as having taken “no improper action,” in the crash report. This information comes from extremely conservative sources: police. At minimum, this means that 46% of pedestrians/cyclists injured in West Hartford had, by police standards, had done nothing wrong. As I looked through the data, it was clear that many more acted in ways that I, and probably most of you, would consider reasonable and appropriate based on current street design.
  3. If you are a pedestrian or a cyclist, it can truly seem like a toss up whether you are better off following all the rules or not, and this is even more true for cyclists who were hit most by drivers not giving those on bicycle same right of way as vehicles that would be moving in the same direction.

What can be learned from sifting through 237 crash reports?

So few — perhaps two or three — out of hundreds are what I would ever attach the word “accident” to. Those are the ones during which an involved person — the cyclist — experienced a medical event, like fainting, causing a loss of control over their bicycle. The rest were crashes.

So few of these crashes can be pinned entirely on the cyclist or pedestrian. It was painful to see how often people were riding their bicycles correctly, yet were still hit by motorists because of some combination of these things: driver did not look before turning from a side street, driver did not look before making turn across traffic, driver glanced for other motor vehicles but did not acknowledge other road users, driver did not know he needed to yield to cyclist just like he would have yielded to a motor vehicle, driver knew but did not care. Based on crash reports and diagrams, 54% of the injured cyclists were either taking no improper action, or hit when they would’ve been yielded to if a pedestrian or motor vehicle (based on the street design). Looking at this dataset, I knowingly encountered the report for one friend who was injured in this exact scenario. Another friend experienced the same in West Hartford, though her crash was before 2015, so I did not stumble upon her report in this particular dataset. Another friend received significant injuries in Hartford from the same: a driver turning into her as she pedaled straight through an intersection.

That 54% of cyclists taking no improper action increases when you begin to factor in cyclists injured while making the wrong move because the street design was just that car-centric. Take, for instance, the cyclists injured because of on-street parking. Sometimes, this meant the cyclist was using the parking lane as a bicycle lane — because engineers did not deem cyclist safety as important as storing private goods (cars) in public space — and then found vehicles in the space; the cyclist would attempt to merge into the travel lane where they clearly did not want to be, and that’s where the collision happened. Or, in several cases, on-street parking obstructed the drivers’ view, and then they collided with the cyclist.

And then there’s this: West Hartford’s bike lanes are not true bike lanes and are not respected. How do we know? Motor vehicles can enter the lanes. If these were protected by flex posts, bollards, flower pots, any kind of barrier, cyclists would have the protection that paint alone does not offer. Secondly, police do not recognize the legitimacy of bike lanes. How do we know? In 2016, a West Hartford officer decided to arrest a 21-year old male for improper passing when he rear-ended an Acura that was parked in the bike lane. You did not read that wrong. The cyclist was in the bike lane. He collided with a car that was illegally parked in the bike lane. The cyclist was determined to be in the wrong for using the space allotted to him while riding in the correct direction. This incident had no driver involved, as it was a parked, empty vehicle, so later when I refer to 236 drivers, this is the reason why. There is nothing in the database to suggest that police tracked down the vehicle’s owner to issue a ticket for obstructing the bicycle lane.

Drivers frequently park in the Boulevard bike lane to this day. Some choose to call the cops when they observe this, others report it on Bike Lane Uprising, and others send pics to my inbox. My instincts say that the most effective action would be a combination of sending those pics to both Bike Lane Uprising and West Hartford’s mayor, town council, and engineer every single time because being annoying enough can get results. And why not? If two complaints about people losing their publicly-funded car storage can upend a bike lane project, what is the motivation for cyclists to quietly fume?

It should not be the duty of pedestrians and cyclists to spend all our spare time reporting dangerous conditions that could be fixed not through ticketing but a few well-placed bollards.

It feels deceptive to bill one’s town as having “outstanding public safety” when so many have been injured.

What else does this data show us?

Pedestrians and cyclists are not “coming out of nowhere” as motorists often like to melodramatically claim.

In eight crashes, the pedestrian or cyclist was actually wearing reflective clothing.

In 2021, a motorist ignored the crossing guard holding a stop sign, subsequently striking a three-year old boy who was in the painted crosswalk of Oakwood Avenue at Saint James Street. The child was noted in the crash report as having taken no improper action. In what world do we think of a community as having “outstanding public safety” when a motorist can strike a child who is doing the correct thing, near someone serving as a bodyguard for kids?

What the data reveals is how frequently drivers hit people who were exactly in the places where people would be expected. Not even counting cyclists riding on the street where they are allowed (except for on highways, which never appeared in the data anyway), here is how many people were struck by vehicles in spaces where people should have been expected:

  • Intersection marked (painted) crosswalks: 49
  • “Other” (parking lots, inside buildings): 28
  • Shoulder: 18
  • Intersection unmarked crosswalks: 13
  • Non-trafficway area: 12
  • Sidewalk: 11
  • Exiting/entering vehicle: 9
  • Driveway access: 7
  • Mid-block marked crosswalk: 4
  • Bike lane: 3
  • Adjacent to road: 2

That’s 156 people.

This does not mean the pedestrian was always obeying traffic signals, but they were in a place where they should have been observed.

Although the most serious collisions were usually not happening in parking lots, there are a few things notable about these crashes. First: more reported parking lot crashes happened at the Raymond Roads Whole Foods than in the much larger sprawling lot of Westfarms Mall, and that’s even after I peeked at Farmington’s data to see if any were noted as happening in that town’s section of the mall. We could joke about silent eco-cars sneaking up on people, but not one Prius was listed in the collisions resulting in some type of injury.

We could talk endlessly about driver behavior, and it certainly should be examined.

How does this happen?

This is the crash diagram for the person hit on 14 March 2019. The victim was entering/exiting a vehicle on Raymond Road when someone decided to not use an actual driveway to exit the Whole Foods parking lot. Previous versions of Google’s street view shows that there have been shrubs and pillars along this side of the lot, so there’s nothing to suggest someone could become easily confused about where to exit. The driver was 86 and described as driving too fast for conditions while being inattentive.

 

Most crashes are not someone driving through shrubs, across sidewalks, and into street trees.

They’re influenced by design.

This is the crash diagram for the person hit on 11 October 2021. You can see that he (likely) got dropped off at the bus stop by the dead end sidewalk, and instead of backtracking (we don’t know if person was familiar with area or if this was first time here and didn’t know there was a crosswalk elsewhere) crossed where it made sense.

When your street design is garbage, you nudge people toward making unsafe decisions. Luckily, this person survived.

 

Here is a cleaner screenshot of the same area:

 

We could be asking how people working and shopping in these plazas are expected to safely get to these businesses. We could be asking a lot of questions, including why residents aren’t sitting in the mayor’s office every day until there’s a commitment to redesign obvious problem areas.

In 108 crashes, the report stated the the pedestrian/cyclist took “no improper action,” meaning that the cop on the scene understood the person outside the vehicle to be following the law.

However, I would expand that number significantly when you look at what design tells you to do (and I noticed one crash report in which the officer apparently took this into consideration as well.)

Cyclists, for instance, are not supposed to ride facing traffic. Besides the legal problem, it’s a physics problem. Head-on crashes cause more significant injuries. With that said, it can feel safer because if you can see the danger, you can dodge it, right? That’s what we’re told as pedestrians: walk facing traffic. So, why does this change if you’re on a bike? There’s inconsistent messaging without explanation.

Occasionally, you will see people cross in front of city buses. They’re not supposed to. In one of the crash reports, a youth was hit while attempting to do this. He made it safely by the bus, but a driver traveling in another lane hit the kid. Children are told over and over to cross in front of school buses. Are they given the right messaging for how this is no longer the case when they hop on city buses? As for adults, it’s easy to understand the mindset. They just exited the bus. They know the bus driver sees them. But, they’re not accounting for the impatient motorists in other lanes or who might be stupidly squeezing past the bus.

It can feel like the rules are always changing, and it puts cyclists and pedestrians at a disadvantage when we are the ones expected to know every nuance. Years ago, a friend’s younger sibling was yelled at by a cop because he was riding his bike in the street in the Center. The next time he was over there, he rode it on the sidewalk. He was stopped and told by police that he couldn’t ride his bike on the sidewalk in the Center. Drivers will stop to yell at pedestrians trying to use marked crosswalks and tell them they’re not allowed to cross there.

Meanwhile, you have motorists not giving cyclists the right of way that would be granted the car immediately ahead or behind. I’m trying to be generous in treating this like “drivers just don’t know” and not like “drivers are actually being bullies so they can win the imaginary race they’re in.”

There is so much education devoted to putting helmets on cyclists (23 were noted as wearing them in crashes) but not nearly enough messaging to drivers to come to a full stop at stop signs, look both ways twice, yield to the person on the bicycle just as you would the person in a car if they have the right of way, and to generally just calm down because nobody needs to rush around.

Here are simple narratives based on the data currently available, from January 2015 through the beginning of May 2022:

CRASH DATE

WHAT HAPPENED WAS:

1/23/15

 Driver hit pedestrian who was using sidewalk to cross the West Hartford Town Hall’s driveway

2/3/15

 Motorist hit person who was entering/exiting vehicle parked on Haynes Road

2/12/15

Driver hit pedestrian in the Big Y parking lot

3/10/15

Driver had stop sign but did not yield to a 15-year old pedestrian using crosswalk at Vine Hill and New Britain Avenue

3/11/15

Driver hit pedestrian in area not designated for pedestrian use on Albany Avenue near Crossroads Plaza entrance

3/24/15

Ambulance driver hit pedestrian at Rose Avenue and South Street

5/7/15

Driver struck pedestrian crossing in marked crosswalk at Flatbush and New Park; pedestrian had right of way. Driver hit something else first before hitting pedestrian.

6/11/15

Driver hit cyclist who was riding in South Street crosswalk at New Britain Avenue; cyclist did not have green light

6/12/15

Driver backed truck into someone standing by another truck in lot behind 705 Oakwood Avenue

6/25/15

Driver struck pedestrian who was in crosswalk at Trout Brook Drive and Farmington Avenue

8/7/15

Driver hit pedestrian in Westfarms Mall parking lot

8/13/15

Driver hit pedestrian in Raymond Road Whole Foods parking lot

8/13/15

Driver hit two pedestrians in crosswalk at Memorial and Isham

8/25/15

A 7-year old on a tricycle pedaled out of driveway and into Auburn Road where a driver hit him

9/4/15

Driver hit pedestrian in Hall High School driveway/parking lot

9/4/15

There’s no bike lane on Flatbush Avenue or New Park Avenue. Driver struck cyclist who was riding in crosswalk

9/9/15

Driver struck and killed 53-year old male pedestrian on I-84; crash report indicates victim was “darting”

9/21/15

A driver struck a 10-year old boy who was crossing a driveway, using the sidewalk on Whiting Lane

10/6/15

Driver struck 19-year old woman crossing South Main Street south of Sedgwick. Crash report claims pedestrian “darted” into the roadway

10/14/15

Driver hit a person in the Raymond Road Whole Foods parking lot

10/15/15

Driver attempting to make left turn did not yield to cyclist pedaling straight on South Road.

10/30/15

Driver hit pedestrian in the Raymond Road Whole Foods parking lot

11/6/15

Driver hit 78-year old woman crossing Mohegan Drive in the unmarked crosswalk to get to Fuller Drive from synagogue driveway

11/11/15

Driver making left turn struck pedestrian who was using unmarked crosswalk at Lemay Street and Farmington Avenue

11/16/15

Driver backed into 73-year old man in driveway of private residence on Boulevard

11/16/15

Driver making left turn out of Old Mill Lane onto Farmington Avenue hit pedestrian who was using the crosswalk

11/25/15

Driver turning right out of Westfarms Mall driveway struck pedestrian in crosswalk on New Britain Avenue; pedestrian had right of way

11/27/15

This is a little unclear, but it seems person was injured by bus door or another part of bus while pedestrian was taking no improper action

12/9/15

Driver hit person in the Raymond Road Whole Foods parking lot

12/14/15

Driver blew stop sign on Red Top Drive, hitting cyclist on Huckleberry Lane

12/23/15

Driver hit person in Westfarms Mall parking lot

1/11/16

Driver exiting parking lot onto Albany Avenue hit person who was walking across plaza driveway on sidewalk

1/12/16

Driver blew red light on Whiting Lane at Farmington Avenue, hitting pedestrian using marked crosswalk

3/2/16

Driver ignored Woodlawn stop sign, hitting pedestrian using marked crosswalk at intersection with New Britain Avenue

3/17/16

Driver hit pedestrian on Court Park

3/23/16

Driver hit pedestrian using marked crosswalk at Park Road and Prospect Avenue; pedestrian had right of way

4/6/16

Driver pulling out of gas station at Trout Brook Drive and Farmington Avenue hit cyclist who was crossing driveway on sidewalk; there is no bike lane on Farmington Avenue

4/22/16

Driver turning onto Farmington Avenue from Walbridge Road had stop sign but proceeded to drive into a cyclist who was riding against traffic (but that traffic has right of way)

6/5/16

Driver hit pedestrian who was crossing Farmington Avenue near Arnold Way in an area not designated for people to cross

6/7/16

Driver traveling straight on Albany Avenue hit an 18-year old male riding his bicycle from Sequin Road onto Albany Avenue

6/10/16

Driver disregarded stop sign on Walden Street at Fern Street, hitting a pedestrian who was using an unmarked crosswalk

6/22/16

Driver on Oakwood Avenue hit a 17-year old boy on his bicycle attempting to make a left turn from a parking lot

7/10/16

A cyclist who had been riding in the correct lane and direction apparently fell ill or fainted, and was then hit by a driver on Albany Avenue

7/15/16

Driver hit pedestrian who was crossing Park Road and Prospect Avenue in an area not designated for people to cross

7/20/16

Driver hit 76-year old woman pedestrian in gas station lot/driveway at Trout Brook and Farmington

7/17/16

Driver making left turn struck 15-year old boy riding his bicycle in the unmarked crosswalk at Park Road and Ringold Street, continuing from how he was riding on Park Road sidewalk; there are no barrier-protected bike lanes on Park Road

7/27/16

West Hartford Police decided to arrest a 21-year old male (wearing ANSI approved bike helmet) for improper passing even though he was in the Boulevard bike lane when he rear-ended an Acura that was parked in the bike lane.The cyclist was where he was supposed to be; the vehicle was not. The cyclist was punished.

8/3/16

Driver hit 14-year old male pedestrian who was trying to cross Caya Avenue between parked vehicles

8/4/16

Driver hit 15-year old boy riding his bicycle in the crosswalk of the New Britain Avenue-to-I-84 jug handle

8/10/16

Driver hit 81-year old man in gas station parking lot at 2507 Albany Avenue

8/31/16

Driver hit pedestrian in parking lot behind 65 LaSalle Road

9/2/16

Driver backed out of a driveway on Farmington Avenue, hitting an 83-year old woman who was walking on the sidewalk

9/26/16

Driver hit person who was in crosswalk but did not have pedestrian green light; this was at Ellsworth and South Main

10/5/16

A driver struck a 12-year old boy who was in space not designated for pedestrians on Crestwood Road

10/24/16

A driver turning into a driveway on New Britain Avenue struck a pedestrian walking on the sidewalk.

10/24/16

A driver struck a 12-year old boy who was in marked crosswalk at Old Meadow Road and King Philip Drive. Driver was turning from King Philip Drive onto Old Meadow Road.

10/28/16

Driver hit person using crosswalk at Boulevard and Trout Brook Drive

11/3/16

Driver hit a person using the unmarked crosswalk at Park Road and Crescent Street

11/5/16

Driver hit person in Westfarms Mall parking lot

11/23/16

Motorist hit person at Albany Avenue and Mountain Road; pedestrian was described as taking no improper action

12/2/16

A 64-year old man was crossing near 498 South Main Street to deliver newspapers before dawn when he was fatally struck by a pickup truck driver.

12/14/16

New Park Avenue is a model of poor design. Too many lanes, too much potential for high speed, too many driveways. Nobody wins. A person attempted to cross New Park Avenue in an area not designated for pedestrians and was hit by a driver attempting to turn left onto New Park Avenue from a driveway. There are few marked crosswalks on this road and none feel adequately safe.

1/7/17

Driver hit person in Big Y parking lot

1/13/17

Truck driver turned left from Shield Street to Custer, hitting a person in an unmarked crosswalk

1/25/17

Driver struck and killed pedestrian who was jogging in marked crosswalk at Trout Brook Drive and Asylum Avenue — two streets designed to enable high rates of speed for vehicles. He did not have the right of way. Reducing the speed limit and redesigning these streets to discourage high speeds would make it so a person’s mistake is survivable.

1/27/17

Driver hit person in the Aldi parking lot

2/13/17

Driver hit pedestrian crossing Starkel Road. The crash diagram indicates person was hit when 79 feet away from mid-block crosswalk.

2/18/17

Driver turning left out of the Big Y parking lot onto North Main Street hit pedestrian who was crossing in any area not designated for pedestrians, but which feels safer than crossing at Albany Avenue and North Main Street

3/20/17

Driver hit person who was entering/exiting vehicle on Sunny Reach Drive

3/31/17

Driver hit person in parking lot at 345 North Main Street

4/4/17

Driver hit person who was attempting to cross from 333 North Main to 340 North Main in part of road not designated for pedestrians

4/11/17

Driver ran red light, crashing into a person using the crosswalk during the exclusive pedestrian phase. This crash had multiple witnesses. Including the victim’s own family. The crash report describes her injury level as “suspected minor,” though she was seriously injured.

4/15/17

There is no barrier-protected bike lane on Farmington Avenue. From the crash diagram, it appears that the cyclist was riding in what *should* be a bike lane, but then needed to merge into the travel lane due to parked cars. There was already someone driving where he was trying to merge. This kind of conflict can be resolved with consistent, connected, barrier-protected bike lanes.

4/29/17

Driver struck pedestrian who was using unmarked crosswalk at Farmington Avenue and Dale Street

4/30/17

Driver hit person in driveway of Sunny Slope Drive

5/4/17

Driver of parked vehicle doored cyclist who was riding correctly on Farmington Avenue. The crash report indicates the cyclist took no improper action. There is no bike lane on Farmington Avenue.

5/16/17

Driver, who had stop sign on Cliffmore, struck cyclist while motorist was attempting a left turn onto Mountain Road. Cyclist was riding correctly and had right of way.

5/16/17

Cyclist, who was previously riding in correct lane and direction, fell ill or fainted and pedaled into the back of a parked truck on Mountain Road

5/24/17

Driver made left turn from North Main Street onto Loomis Drive, hitting a person who was using the unmarked crosswalk

6/22/17

A 14-year old girl was riding her bike on the sidewalk along North Main Street and attempted to merge onto the roadway, getting hit by a driver. There is no protected bike lane on North Main Street.

6/27/17

A driver exiting the Raymond Road Whole Foods parking lot hit a 13-year old boy riding his bicycle on the sidewalk

6/29/17

An 18-year old female exiting the Kingswood Oxford driveway ran the red light on her bicycle, colliding with a vehicle on Trout Brook Drive.

7/12/17

Driver exiting 38 North Main Street driveway hit cyclist riding on sidewalk along North Main Street. There is no bike lane on North Main Street.

7/17/17

Driver hit pedestrian in the 437 New Park Avenue parking lot

7/26/17

Driver hit 12-year old boy riding bike at intersection of Farmington Avenue and Trout Brook Drive; the crash report indicates that the cyclist took no improper action

7/27/17

Driver exiting St. Augustine Street had stop sign, but still hit the 16-year old boy riding his bike on the South Quaker Lane sidewalk. There is no bike lane on this part of South Quaker, only sharrows.

8/11/17

Driver ignored red light, hitting cyclist attempting to cross Boulevard at Trout Brook Drive

8/23/17

Driver hit 12-year old boy attempting to cross Oakwood Avenue mid-block in area not designated for pedestrians

9/1/17

Driver with stop sign failed to yield to two pedestrians, hitting them, in an unmarked crosswalk at Hampton and South Quaker Lane

9/4/17

A cyclist was riding correctly on Mountain Road when hit by a driver turning right on Mountain Road from Buena Vista Road

9/14/17

Driver traveling straight on North Main Street hit 14-year old boy who was cycling on shoulder and then attempted to make left turn into Hall High School driveway. There is no protecte bike lane on North Main.

9/19/17

A motorist driving on North Main Street hit 16-year old bike riding his bike in the crosswalk at North Main and Huro. There is no bike lane on North Main. 

9/23/17

A driver struck a 17-year old boy on Albany Avenue in a space not designated for pedestrians. The crash report describes youth as a non-motorist, but does not indicate if he was in a wheelchair, skateboarding, or doing something else.

10/8/17

A motorist drove into a building in the Staples plaza, injuring a person inside the building.

10/8/17

Driver hit person crossing Arnondale near Park Road

10/25/17

Driver made left turn onto Outlook Avenue from Farmington Avenue, hitting person who was using the unmarked crosswalk

2-Nov

Driver sideswiped cyclist on Farmington Avenue, just past the Trout Brook Drive intersection. Cyclist was taking no improper action.

7-Nov

 A 15-year old boy riding his bike on Federal Street did not stop for oncoming vehicle on Hall Street

11/8/17

Driver on New Park Avenue hit 12-year old boy crossing road at New Britain Avenue crosswalk

11/18/17

Driver hit person crossing Trout Brook Drive in area not designated for pedestrians; this person was crossing by 1109 Trout Brook Drive, probably to reach side of street that had sidewalk. There’s no crosswalk here, but also no sidewalk to use to get to where there is a crosswalk.

12/28/17

Driver hit pedestrian who reportedly “darted” into street. Pedestrian was using marked crosswalk on New Britain Avenue at South Main Street. Police wrote out infraction for pedestrian.

1/13/18

Driver hit person in Stop & Shop parking lot on Newington Road

1/26/18

Driver making left turn on a campus road at University of Hartford hit a cyclist who was riding correctly

1/26/18

Driver traveling on North Main Street hit person using mobility scooter attempting to cross street by 747 North Main

2/1/18

Driver hit person crossing New Park Avenue using unmarked crosswalk near Jefferson

2/1/18

Motorist on Farmington attempting left turn onto Dale hit pedestrian in the marked crosswalk

2/11/18

Driver with stop sign at Gloucester Lane did not yield when making left turn onto Mountain Road, hitting person crossing intersection

2/14/18

Driver on Prospect Avenue hit pedestrian in unmarked crosswalk at Westphal Street

2/27/18

Driver hit cyclist on North Main Street sidewalk. Cyclist was waiting to cross intersection on North Main Street. The driver appeared to be passing a vehicle on the right, and then drove off the road, across the sidewalk and a person’s lawn. There is no bike lane on North Main Street.

3/14/18

A cyclist sideswiped a transit bus while trying to maneuver around a vehicle on Boulevard. Crash report notes cyclist took no improper action.

3/17/18

Driver hit pedestrian in Corbin’s Corner parking lot

3/26/18

A driver turned right out of the University of Hartford slip lane onto Bloomfield Avenue, hitting the cyclist who was making a left turn from Bloomfield Avenue

3/26/18

A driver struck a 9-year old girl who was crossing Hillcrest Avenue. The crash report describes youth as “darting.”

4/9/18

Driver hit pedestrian using unmarked crosswalk on New Park Avenue

4/24/18

Driver making right turn hit person using marked crosswalk at New Park Avenue and Flatbush

4/28/18

Driver attempting to make a left turn from Trout Brook Drive onto Haynes hit cyclist who was traveling straight, riding correctly on Trout Brook Drive. There is no bike lane on Trout Brook Drive.

4/29/18

Driver attempting to make turn onto Kingston from Park Road hit 16-year old male cyclist traveling straight and riding correctly on Park Road.

5/9/18

A driver hit a 90-year old man who was crossing Highland Street mid-block in any area not designated for pedestrian use

6/5/18

Driver hit person in the Raymond Road Whole Foods parking lot

6/7/18

Driver hit person who was using crosswalk but did not have the pedestrian light when crossing Park Road and South Quaker Lane

6/10/18

Driver hit person in the Trader Joe’s parking lot

6/13/18

Driver hit person in a commercial parking lot on Auburn Road

7/15/18

Driver hit person in commerical parking lot on New Park Avenue

7/17/18

Driver hit person who was in marked crosswalk but without permission from the pedestrian light at Park Road and Prospect Avenue

7/19/18

Driver hit person in North Main Whole Foods parking lot

7/20/18

Driver hit 18-year old female crossing New Park Avenue by Darcy Street in unmarked crosswalk

7/21/18

Driver exiting 935 Farmington Avenue hit person cycling on sidewalk. There is no bike lane on Farmington Avenue.

8/19/18

Driver hit person in driveway of Kennedy Memorial Park

8/25/18

Driver on Arnoldale had stop sign, but continued and struck cyclist who was riding on sidewalk and then crosswalk in correct direction on Boulevard

9/8/18

Driver had a stop sign on Davenport Road. Cyclist using New Britain Avenue did not. The 11-year old boy riding his bike braked so hard that he left skid marks on the New Britain Avenue sidewalk. The child received a verbal warning — unclear if this was because he was biking on the sidewalk in a place where there are no bike lanes, or if it was because he was riding against traffic on the sidewalk, or because he dared to exist outside of a motor vehicle.

9/30/18

A cyclist wearing reflective clothing and using lights on his bike received an infraction for improper merging/turning while otherwise riding correctly on Fern Street. He was sideswiped by a driver at intersection of North Main Street.

9/30/18

Motorist backing out of driveway struck person who was walking on the sidewalk

10/13/18

There are no bike lanes on Farmington Avenue. Instead, there’s on-street parking, which appears to have obstructed the view of the driver who was pulling out of Woodrow Street onto Farmington, but then backed up. This one is hard to decipher from the diagram and report, but it looks as if both cyclist and driver tried to maneuver to avoid collision, and their instincts were to both go in the wrong direction.

10/13/18

Driver hit pedestrian in crosswalk at Farmington and Trout Brook Drive who was crossing when pedestrians did not have the light

11/7/18

Driver hit person crossing New Park Avenue in area not designated for pedestrians

11/7/18

Driver hit a 14-year old girl who was crossing LaSalle Road at Farmington Avenue in the marked crosswalk. She was described as “darting” and being “inattentive,” and crossing without the pedestrian signal.

11/10/18

Driver hit person in unmarked crosswalk of New Britain Avenue and Yale

11/23/18

Driver backing out of a Farmington Avenue plaza struck pedestrian who was correctly using the sidewalk

11/27/18

Driver hit person using crosswalk at intersection of New Britain Avenue and Newington Road

12/4/18

Driver pulling out of 100 Kane Street hit a 16-year old female cyclist who was riding correctly and had right of way on Kane Street

12/12/18

Driver hit pedestrian who was crossing Farmington Avenue at Raymond Road outside of the marked crosswalk. Intersection lacks a painted crosswalk on one leg.

12/16/18

The driver of a Jeep Wrangler traveling on Park Road hit an 80-year old woman who was attempting to cross in an area not designated for pedestrians near Oakwood Avenue. This collision killed the pedestrian.

1/7/19

Driver hit 83-year old man using unmarked crosswalk at Albany Avenue and Starkel Road. The crash report says that the victim did not obey traffic signals.

1/15/19

Driver attempted left turn from Farmington Avenue onto Trout Brook Drive, striking cyclist who was riding straight on Trout Brook Drive. The cyclist was issued a verbal warning for not obeying traffic signals.

2/2/19

Driver turning left from New Park Avenue into a convenience store’s parking lot hit person crossing Flatbush Avenue in area not designated for pedestrians

2/6/19

A driver exiting 646 Flatbush Avenue hit a woman who was using the sidewalk and was reported to have taken no improper action.

2/6/19

A person backing out of a residential driveway on Farmstead Avenue hit a 74-year old woman who was walking in the road. The pedestrian was in the street because there are no sidewalks here.

3/4/19

A driver on Farmington Avenue by the municipal lot entrance hit a 74-year old man who was entering/exiting a vehicle. The crash diagram includes snow mounds, implying the possibility that one or more people involved in this incident had their mobility or view impeded by the snow.

3/4/19

Driver hit person in the BJs parking lot

3/14/19

Driver exited the Raymond Road Whole Foods parking lot not using the driveway, going over a curb, turning left and driving on the sidewalk, and then hitting a street tree and a pedestrian who was entering/exiting a parked vehicle.

3/16/19

A 12-year old boy crossed in front of a transit bus on North Main Street at Whitman Avenue in an unmarked crosswalk; a driver in the other travel lane struck him. The child received a verbal warning. His actions were described as “darting.”

3/19/19

Driver turning left from Farmington onto South Highland hit pedestrian who was using the marked crosswalk. There is no exclusive pedestrian phase in this intersection. The pedestrian was described as taking no improper action. 

5/18/19

A driver rear-ended a cyclist on Boulevard by the intersection of Mountain Road. The crash report notes that the cyclist took no improper action.

6/13/19

A motorist drove into a building at 1253 New Britain Avenue, causing injuries to a 2-year old girl who was inside the building.

7/10/19

Driver exiting Hall High School driveway hit cyclist who was riding on North Main Street and had right of way. There is no bike lane on North Main Street.

7/17/19

Driver hit person moving trash bins by driveway on South Main Street

7/25/19

Driver exiting Big Y parking lot hit person walkng across the driveway using the North Main Street sidewalk

8/2/19

Driver struck a cyclist who was riding correctly on Farmington Avenue near the Trout Brook Drive intersection. From the crash diagram, it appears the motorist switched lanes without looking or reducing speed. The crash report notes that the cyclist took no improper action.There is no bike lane on Farmington Avenue.

8/3/19

Driver hit pedestrian using marked crosswalk at South Quaker and Park Road; crash report notes that the pedestrian took no improper action.

9/20/19

Driver making a left turn out of a parking lot hit person using crosswalk on Newington Road

9/27/19

Driver on Hampton Avenue hit cyclist crossing street at South Quaker Lane in unmarked crosswalk. 

10/3/19

Driver hit person crossing New Park Avenue at area not designated for pedestrian use

10/6/19

Driver hit 79-year old woman in the Crossroads Plaza/Big Y parking lot

10/30/19

Driver turning left from South Quaker Lane to Clearview Avenue hit person in crosswalk. The pedestrian had the right of way.

11/1/19

A driver made a left turn from Fern Street onto Mountain Road, hitting a 13-year old girl who was correctly riding her bicycle from Hunter Drive to Fern Street. The child was wearing a helmet. The crash report states she was not distracted and took no improper action.

11/5/19

Driver hit a person in a parking space while entering/exiting vehicle in front of 966 Farmington Avenue  (near the Main Street intersection)

11/10/19

A driver struck a 78-year old man attempting to cross New Park Avenue in an area of the road not designated for use by pedestrians, though he was close to an unmarked crosswalk.

11/15/19

A motorist hit two women in their 60s who were crossing Raymond Road in an area not designated for use by pedestrians. The driver had recently made left turn onto street from Farmington Avenue.

11/29/19

Driver exiting Auburn Road had stop sign. Cyclist riding correctly on Asylum Avenue did not. The crash report states cyclist took no improper action.

12/6/19

Driver using slip lane on Sims Road failed to stop at stop sign, hitting person in crosswalk at North Main Street. Crash report indicates pedestrian took no improper action.

12/11/19

Driver hit person who was using unmarked crosswalk at New Britain Avenue and Shield Street; other legs of intersection have striped crosswalk

12/12/19

The details of this are unclear, but ultimately, a driver hit a 73-year old woman in the 333 Bloomfield Avenue parking lot. It’s unclear if pedestrian was exiting/entering vehicle, walking through parking lot (as one does where there are no sidewalks), or something else. Crash diagram looks like motorist was backing up with car door open.

12/27/19

A 14-year old girl was riding her bike in the crosswalk of South Main Street, going with the direction of traffic, when a driver made turn out of Ellsworth. Cyclist had otherwise been riding on sidewalk. Why? Because West Hartford has decided that a 14-year old girl does not deserve more than sharrows, and even a kid knows these don’t keep you safe. The child was given a verbal warning. The crash report says she disobeyed traffic signals, but the crash diagram shows that traffic traveling in her direction had green light.

1/5/20

Driver making left turn from Farmington Avenue onto Concord hit pedestrian in crosswalk.

1/30/20

Driver hit person in Raymond Road Whole Foods parking lot

1/30/20

Motorist driving out of Garfield Road, who had stop sign, hit person crossing Farmington Avenue; crash report indicates no improper action from the pedestrian

2/7/20

Driver hit person near Flatbush and New Park Avenue; the victim was not using the part of the road designated for use by pedestrians

3/5/20

Driver hit a 17-year old girl crossing South Quaker Lane in an area not designated for use by pedestrians

4/9/20

A driver killed a 19-year old male on a skateboard, left him to die in the gutter, and was roaming free for months before finally being arrested even though police knew who was involved in this. The young person was traveling home from work, using Albany Avenue. The crash diagram, with its scattered debris, shows the sheer violence of the collision. A broken skateboard. Sneakers in two separate locations. A phone and bag in other spots. The deceased landed on a grassy area along the road. Albany Avenue has insufficient sidewalk. The victim had been using the far right lane. Again, the motorist left the young father on the side of the road to die. 

5/30/20

A driver entering a residential complex parking lot collided with a 10-year old girl on her bike in the parking lot. It appears the building design and driveway entrance creates a blind spot.

6/5/20

A driver making a right turn from Memorial Road onto Trout Brook Drive hit a 14-year old boy riding his bike in the crosswalk from one portion of the bike path to the next. The crash report states child did not obey traffic signals. One can ask about the logic of not making intersections with a bike path simpler to cross, especially considering that this is the town center.

6/8/20

Driver had a stop sign on Fairlawn; cyclist using Park Road did not. Cyclist was wearing reflective clothing. He received a verbal warning, presumably for riding against traffic. There is no bike lane on Park Road, but lots of on-street parking.

6/19/20

Driver struck person crossing South Main Street outside of area designated for pedestrian use.

7/11/20

Driver hit person in the CVS parking lot at Boulevard and Prospect

7/12/20

Driver making right turn on red hit cyclist who had green light on New Park Avenue; cyclist was riding in the crosswalk and against traffic.

7/23/20

There is no bike lane on Farmington Avenue. An 18-year old male was riding correctly on Farmington Avenue when a driver attempted to pass him where there’s a median by Stanley Street. The cyclist appeared to be trying to avoid cars parked on the street. The cyclist was noted as improperly merging. The cyclist received a verbal warning.

8/10/20

Driver hit a person in the 121 Shield Street parking lot

8/12/20

Driver hit 15-year old boy riding his bicycle. The child was attempting to make a left turn from Hillcrest onto New Britain Avenue. He received a verbal warning for not obeying traffic signals.

8/21/20

The occupant of a parked car opened his/her door irresponsibly, hitting a cyclist who was riding correctly on South Quaker Lane; the crash report indicates that the cyclist took no improper action.

8/26/20

Driver hit person in crosswalk of New Britain Avenue near Wolcott Park; pedestrian received verbal warning for disobeying traffic light

8/26/20

A cyclist received a verbal warning for being inattentive and rear-ending a vehicle on Price Boulevard.

10/1/20

A driver turning out of Old Meadow Road, who had stop sign, collided with an 83-year old man riding his bicycle correctly on King Philip Drive. The cyclist had the right of way and was noted in the crash report to have taken no improper action.

10/2/20

Driver making let turn from Park Road to Greenhurst hit cyclist who was riding straight across crosswalk. There is no bike lane on Park Road. Cyclist was noted in crash report to have taken no improper action.

10/31/20

Driver hit person in parking lot on New Britain Avenue; pedestrian given verbal warning.

12/18/20

Driver passing vehicle on right hit person on North Main Street. Pedestrian was trying to cross from one plaza to another in Bishops Corner. Pedestrian received verbal warning for crossing outside area not designated for use by pedestrians. 

12/18/20

Someone using a wheel loader to clear snow in the Trader Joe’s parking lot struck a 72-year old male pedestrian; the pedestrian was noted as having taken no improper action.

12/22/20

A driver struck a 16-year old girl who was walking in the road near 31 Prospect Avenue. The crash diagram shows the sidewalk obstructed by snow. The child was given a verbal warning for improper use of the roadway. It’s not known if the property owner received a ticket for having an obstructed sidewalk.

1/15/21

A driver hit an 11-year old girl who was crossing South Main Street in the marked crosswalk near the library. The child received a verbal warning for crossing when the light did not grant her permission.

1/27/21

Driver ignored stop sign, hitting person who was in the crosswalk at Memorial Road and Isham

2/21/21

A 13-year old girl on a skateboard did not stop at the Florence Street stop sign, colliding with a car on Federal Street that had the right of way. The incident was captured on someone’s home security camera

3/24/21

A driver making left turn from LaSalle to Arapahoe hit pedestrian who was using the marked crosswalk and who had the right of way.

4/9/21

An 8-year old boy on his bicycle was riding on the Ringgold Street sidewalk, against traffic, and attempted to cross Park Road when he collided with a vehicle. He received a verbal warning.

4/16/21

A driver hit a 16-year old girl when the child and another youth attempted to cross Webster Hill at Crestwood in an unmarked sidewalk. The crash diagram indicates there was a dispute about where the impact occurred.

4/22/21

A driver backing up in a parking lot at 7 Andover Drive hit a person wearing reflective clothing.

5/20/21

Driver hit person in 176 Newington Road parking lot

5/24/21

Driver turning right onto New Britain Avenue from Newington Road hit a pedestrian waiting to use the marked crosswalk.

6/17/21

A 16-year old girl was riding her bicycle on the Whiting Lane sidewalk and was trying to cross Boulevard in the unmarked crosswalk. She should’ve stopped as there is no stop sign or light on Boulevard. She received a verbal warning.

6/24/21

A cyclist was pedaling straight on Fern Street. A driver made a right turn into the cyclist at Brunswick Avenue. The crash report notes that the cyclist took no improper action.

6/25/21

A driver exiting the 1161 New Britain Avenue parking lot hit a 16-year old boy walking on the New Britain Avenue sidewalk. The youth was noted in the crash report as taking no improper action.

7/14/21

A driver struck the 905 Farmington Avenue building, injuring a person inside the building.

7/19/21

From the crash diagram, it appears that a 65-year old male cyclist rear-ended a vehicle on King Philip Drive. It looks like the driver slowed, though the crash report says it was the cyclist who was slowing down. .  . So something either in diagram or report isn’t lining up.

7/25/21

Driver had stop sign on Boulanger Avenue, but hit 72-year old woman using crosswalk at Oakwood Avenue.

8/28/21

Driver hit a 16-year old boy who was riding his bicycle in the crosswalk of the New Britain Avenue jug handle that delivers motorists onto I-84. The gutless driver fled the scene. The boy took no improper action, according to the crash report.

8/28/21

A motorist making a left from Whetton Road onto Albany Avenue hit a pedestrian using the unmarked crosswalk.

9/7/21

A driver turning left from Farmington Avenue onto Arnoldale Road hit a cyclist who was riding on the sidewalk. There are no bike lanes on Farmington Avenue. The crash report indicates that the cyclist took no improper action.

9/19/21

Driver making left turn from North Main Street onto Fern Street hit a pedestrian was was in the marked crosswalk; the crash report says that the pedestrian did not obey traffic signal and “darted”

9/24/21

A motorist disregarded the crossing guard holding a stop sign, striking a 3-year old boy who was in the crosswalk of Oakwood Avenue at Saint James Street. The three-year old child was noted as having taken no improper action. Please read this description again to yourself, out loud. The next time someone tries to victim blame pedestrians and cyclists, have this at the forefront of your mind. An adult in reflective gear holding a stop sign was somehow not visible enough for a motorist, who collided with a young child. 

9/30/21

A person, described in the crash report as taking no improper action, was hit while attempting to cross New Park Avenue. A motorist appears to have made a quick turn out of a driveway to avoid being hit by oncoming traffic.

10/16/21

A driver hit a person in the Westfarms Mall parking lot

10/11/21

A driver hit a pedestrian crossing the driveway/road of the Corbins Corner/REI parking lot. The pedestrian made a series of choices that were “wrong,” but were absolutely what design and logic instructed him to do. See diagram above. 

10/19/21

This is a little unclear, but it seems that a 60-year old man waiting at the CTfastrak station platform with his bicycle was possibly injured by a bus; the report notes that the man was inattentive.

10/24/21

A vehicle rolled backward over a person’s legs in a private driveway on Bainbridge Road

11/1/21

A person wearing reflective clothing, standing on the shoulder of Mountain Road, was hit when a driver sideswiped a parked vehicle.

11/5/21

A 19-year old walking on the shoulder of Farmington Avenue was hit by a driver making a right turn from Farmington into driveway. The crash report indicates she took no improper action.

12/3/21

A truck driver making a left turn from New Park to Flatbush hit person who was in the crosswalk; the pedestrian had not been given permission from the light to cross the street.

12/14/21

A driver reversed into an 87-year old woman in the Crown parking lot.

12/18/21

Driver going straight on Brace Road hit person crossing street in area not designated for use by pedestrians

12/21/21

A cyclist was riding in the correct direction on South Quaker Lane by Park Road when a motorist chose to overtake the person on the bicycle, later colliding with him. The crash report notes that the cyclist was wearing a helmet and took no improper action.

2/25/22

Two male pedestrians, one of whom was wearing reflective clothing, were hit while on the shoulder of Mountain Road. The crash report notes that neither pedestrian took improper action. The road was described as icy.

3/4/22

A cyclist was riding on South Quaker Lane, correctly, and did not have stop sign. A driver, coming from Sidney Avenue with a stop sign, struck the cyclist. The cyclist was wearing a helmet, in the marked bike lane, and noted as having taken no improper action.

3/6/22

A person riding a scooter was traveling in the wrong direction/wrong lane of Darcy Street before attempting to cross New Park Avenue, colliding with a driver who had the right of way.

3/15/22

A cyclist, noted as having taken no improper action, was in the crosswalk of Bainbridge and North Quaker Lane when a driver hit her. There is a stop sign on each leg of the intersection.

4/7/22

Driver making left turn from Park Road to Beverly hit person crossing in an unmarked crosswalk.

5/1/22

Driver pulling out of Federal Street onto New Britain Avenue did not yield to oncoming traffic, hitting a cyclist who was riding on the sidewalk. Driver had stop sign. There are shrubs at intersection that may obstruct view. Somehow the cyclist was noted as failing to yield to driver.

5/4/22

Driver hit person in the NBC parking lot on New Britain Avenue

What do we know about drivers?

You would think there would be more knowledge about levels of impairment, but of the 236 drivers who collided with pedestrians/cyclists, only four were given alcohol tests and three of those were drug tested. In one incident, it was unknown if the driver was given either an alcohol or drug test. The remainder of those crashes, no test was given to the driver. Only one motorist in this dataset was found to be driving under the influence; this person was involved in a fatal collision, and the database states that the driver was not given so much as a verbal warning.

While there is a place to record information about speeding, there seems to be resistance to use that language. Instead, the phrase driving “too fast for conditions” appears in six of the collisions. The most common thing drivers did to contribute to the crash?

Careless/inattentive driving, improper backing, and a miscellaneous bundle of “other contributing action” were the top things motorists did to help cause a crash. This shows what police determined to be contributing factors; some crashes were caused by the driver making more than one wrong decision:

The person driving under the influence actually did not have that listed as a contributing factor. There were also two drivers who were described as being in some type of emotional (depressed, angry, etc.) state, and without more information, it’s hard to know if that would be a contributing action or their mindset after being in a collision.

While sharing the not-so-fun facts about pedestrian/cyclist crashes with injuries in West Hartford, there’s a little thing I can’t help but mention. In many news reports, when there is a pedestrian/cyclist collision with a motor vehicle, the media will share the drivers’ injuries. It is not common for a driver to have injuries in these type of crashes. Of the 236 crashes in which a driver was present, four motorists were suspected of having minor injuries and three were possibly injured. (I’ve written about this at length before, but the classification of injuries may be deceptive because police — not medics —  are determining severity of injury for the paperwork. If a victim is conscious and not profusely bleeding, his injuries may be underestimated. Last year, a friend’s injuries were described as minor in a report. He required at least two surgeries and over a year later continues to have mobility issues. His injury status was updated only because he was proactive in getting that done. Keep in mind that a “minor” injury could be anything from a scratch or small bruise to lots of broken bones.)

What needs to be pointed is that data only tells you what data tells you. In other words, if nobody is asking the question of how roads designed like racetracks contributed to a crash, then police have no box to check on their report. That information does not get officially captured. And while police are asked, to an extent, about other contributing causes (icy roads, shrubs obstructing sight lines) they are primarily invested in answering questions pertaining to the actions of the humans immediately involved. They’re not being asked how politicians (budgets) and engineers (design) have contributed to the scene.

Let’s turn to that grocery store parking lot as an easy example. Anyone — no expensive degrees needed — can take one look at it and tell you it’s designed poorly. They might not be able to articulate why, but they know it’s bad. In the surface lot, you have to back into or out of a spot. There are not pull-through options, unless you park in the garage, which presents its own set of hazards. It becomes all that much easier to improperly back up and into someone — a someone who should be visible. Unless you are willing to park in the distant and less busy part of the lot or have backup cameras and know how to use them, you really do have the deck stacked against you as a driver in this lot. But since there’s no “this design is trash” box for police to check, then what they have to go on is who made the most recent errors.

The focus on design — road or vehicle — is not to absolve motorists of their responsibility, of which they automatically have more of by virtue of commanding a heavier, more deadly vehicle. There should be automated enforcement. It should be more difficult to get and renew a driver’s license — not financially, but in the type of knowledge and skill a motorist should possess. But focusing on driver or pedestrian/cyclist fault exclusively (or near exclusively) is a way for politicians and engineers to default on their own responsibility. Road design and traffic calming do more to prevent injuries than any amount of tsktsking road users will.

What about punishment?

In these crashes, here’s what happened to drivers: 11 were arrested, 44 were issued infractions, three were given written warnings, 13 were given verbal warnings, and the rest. . . nada. The data does not tell us what happened after the arrest, after any of those actions. Did the driver lose his/her license? Have it suspended? Did driver need to return to driving school? Did they spend any time in jail? We don’t know, and aside from taking away the object they’ve proven they can’t/won’t use safely, I don’t know how much any of those other punishments matter when it comes to preventing future collisions.

West Hartford residents and visitors are being deprived of safe, efficient, and enjoyable ways of moving around town. When the underwhelming North Main Street changes were discussed in local media, the engineer basically said that nothing more innovative would be done because the road is an arterial.

Roads are not permanent.

Road design is not permanent.

We have the ability to shape our communities to fit what we want for ourselves today.

Trying to move drivers as quick as possible from suburban home to urban job is an old model. Old. We have long outgrown this. Our roads should reflect this shift in values.

There is no sidewalk along parts of Trout Brook Drive, Asylum Avenue, Albany Avenue, Farmington Avenue, and New Britain Avenue.

There should be one north-south and one east-west bike route in town that is safe enough for both a 7-year old and a 77-year old to use, which connects them with actual amenities (library, grocery store, drug store, etc.). These should involve regional cooperation so that infrastructure does not die at the town line.

Two complete routes.

Sidewalks and adequate lighting on major routes.

Start there.