The decision could change the way cities deploy safety improvements Transportation experts agree that poor street design?and the driver behavior it enables?is responsible for many of the U.S.?s astronomically high number of traffic deaths. Now, in a landmark case, the New York State Court of Appeals has ruled in agreement with safety advocates, finding New York City?s street design liable for a crash that put a boy in a coma.
In 2004, 12-year-old Anthony Turturro was riding his bike down Gerritsen Avenue in Brooklyn when he was struck by driver Louis Pascarella, who was going at least 54 mph. Turturro suffered multiple skull fractures and currently experiences reduced mental and physical capacities.
According to the New York City advocacy organization Transportation Alternatives, the city?s leaders had been advised multiple times before the crash that the stretch of street was particularly dangerous. In the ruling, the court summarized the city?s lack of action this way: "an unjustifiable delay in implementing a remedial plan constitutes a breach of the municipality's duty to the public." The city was found 40 percent liable, and ordered to pay $19 million of the $20 million settlement to Turturro.
NYC DOT
Proposed design changes to Gerritsen Avenue

In the wake of Turturro?s crash the city implemented a road diet, narrowing the street from four lanes to three by repainting the medians. But it didn't seem to help matters much: From...