Dash cam video captures close call as New Haven, Hamden unveil safer crosswalks
A dash camera captured a frightening close call in Middlefield this week, showing a truck apparently passing a vehicle and nearly striking a man crossing the road.
The incident comes as advocates continue raising concerns about pedestrian and bicyclist safety in Connecticut.
According to state data, 647 pedestrians and bicyclists have been involved in crashes so far this year, resulting in nine deaths.
“It’s reckless driving. It’s distracted driving, and it’s bigger vehicles. I think it’s kind of a perfect storm of negative conditions that are contributing to a pedestrian and bicycle fatality crisis that we’re facing,” said Aaron Goode of the New Haven Friends of the Farmington Canal Greenway.
For Goode, the issue is personal.
Nine years ago, he was riding his bike when he was struck by a truck.
“I was knocked off my bike and knocked to the ground and then my bike was run over and crushed and my leg was beneath it. And if I hadn’t been wearing a helmet, I think I would probably be dead or in a coma,” Goode said.
Now, after years of advocacy, supporters are celebrating the completion of a $2 million project designed to improve safety at crosswalks along the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail.
The project upgraded 12 crossings in New Haven and Hamden. The crossings are now raised and equipped with flashing beacons that can detect approaching bicycles.
During a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday, local officials and advocates highlighted the improvements as part of a broader effort to reduce crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists.
“If you go around New Haven, we’re putting in all kinds of infrastructure to help slow people down and keep people safe with speed humps and other projects like this with the goal of getting our pedestrian/bicycle fatalities to zero,” New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said.
More than a dozen people have been struck at or near the intersections selected for improvements over the past decade, according to project supporters.
Advocates say that figure does not include numerous close calls and incidents in which drivers failed to stop for pedestrians and cyclists.
One of the upgraded crossings is at the location where Goode was hit. He believes the new safety features could help prevent similar crashes in the future.
“I think if we had the sensor activated, flashing beacons in the intersections, I think that crash would have been prevented. And I think it’s going to prevent other crashes in the future,” Goode said.
State data shows New Haven has recorded some of the highest numbers of pedestrian and bicyclist crashes in Connecticut this year. Overall, however, pedestrian- and bicyclist-related crashes statewide are down compared with the past several years.
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