Yes; especially around dusk, pedestrians can be almost invisible. And bicyclists who are not very very strongly illuminated, front and back, seem to have no idea how nearly invisible they are, too. And way too often even in broad daylight I see bicyclists, earbuds in, chatting away to someone via their earbuds and mic, weaving between the two traffic lanes both north and south on Whitney Avenue near the Peabody Museum, apparently to try to get ahead of the cars. Let me tell you, when I see that -- which has become almost daily -- it's enough to give me a heart attack. Even when I was that young and felt invulnerable, I (maybe because I grew up in big cities) was never so astoundingly oblivious!
When I drive around here, I crawl like a snail (and sometimes get honked at as a result). But I'm terrified of hitting someone. The city has rightfully been working to encourage people to bike whenever possible -- but people in motorized vehicles are usually portrayed in these "pro-bicycling" campaigns like they are Mad Max, putting the pedal to the metal to thwart any bicycles and pedestrians who dare get in their way!
Fact is, it's far, far more the people on foot or on two wheels who are not paying enough attention to the traffic around them who are likely to create accidents. I really wish the city would be more aggressive about warning everyone -- all pedestrians, cyclists, drivers to calm down and keep their wits about them.
I really like this little city, and these are problems that should not be ignored until someone is killed (as has occurred in the past). And they are "problems," not "issues."
Thanks for letting me get this off my chest.

Sorry for droning on at length (you probably can guess what I do for a living).
But I forgot to bring up the increasing use in New Haven of motorized and non-motorized foot scooters.
It was a beautiful, perfect summer morning. I was on that street that begins at Winchester St. and ends at Whalley Ave. I was happy and listening to nice music, driving through a green light just past the fire station around there. A young teenager on a foot-scooter suddenly rode off the tree-shaded sidewalk in front of me. Though I could not have seen him approach through the dappled sunlight on the sidewalk, once that kid+scooter popped off onto the street crossing (he obviously did not observe the street lights), I slammed on the brakes with all four paws and managed to stop within mere inches of him.
This all happened within maybe a second. If I had not been aware of my surroundings even though in a pleasant morning reverie, that kid would have been flattened by my car like a bug.
The kid gave me a big smile and waved and blithely continued on his way, unaware that he had come thisclose to death.
Still in that intersection, I turned off the ignition and put my head down on the steering wheel. It probably would not have been unreasonable for the Fire Department guys to come out and give me CPR or something, I was that shaken. I had just almost killed a kid!

People were going to church around there, beautifully dressed, and men and women circled around my car. All my windows were open, and several ladies reached in and gently rubbed and massaged my shoulders and back while lay (laid?) on the steering wheel. It took me a good five minutes to pull myself together enough to start the car and move on.
One of the sweetest things was a woman who on the passenger side of the car who insisted, "Honey, put your purse down on the floor." She was looking out for my interests (believe me, the last thing I was worried about was my purse being snatched).

TG for great brakes and great reflexes. Thank you, Dad, for one of the top two valuable things you ever taught me: When you are driving, anticipate. Constantly scan ahead of you, behind you, to the sides of you. (His second most valuable advice: "You can move all over the world, honey, but wherever you go -- there you will be." That was about 30 years ago, and that's when I decided to stay in New Haven. That advice is now common, but it was very unusual for back then.

So tiresome to read all this, I know. The original point was, scooters are another safety issue in New Haven that we have to come to grips with. And then it moves on to the reality that I am happy to live here, and I feel lucky. We have problems galore in this city, but it really is a great town. A child was within millimeters of being killed one day not too long ago, and complete strangers walking by scrambled to soothe a complete stranger.

Every time I see or read something maligning New Haven, I think about experiences like this I've had here. I could have chosen to live anywhere in the world, and I've lived in quite a few of them. But there's just something wonderful about this little city.

Now I hope we can pull together, have calm and rational discussions about how to calm the traffic and make things safer for all of us -- pedestrians, bicyclists, scooterists, car drivers, motorcyclists ... It is absolutely true that people need to be aware that they can't be so oblivious to what's going around them here. Take out your damn ear-buds people, and observe what's happening right within feet of you.

And for those ladies and gentlemen who helped me recover on that literally nearly fateful morning, I know you, and you know me. Thank you,

Thank you for your interest in safer streets. Over the years the city has been involved with numerous initiatives such as our Street Smarts campaign and partnered with various organizations over the years to promote bicycle safety including Go New Haven Go (www.gonhgo.org), Elm City Cycling (elmcitycycling.org), and the newly formed New Haven Coalition for Active Transport who are offering the first in a three part traffic skills class series this Saturday (http://www.bikewalkct.org/event-calendar.html). The Bradley St Bike Co-op also offers a robust schedule of classes (http://bsbc.co/). The city has also greatly expanded its bike infrastructure network giving cyclists additional safety and sense of place on the road. Unfortunately, even with the above mentioned educational and engineering efforts, there are still unsafe users of the road who violate the law. As a result, the examples listed above full under the enforcement of traffic law done by the NHPD, who also regularly partner with the bicycle community to improve the safety of our streets. For more information, resources, and links regarding biking in New Haven, please visit http://cityofnewhaven.com/gov/depts/traffic/bike_new_haven/default.htm. Thank you.

Thank you Verified Official. I'm very happy to hear about all the initiatives New Haven is working on. Unfortunately, I think that the people who are most in need of the safety info and training are the ones who are least likely use them.
Last year, a neighbor was stopped in a small line of cars waiting for the light at Sachem and Prospect during noon food-truck time, waiting for the light to turn green, when a young woman on a bicycle, earbuds in and chatting away on her phone, sailed right in between those cars on Sachem Street and crashed into my neighbor's car. She landed on the hood. The bicyclist was very, very apologetic and hugely embarrassed, and she was not hurt.
Fortunately, a New Haven police officer was stationed right there, and he witnessed all of it.
Meanwhile, my neighbor saw her possible life track: bicyclist sues her, she can't pay, bicyclist files criminal charges, neighbor thrown into jail.
Neighbor's face contorts and her voice and hands STILL tremble whenever she mentions this incident.
It's for reasons like this that motorists here can feel unfairly maligned. We're not all out to make life difficult for bicycles and pedestrians.
So thank you, kind and attentive NHPD cop. And thank you Verified Official for your thoughtful response.

It is utterly inappropriate for traffic and parking to close this issue without addressing it. Bikes violating the law and endangering themselves and others is an endemic, growing problem, especially downtown. The organized bicycling community whose partnership you cite includes some of the worst offenders. This is a matter that requires police commitment to enforce the law, not casual dismissal from traffic and parking. We expect and deserve better from city employees.

Guest, I closed this request as the original poster asked if there was outreach regarding this issue and was not specifically calling for traffic enforcement. Although education and engineering are ongoing cross departmental efforts to improve this issue, enforcement falls under the purview of the New Haven police. Pursuant to your comment, I am recategorizing this to "policing issue".

This issue was recategorized from Traffic/Road Safety to Policing Issue.

How about have officers hand out tickets

Transportation
For the most part the police do not monitor this site.

Wow. "Guest," you are so right. I applaud you and apologize for my own casual dismissal. Just a sign of how conditioned I've become to show respect to any Verified Official, even though I know very well that nothing ever seems to get done unless someone makes a big noise. This does deserve more far more aggressive action. The two little incidents I wrote about probably happen every single day here.
And "Frank D...," what a perfect wonderful awesome suggestion to take action in the moment, on the ground (no pun intended)! Both NHPD and Yale police should be authorized and READY to hand out valid tickets on the spot when they see pedestrians, cyclists, scooterists acting stupid, just like they can do to people driving cars. (I would suggest that we institute something like "citizen's arrest/giving tickets -- but I can see it now, like that 9-year-old kid passing a woman in a narrow aisle, inadvertently brushing her backside with his backpack. The idiot called the cops to charge the kid with sexual assault