New York, NY – June 1, 2014 – Judy Kottick and her husband, Ken Bandes, recently stood on a corner at a hectic intersection on the border of Brooklyn and Queens. The couple have a keen interest in the spot: It’s where their daughter, 23 year-old Ella Bandes, was struck and killed by a city bus in 2013….

Mike King, an expert in street design, joined Kottick and Bandes at the Myrtle-Wyckoff intersection, where he cast a critical eye on what he saw. “Why do you have to put people in these positions where they have to constantly be vigilant?” he asked. King thought a good first step toward improving safety at Myrtle-Wyckoff would be simplifying the traffic flow and timing the lights to give pedestrians a head start at crossing the street.

“We’re watching buses turn here,” he said. “The buses are making these obtuse turns, they’re honking at people who are crossing with the light, in the crosswalk, saying, ‘Get out of the way because I’ve gotta get through.’ The buses, the drivers they want to get through. But the people coming out of the subway, they want to get home.”

Hear the full story below (Mike King begins at 6:20 minutes): (WNYC)