WON’T LET THEM DIE IN VAIN
Blaz calls for tougher law on speed demons and red light offenders after B’klyn horror
NEWS SAYS: MAYOR IS RIGHT, NOW STATE MUST ACT
MAYOR DE BLASIO wants tougher penalties for drivers who blow through speed and red light cameras — including the eventual suspension of their vehicle’s registration, he said Thursday.
“It’s very straightforward — if you repeatedly break the law, you will suffer consequences,” de Blasio said at the 78th Precinct stationhouse in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.
The mayor rolled out the proposals in response to the horrific crash in Park Slope, Brooklyn, that killed two young children earlier this month.
The driver, Dorothy Bruns, had racked up eight tickets from red light and speed cameras before running a red light and plowing into two families in the crosswalk. But because they were issued by cameras, rather than cops, the violations didn’t add points to her license, which could have resulted in her being barred from the road.
“You shouldn’t be able to hide behind the fact that the car was registered to you, but maybe someone else was driving,” de Blasio said, citing the rationale for issuing fines but not points for camera violations.
“You have to take responsibility for your own vehicle. If someone else is driving your vehicle and they’re regularly speeding and blowing through stop signs and red lights, you shouldn’t let them drive the vehicle.”
The mayor’s proposals will need to be passed in Albany, because the city does not have the authority to add more red light or speed cameras, or change the penalties associated with them, without state approval.
As part of its Vision Zero push, the city received approval to roll out 140 speed cameras in school zones in 2014. But its requests to expand the camera programs have at times faced opposition from drivers and politicians, who argue they’re a way of bringing in cash for the city. De Blasio called that stance “idiotic.”
“If you want the right to speed where there’s kids, there’s something wrong with you,” he said. “So no one should be afraid of a speed camera around a school. You should just follow the law. And no one should be afraid of the political consequences of making sure kids are safe.”
De Blasio’s proposal calls for escalated fines for repeated camera violations within a two-year period — growing from $50 for the first infraction to $350, plus a suspension of the vehicle’s registration, for the sixth. In the last fiscal year, 34,134 cars had logged six or more violations within two years, the city said.
And the Daily News found that a whopping 50 cars had racked up 45 or more speed or red-light camera violations since 2014 — with drivers only facing measly $50 fines.
Bruns, the Park Slope crash driver, also had a medical condition that may have played a role in the crash, cops have said; sources said she has multiple sclerosis.
De Blasio said he also wants a law that would require doctors to inform the Department of Motor Vehicles if someone has a medical condition that would make it dangerous for them to drive. That’s voluntary in New York, but it is law in New Jersey, he said.
“Obviously, these are the kind of measures that could have averted the tragedy that happened in this community,” de Blasio said.
City Hall identified four cases since 2015 in which a driver killed someone as a result of a seizuretype medical incident:
In January 2017, Mark Antoine, a driver with multiple sclerosis, was allegedly behind the wheel in defiance of a doctor’s orders and fatally struck a man on his way to pick up his son from prekindergarten in Brooklyn. He’s been charged with criminally negligent homicide, manslaughter, and reckless driving.
On Halloween 2015, Howard Unger, a private driver, had allegedly stopped taking epilepsy medication when he had a seizure,
jumped a curb in the Bronx and killed Nyanna Aquil, 10, her grandfather Louis Perez, 65, and Kristjan Leka, 24. He was indicted on three counts of second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and other charges.
In July 2015 in Brooklyn, private driver Claudio Rodriguez allegedly told cops he forgot to take his medicine before he had a seizure and killed cyclist Alejandro Moran-Marin, 35.
In March 2015, in the Bronx, green cab driver Emilio Garcia had stopped taking his epilepsy medication when he jumped the curb and killed Kadeem Brown, 25, and Tierre Clark, 5. He pleaded guilty to assault and homicide.
The state DMV said it did not have statistics immediately available that would show how often doctors voluntarily informed the DMV about a patient who might have an illness that made it dangerous to drive.
A spokesman for Gov. Cuomo said the state supports efforts to improve traffic laws.
“The state is fully supportive of efforts to improve traffic safety laws and we will continue to work with the legislature to strengthen protections and prevent these senseless tragedies from occurring,” Peter Ajemian said.
A spokesman for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) did not respond to repeated requests for comment about the proposals. A spokesman for Senate Republicans declined to comment.
Assemblyman Joe Lentol, a Brooklyn Democrat who chairs the Codes Committee, said he was in favor of the concepts behind the mayor’s proposals to boost camera penalties and may sponsor some of them.
“I think those are good ideas, but again, the devil’s in the details,” he said, saying he wanted to see the proposal to ensure it targeted dangerous drivers — not people with unpaid fines or other issues.
Regarding the medical provision, Lentol raised concerns about the position it would put doctors in.
“I think the concept is good, but I don’t know exactly how to refine it, because when you think about it, you have to worry that the doctor is going to be the bad guy,” he said.
The DMV will revoke a license if a doctor sounds the alarm, he said, but patients may also try to prevail on doctors not to report them.
“What he’s trying to do is laudable, but I’m concerned that the burden on the physicians may not result in what wants to achieve,” Dr. Charles Rothberg, president of the Medical Society of the State of New York, told the News.
The mayor said he would “imagine some specific conditions would be named” but did not specify which. Rothberg cautioned about any measure that would put a “very vague burden” on physicians.
In New Jersey, which de Blasio cited, the law is specific and calls for reporting recurring seizures or periods of unconsciousness, or impairment or loss of motor coordination.
Bruns apparently had a seizure during the crash, but her doctor may not have reported her to the DMV even if that law were in place because the incidence of seizures in MS is low, Rothberg said.
The crash happened in de Blasio’s own Park Slope neighborhood, and it left him and his neighbors “reeling,” he said.
“We’ve all walked through that intersection a thousand times. We all assumed when the light says walk, it’s OK to walk, and that’s what everyone felt that day,” de Blasio said. “And you’ve all seen the video, it’s terrifying.”
Bruns has been released from the hospital, NYPD Chief Thomas Chan said, and has not been placed into police custody. She could still be charged as cops and the Brooklyn district attorney’s office probe the crash.
De Blasio reiterated Thursday that he believes she should be locked up.
“I think, as a nonlawyer, two children were killed because of reckless driving — of course there should be charges,” he said, allowing that a full investigation that will allow charges to stick will take time.
While drivers can have licenses suspended for racking up unpaid tickets, Bruns had paid all of her camera violations and had only one unpaid parking ticket at the time of the crash, which would not have allowed her license to be suspended.
The city’s proposal would increase fines and suspend registrations for the sixth infraction whether the drivers paid the tickets or not.