Dear President Biden: Motor vehicle safety must be an infrastructure priority
Delaware News Journal
Dear President Biden:
Like you, we are families who have suffered the death or injury of a child, spouse or loved one because of a car or truck crash, hot car incident or seatback failure. And, like you we are committed to saving others from experiencing our profound loss. Affordable technological solutions to stop these senseless deaths and injuries should be available to everyone regardless of where you live or your income level.
As Congress moves toward passage of one of your key priorities transportation and infrastructure legislation we urge you to ensure that critical vehicle safety remedies are included in the bill you sign into law.
Jack Koval had a bright future when he graduated from college in 2016 and left his home in Rochester to take a dream job in New York City, where he found
PHOTO BY MAX SCHULTE Families for Safe Streets is travelling across New York and at stops is urging lawmakers to take action on a package of bills its says will offer New Yorkers greater protection from traffic-related injuries and fatalities. Jack Koval had a bright future when he graduated from college in 2016 and left his home in Rochester to take a dream job in New York City, where he found an apartment overlooking the Hudson River. The driver ultimately had his license suspended for 90 days after a Department of Motor Vehicles hearing, where he was found to have committed several driving errors, Koval’s mother recalled. But the driver never faced charges or was ticketed, despite a news report that there were signs of a high-speed collision. Koval’s family sued the officer, and the case is ongoing.
Whose vision should lead Vision Zero?
The NYPD and all five District Attorneys oppose a City Council bill to move the Collision Investigation Squad into the Department of Transportation with law enforcement pushing a narrative at a hearing on Wednesday that the bill would decriminalize reckless driving, sources said but a platoon of advocates, experts and the bill’s sponsor will push back, arguing that the agency that oversees the mayor’s Vision Zero initiative must also lead the investigation when it comes up short.
“It’s about basic accountability,” said Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, the sponsor of the bill that will get its first hearing at 10 a.m. on Wednesday. “The responsibility to lead Vision Zero was given to the DOT commissioner. That person is responsibility to make the street safe for everyone, so that person needs to be coordinating everything.”