After ‘traffic violence’ in New York City claimed the lives of six people over the weekend – the youngest victim was a 3-month-old girl – activists held several demonstrations across the city to demand to Mayor Bill de Blasio that a key measure of the Vision Zero program be implemented.
The baby hit by the driver, who was traveling the wrong way on Clinton Hill, was in a stroller and was being pushed by her mother when the vehicle hit them.
Records show the negligent driver has 35 speeding violations in school zones and seven red light violations this year alone.
But on Tuesday Mayor Bill de Blasio was unable to offer an explanation as to why his administration has failed to implement a City Council law that could have prevented the girl’s death.
Instead, De Blasio said he also wants to find out why the Department of Transportation has not established the program required by municipal law that he signed in February 2020.
“I want to find out why this did not happen in a timely manner,” the mayor said during a news conference.
Under city law, car owners with 15 or more speeding tickets or five red light camera tickets in a 12-month period are required to take a driving safety class within 30 days or the Sheriff’s Office will have the authority to impound the automobile.
Public records show that the 2017 Honda Accord driven by Brooklyn resident Tyrik Mott, who killed 3-month-old Apolline Mong-Guillemin on Saturday, would have been the target of the program.
Mott’s car has had at least 160 traffic violations since June 2017, including 35 for speeding and five for running red lights so far in 2021.
New York Police Commissioner Dermot Shea also said Tuesday that he had questions about why the program was not working.
“The laws are great and we’ve had these conversations many times, but the laws without follow-through are really petty,” Shea said during an interview on NY1.
Mayor De Blasio did not include funds for the reckless driving program in his executive budget in May 2020, three months after the legislation was passed, but when the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the city’s finances.
The program was funded from this year’s city budget, which was approved in June.
DOT spokeswoman Alana Morales said notices would begin to be sent to car owners who “qualify” for driver safety courses in the coming weeks. The courses will begin at the end of the year, Morales said.
But the delay in the offensive against reckless driving caused the outrage of the defenders of safety in the streets, so they organized a protest in front of the City Hall, where the activists displayed white strollers in memory of the children who die in traffic accidents. .
“We demand solutions that accelerate the redesign of our streets for safety, not for the convenience of drivers or the preservation of free parking,” said Danny Harris, executive director of advocacy group Transportation Alternatives.
Transportation Alternatives organized the rally in Union Square Park Tuesday night to call for reforms to the Vision Zero initiative, which was launched in 2014 shortly after De Blasio took office. The goal of the program is to reduce the number of traffic fatalities in all five boroughs.
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