It’s the Twitter account you’ve been waiting for.
@illegal53NYC is doing for illegally oversized trucks what @placardabuse does for placard abuse -- drawing attention to a pervasive and dangerous traffic problem that City Hall and NYPD have not addressed in any meaningful way.
There is no city permit that allows trucks with enclosed 53-foot trailers. As @illegal53NYC says, they are "illegal on every NYC street" under city traffic rules. Yet they are ubiquitous.
Semi truck drivers have killed no fewer than 14 people walking and biking since 2014. While Mayor de Blasio confiscates electric bikes from working cyclists who pose no discernible public safety threat, fatalities caused by oversized truck operators haven't drawn City Hall's attention.
In 2017, NYPD issued 3,113 tickets for truck route violations -- an average of just eight to nine tickets a day citywide.
The next time you encounter one of these enormous rigs -- most are easily identified by the "53" on the trailer -- you can do more than grit your teeth. Direct a photo toward @illegal53NYC and help shame NYPD into enforcing the law against trucks that belong on the interstate, not city streets.
