Traffic Justice

Last month, the Court of Appeals -- New York's highest court -- upheld the murder convictions of impaired drivers who killed people in three crashes in Nassau County and Staten Island.

Maude Savage did everything right. She used the crosswalk. She looked both ways before entering the street. She waited for the pedestrian signal. Then she was hit by an allegedly unlicensed motorist in a commercial van who drove into her while making a left turn at a high rate of speed.

A tour bus driver who killed a pedestrian in Hell's Kitchen while driving drunk has been convicted of manslaughter and homicide.

After street safety demonstrators packed last night's 88th Precinct community council meeting to demand action after the death of 9-year-old Lucian Merryweather on a Fort Greene sidewalk, elected officials spoke to the audience of well over 100 people. Brooklyn District Attorney-elect Ken Thompson, sitting quietly near the back, only spoke after an audience member asked him if he would combat traffic violence more aggressively than his predecessor, Charles Hynes. Although he didn't reveal many details, Thompson offered a small glimpse into how he views the DA's role in combatting dangerous driving.

At a Transportation Alternatives forum this morning on reforming the agency's approach to traffic enforcement, former NYPD commissioner (and current contender for his old job) Bill Bratton said street safety deserves more attention from the police. The former chief was followed by a panel discussion featuring one of the creators of the "broken windows" theory of policing Bratton is credited with executing, who argued that the approach should also be applied to traffic violence.

The election of numerous safe streets candidates earlier this month, followed by the exoneration of road-raging cabbie Faysal Himon and the gut-wrenching parade of daily traffic deaths since, create the best opportunity in years to impose meaningful consequences for sober reckless driving.

Last Friday WNYC ran a piece in which Bronx vehicular crimes chief Joe McCormack explained why he thought Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance failed to file charges against the cab driver who drove onto a Midtown sidewalk and severed the leg of tourist Sian Green. The story offers valuable insight into the mindset of prosecutors, but key questions about the case remain unanswered.

Cy Vance's office does not discuss vehicular crimes cases, even after they are disposed or when no charges are filed. After declining to prosecute the cabbie who drove onto a Midtown sidewalk and severed the leg of Sian Green, the DA's office issued a short statement, but the only insight into the prosecutors' reasoning came from the victim's attorney, who said Vance's team "indicated that failure to charge was due to lack of evidence regarding the taxi cab driver’s intent during the investigation phase.”