Traffic Justice

On the morning of January 22, Diego Martinez and Hayley Ng were walking with their preschool class on East Broadway when an unattended delivery van jumped the curb in reverse and killed them. The three-ton vehicle had been left double-parked and idling by its operator before it backed onto the sidewalk with deadly force. To date, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau has taken no action to prosecute the driver.

We're re-posting the notice for this demonstration, which is back on for Monday after being postponed due to the snowstorm earlier this week. Note that the rally is on for noon, not earlier in the day as previously scheduled.

The families organizing the demonstration at the Manhattan DA's office, which was planned for Monday morning, are postponing the event due to the snowstorm hitting the city. The rally is tentatively re-scheduled for next Monday, March 9. We'll let you know when the date has been finalized.

City Room is reporting that Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau will not seek re-election this year. Morgenthau, who will turn 90 this summer, has held the post since 1975.

This letter originally appeared this month in Transportation Alternatives' magazine, Reclaim. Author Steve Hindy is a member of the T.A. Board of Directors. He and his wife, Ellen Foote, became advocates of safer streets after their son Sam was killed in a bicycle crash on the Manhattan Bridge in 2007.

Relatives of Hayley Ng and Diego Martinez, two preschoolers struck and killed by a van in Chinatown on January 22, continue to demand justice from Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.

Friends and relatives of the two children killed in Chinatown last week are grappling with what happened and why, as the parents of Diego Martinez and Hayley Ng demand that the driver whose carelessness led to their childrens' deaths face consequences for his actions.

Yesterday's horrific crash in Chinatown has us groping for answers. Why were there no bollards or other design elements to protect pedestrians on such a crowded street? Why did the driver have to double park to do his business? How could he be so careless as to leave his van running and in reverse? How can two more innocent people -- preschoolers -- die such violent deaths, and no one is held accountable? Would this have happened if our legal system weren't so cavalier about loss of pedestrian life and limb?

NYPD "Broken Windows" Strategy Does Not Apply to Traffic Crime