Mayor calls for new legislation, harsher penalties for reckless NY drivers

<p>The mayor is calling for new legislation that would tack on harsher penalties for reckless drivers in New York following the death of two children struck by a car in Brooklyn.</p>

News 12 Staff

Mar 15, 2018, 11:06 AM

Updated 2,246 days ago

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Mayor calls for new legislation, harsher penalties for reckless NY drivers
The mayor is calling for new legislation that would tack on harsher penalties for reckless drivers in New York following the death of two children struck by a car in Brooklyn.
Mayor Bill de Blasio made the announcement Thursday, underlying what his administration is calling the “Save Lives, Take Dangerous Drivers Off the Road” campaign.
The mayor was joined by the Department of Transportation and other city officials proposing the state Senate impose stricter laws.
They are calling for doubling the city's speed camera program by installing 150 additional cameras in school zones, increasing penalties for drivers who have multiple violations and more for drivers who run red lights.
Officials say violators will be at higher risk of losing their license altogether after six violations.
Finally, officials want doctors to be required to report a driver's medical condition if they believe he or she is a danger to pedestrians.
A growing memorial of flowers and teddy bears lays at the site of the crash that took the lives of 4-year-old Abigal Blumenstein and 1-year-old Josh Lew on March 5. Both children were killed and Blumenstein’s pregnant mother was critically injured when a car barreled through a red light and struck them.
Police say the 44-year-old driver of the car, Dorothy Burns, suffered a stroke at a red light and lost control of her car. Burns has a history of going through red lights because of her medical condition, police say.


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