PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENT VICTIMS' MOMS PROTEST MAYOR'S VIOLATION OF SAFE DRIVING PLAN

A group of mothers of children who have been killed in NYC pedestrian accidents gathered outside City Hall recently to protest Mayor de Blasio’s apparent violation of his recently announced traffic safety plan, Vision Zero, by riding in a speeding SUV that ran two stop signs and was traveling 15 mph over the posted speed limit in Queens.

The protest group – Families for Safe Streets – was organized by Amy Cohen, whose 12-year-old son was killed last October in a Park Slope pedestrian accident.  According to a New York Post story, Cohen said that the Vision Zero plan – which lowers the speed limit on NYC streets and has provisions to crack down on reckless taxi drivers – needs to be implemented immediately.  The group is calling for a 20 mph speed limit on residential streets; the plan calls for lowering the current 30 mph speed limit to 25 mph.

According to another New York Post story, the Mayor’s entourage was seen driving 15 mph over the posted limit through Queens by a Channel 2 news crew.  The Post said that the Mayor’s SUV was seen on another day running two stop signs, speeding and changing lanes without signaling. De Blasio and his security detail were also called out by media sources for jaywalking near his Brooklyn residence.

The Vision Zero plan was proposed in reaction to the growing number of deadly pedestrian accidents in the city this year.  To date, more than 20 people have been killed in NYC pedestrian accidents, many involving taxis.