Sunday: Tell Albany to Let NYC Protect Kids From Speeding Drivers

Last Sunday a motorist hit 10-year-old Jobe Kan with an SUV on 84th Street in Bay Ridge. Jobe is expected to live, but he sustained severe injuries and as of yesterday remained in intensive care.

NYPD blamed Jobe for crossing mid-block on a narrow neighborhood street lined with residences, and said nothing publicly about how fast the driver was going, or whether investigators were checking for evidence of driver distraction.

Children should be able to play outdoors without the constant threat of harm at the hands of reckless drivers. But year after year, motorists are the leading cause injury-related deaths for kids in NYC.

Speed cameras have proven far more effective at slowing drivers down than flesh-and-blood police, yet Albany continues to hamstring the city’s automated enforcement program, allowing just 140 cameras, sited near schools, to cover 2,000 schools and 6,000 miles of streets.

A leading critic of speed cameras is State Senator Marty Golden, who represents Bay Ridge. Golden has a record of camera tickets and once killed a senior with his SUV.

On Sunday, Transportation Alternatives and Bay Ridge Advocates Keeping Everyone Safe (BRAKES) will lead a rally to call on Albany to authorize more speed cameras for the first time in four years. Lawmakers failed to get speed cameras passed with the budget, and with the program set to expire this year, it’s crucial that they pass legislation before this year’s session ends in June.

Sunday’s event starts at 5 p.m. at 84th Street and Fort Hamilton Parkway. More details here.