Traffic Justice
Streetsblog Basics
NYPD: No Charges for Driver Who Left Van in Gear, Killing Senior in Astoria
Update: The Daily News identified the deceased victim as Arline Smeal.
September 1, 2016
Garbage Truck Driver Admits to Causing Crash That Killed Cyclist Hoyt Jacobs
The truck driver who killed cyclist Hoyt Jacobs in Long Island City last year admitted to causing the crash and pled guilty to violating the victim's right of way.
August 4, 2016
Cy Vance Wins Murder Conviction for East Village Sidewalk Killing [Updated]
Update November 4, 2016: Martin was sentenced to 20 years to life in state prison, according to Vance’s office.
July 20, 2016
Driver Charged Under ROW Law After Killing Teresa Martinelli, 79, in Midtown
A senior hit by a driver in Midtown earlier this month has died. NYPD charged the driver with violating the victim's right of way.
July 13, 2016
Manhattan DA Vance Wins Manslaughter Conviction for High-Speed LES Crash
Update: Danny Lin was sentenced to one and two-thirds to five years in prison. The sentence was “half of what prosecutors had argued for,” the Daily News reported.
July 7, 2016
Brooklyn DA Charges Driver With Manslaughter for Killing Victoria Nicodemus
A grand jury has indicted Marlon Sewell for second-degree manslaughter six months after he jumped a curb in Fort Greene and killed 30-year-old Victoria Nicodemus while driving with a suspended license, Gothamist reports. Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson had refrained from pressing felony charges until Nicodemus's family pressured his office to take action.
June 28, 2016
Advocates Don’t Expect Judge’s Ruling Against Right of Way Law to Hold Up
In rejecting the case against a school bus driver who struck and killed an elderly woman in a Queens crosswalk, a criminal court judge deemed the city's Right of Way Law unconstitutional. The constitutionality of the law had previously been upheld in a different court, however, and street safety advocates don't expect the new ruling to hold up. Applying the same logic would render criminal statutes against drunk driving unconstitutional as well, they say.
June 28, 2016
Driver Who Killed Man While Fleeing NYPD Pleads to Manslaughter
A driver who killed a man on a Brooklyn sidewalk while attempting to evade police pled guilty to manslaughter.
June 9, 2016
DA Ken Thompson Still Hasn’t Charged Driver for December Sidewalk Killing
Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson charged the driver who killed Victoria Nicodemus on a Fort Greene sidewalk with unlicensed driving, but did not file charges for taking the victim's life. Six months after the crash, Nicodemus's family says the DA is dragging his feet on the case.
June 6, 2016
Driver Who Injured Woman on Manhattan Sidewalk Pleads to Two Felonies
Update: Tiffany Murdaugh was sentenced to two to six years in prison.
June 3, 2016