By John Zaher
A very disturbing trend that is taking place on Long Island’s roadways: young drivers in souped-up autos showing off to each other by performing stunts like “doing donuts” or “drifting” on main corridors or in empty parking lots, while their friends cheer them on and the sound and smell of “burning rubber” fills the air.
This past weekend, four separate “meetups” happened. During two of these meetups, participants and spectators blocked off ambulances from passing through. One of the emergency vehicles was carrying a patient who went into cardiac arrest. Their thoughtlessness could have cost someone their life. Further, one of the attendees at the Patchogue meetup was seriously injured when she was hit by one of the cars.
We at Long Island Life & Politics were pleased to learn that there is a new bill being proposed in the state Legislature that would make it a serious crime for motorists to deliberately block off ambulances and emergency vehicles from accessing the roadways. The bill, introduced by New York State Senator Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk), would include aggravated obstructing emergency medical services as an offense under the state’s Penal Law and Vehicle and Traffic Law. In addition, anyone who “intentionally and unreasonably obstructs the efforts” of emergency service personnel “in the performance of their duties” will be found in violation of the law.
In the meantime, Suffolk County is in the process of working on its own legislation. Legislator Dominick Thorne (R-Patchogue) told Long Island Life & Politics that he “never thought, in a million years, that we would go down this road” (no pun intended) when it comes to drivers deliberately blocking ambulances from getting to where they need to go, whether it’s transporting patients or responding to a call.
Currently, in New York State, reckless driving is only considered a misdemeanor and can only be punished by fines and/or jail. As Thorne — who chairs the Legislature’s Fire, Rescue and Emergency Medical Services and Preparedness Committee — said, “We can fine the hell out of them.”
Palumbo’s bill would make purposely blocking ambulances a Class E felony, resulting in the motorist’s vehicle being seized and forfeited by the authorities. That’s a good start.
Our roads are not as safe as they were. Last year, there were 204 fatal crashes on Long Island, according to the Institute for Traffic Safety Management & Research at the University of Albany. Most of the deaths were attributed to speeding.
Let’s make conviction of reckless driving subject to the impounding and sale of the offender’s vehicle, like municipalities have done for DWI convictions. Let’s add an aggravated offense for reckless driving that results in injury as a class E felony.
This will send a strong message to those endangering the rest of us on our roadways.
John Zaher is the Co-Publisher of Long Island Life & Politics.