Soon after a woman and her two children were hit and killed by a motorist who was apparently driving over the speed limit, elected officials are calling for a bill to be passed that would place speed-limiting technology on the vehicles of those who continually break the law.
Ira Slavit, a partner with the Mineola law firm Levine & Slavit PLLC, who is also a road safety advocate and a personal injury attorney, says that, had the state passed the bill earlier this year, this tragedy might not have happened.
On March 29, a woman was walking down a street in Brooklyn with her son and two daughters when another woman — who was allegedly speeding — hit another car, causing her vehicle to flip over. The car hit and killed the mother and her two daughters; her son was hospitalized.
The woman driving the car was charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and assault. She was allegedly driving with a suspended license. In addition, she compiled 21 speeding tickets over a two-year period, as well as six red-light camera violations in six months and over 70 other violations in two years
Back in January, New York State Assemblymember Emma Gallagher (D-Brooklyn) and State Senator Andrew Gounardes (D-Brooklyn) introduced a bill that would place speed-limiting devices on drivers who have six or more tickets or eleven points on their license. The technology would prevent drivers from exceeding the speed limit.
“The speed-limiting device is a great idea, but I don’t know why the state didn’t even consider it,” Slavit says. “Had they passed this bill and let the governor sign it into law, this incident would not have happened. Our elected officials should take a proactive approach to dangerous driving, rather than wait until a tragedy like this happens again.”