VIDEO: Gillen Hosts Press Conference on Long Island’s Dangerous Roads; Announces Road Safety Strategy

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY – Congresswoman Laura Gillen (NY-04), a Member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, hosted a press conference this morning on the dramatic increase in fatal accidents on Long Island’s roads and announced a road safety strategy to step up traffic enforcement, fund infrastructure that prioritizes safety, and keep impaired drivers off of our roads. Gillen was joined by Assemblywoman Judy Griffin (AD-21), Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages (AD-22), Lynbrook Police Department Chief Brian Paladino, NY Coalition for Transportation Safety Executive Director Cynthia Brown, and DEDICATEDD Long Island President Marge Lee. 
 
Gillen announced that she had written a letter to Transportation and Infrastructure Chair Sam Graves calling for a hearing on road safety as Congress enters negotiations on a surface transportation reauthorization bill that will direct federal highway funding. Below is a copy of her remarks as prepared for delivery and a link to the full video of the event:

The full video can be viewed here.

“Thank you for joining us today. The sudden rise in deadly accidents on Long Island’s streets is deeply alarming and demands action. Every seven minutes, a crash causing death, injury, or significant property damage occurs on our roads. Our region currently leads the state in traffic fatalities: one in five deaths from a car crash in New York happens on Long Island. 
 
Many of them occur on Sunrise Highway, right behind us. The failure to secure our roads has led to thousands of lives being cut short, families tragically ripped apart and a terrible void left in too many of our communities. 
 
I’m thankful to our speakers for joining me here today. I’m proud to partner with my friends, Assemblywoman Griffin and Assemblywoman Solages, on our shared commitment to making Long Island’s roads safer. We are also joined by Lynbrook Police Department Chief Paladino, who will speak to us about the crucial role of law enforcement in stopping reckless driving on our streets. 
 
“You’ll also hear from Cindy Brown, Executive Director of the New York Coalition for Transportation Safety. Cindy is a lifelong advocate and educator who was instrumental in making New York the first state in the country to pass a seat belt safety law, which has saved thousands of lives. We’ll also hear from Marge Lee, president of DEDICATEDD Long Island, about the decades of work she has done to stop drunken and impaired driving in honor of her son Kenney, who was killed by a drunk driver while Marge was in the car, leaving her with serious injuries. 

“Last month, I wrote to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy calling for an immediate investigation into the deadly spike in accidents on Long Island’s roads. 

“As a Member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which has authority over our nation’s roads and bridges, I’m proud to advocate on behalf of Long Island’s drivers, passengers and pedestrians to make our roads safer for all. Today, I’m leading a letter to T&I Chairman Sam Graves calling for a hearing on road safety as we enter negotiations for the surface transportation reauthorization bill that Congress will vote on later this year. 

“I’m also announcing a comprehensive roadway safety strategy to encourage safer drivers and safer roads. That means giving our law enforcement agencies the tools and resources to police aggressive and unsafe driving, investing in infrastructure that puts safety first and keeping impaired drivers off our roads.

“Every day, our law enforcement officers work to prevent serious accidents on our roads. However, strained budgets and workforce reductions have harmed their ability to conduct traffic stops and other forms of high-visibility traffic enforcement. Studies show that increasing high-visibility enforcement deters drivers from making reckless decisions that endanger others and makes our streets safer for all. 

“I’m proud to support the bipartisan Invest to Protect Act, which supports small to mid-size police departments, and I’ll continue to support legislation to help our law enforcement agencies get the staffing and funding they need. I’ll also push for New York State to increase the number of troopers on our roads to keep people safe. 
 
“Additionally, I’m calling for infrastructure investments that prioritize safety, not speed. Residents have long voiced safety concerns about the Southern State Parkway, Sunrise Highway, and other routes, which have a disproportionate share of roadway injuries and fatalities on Long Island. 

“We should use proven safety countermeasures to keep pedestrians and cyclists safe on these roads and make intersections less deadly. I’ll continue to advocate for these improvements. I am drafting legislation that incentivizes states and localities to build roundabouts, which make intersections safer. By introducing these measures into our infrastructure planning, we can significantly reduce roadway fatalities and injuries. I’ll push for proven safety counter measures to be included in the surface transit reauthorization bill that is currently being negotiated in Congress. 
 
“We must also take action to keep impaired drivers off our roads. Many road safety groups have endorsed lowering our drunk-driving limit to a blood alcohol content of .05. There’s strong evidence that lowering this limit reduces crashes and saves lives: after Utah lowered its drunk-driving limit to .05 in 2018, fatal car crashes dropped by nearly 20% over the next calendar year. I support the push at the state level to bring this limit to New York and I’m exploring federal options to make this the law of the land across America. 
 
“We’ve lost far too many community members to fatal traffic crashes. It’s time for local, state and federal authorities to come together to improve our roadways and increase safety for drivers and pedestrians. I’ll continue to use my seat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to advocate for our communities, make smart infrastructure investments and push for policies that keep drivers, passengers and pedestrians safe.”

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