Statement From Sen. Andrew Gounardes, Transportation Alternatives, and Families for Safe Streets in Response to Pedestrian Death Outside Bay Ridge Car Dealership
Brooklyn, NY - On Thursday, April 15, a driver of a newly-purchased SUV killed a pedestrian, Carol Langdon, outside a car dealership in Bay Ridge. Langdon, age 72, was killed in a designated Safe Streets for Seniors zone, but on a block where cars from surrounding dealerships notoriously spill out onto and park dangerously on public sidewalks .
Additionally, as part of the Crash Victims Rights And Safety Act, NYS Senator Andrew Gounardes, Transportation Alternatives, and Families for Safe Streets are working to pass a new law requiring a five-star rating system for new cars indicating how dangerous they are for pedestrians and cyclists outside of vehicles.
Joint statement from Sen. Gounardes, Danny Harris, and Amy Cohen
“We are heartbroken that another New Yorker has died due to traffic violence. Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Carol Langdon. Carol was known to many in the Bay Ridge community and was a regular attendee of Senator Gounardes’ Senior Picnics.”
“April has been Brooklyn’s deadliest month for pedestrians since Mayor de Blasio launched Vision Zero. Carol Langdon is at least the fourth pedestrian killed in the borough this month alone, and the thirty-third pedestrian killed citywide just this year. Mayor de Blasio is responsible for preventing further carnage on our streets getting Vision Zero back on track. He must act now.”
“This stretch of 4th Avenue in Bay Ridge is also notoriously clogged with dealerships’ private cars that hog public sidewalks. This is unacceptable, and with measures that put people over parking, yesterday’s crash could have been prevented.”
“This crash, by a driver of a brand-new SUV, is also a tragic reminder of the disproportionate harm that large cars and trucks cause on our streets. That is why we are working to pass legislation in Albany requiring a first-in-the-nation five-star rating system indicating the risk a motor vehicle poses to vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists on our streets. It would also require that such ratings be displayed prominently at car dealerships.”
“We will save lives if consumers make safer choices and city leaders step up with more solutions to build safe streets. The status quo is killing too many New Yorkers on our streets. We need to pass the entire Crash Victims Rights and Safety Act in Albany this year.”