Park Slope Tragedy Spurs Push To Change Laws

PARK SLOPE, NY — New laws could suspend drivers who commit repeat traffic violations and keep others with certain medical conditions off the roads, changes lawmakers are pushing for after a Park Slope crash killed two children this week.

A group of state lawmakers announced a series of bills on Friday that aim to crack down on dangerous drivers getting behind the wheel by using data collected by speed cameras, NYPD and doctors to suspend their licenses.

"We are trying to make better drivers here," said Assemblyman Robert Carroll, who joined State Senators Jesse Hamilton and Jose Peralta to push for the new laws.

"So that they know that with their reckless habits, or if they have a chronic illness, they’re endangering themselves, they’re endangering pedestrians, they’re endangering cyclists they’re endangering all New Yorkers."

The package of bills includes two laws already passed by the State Senate last year to add more speed cameras to school zones and suspend drivers who repeatedly get issued violations. Those bills are headed to the Assembly.

The push for new laws comes after Dorothy Bruns, 44, lost control of her car and slammed into five pedestrians at Ninth Street and Fifth Avenue on Monday, killing Abigail Blumenstein, 4, and Joshua Lew, 1.

The crash also injured their children's mothers Ruthie Ann Blumenstein, a Tony-award winning actress, and Lauren Lew.

One of the new bills introduced this week would require doctors to tell the state DMV if a driver has a medical condition that could cause them to lose control of their vehicle, allowing the DMV to suspend their license because of it, lawmakers said.

Bruns, of Staten Island, reportedly had a history of seizures and a heart condition. A law enforcement source said she likely had a seizure before the crash.

Another bill would create mandatory suspensions for license plates that repeatedly get issued violations by red-light cameras within a certain time period.

Under the proposed law, a car that gets six violations in less than a year would be suspended for 15 days, nine in less than two years would get a 30-day suspension and 12 in less than three years would be taken off the road for 90 days.

The 2016 Volvo S60 that Bruns drove during the fatal crash had 12 violations issued to it in the past two years, including four for running red-lights and four for speeding in school zones, police said. Officials previously said they'd been issued to the license plate and it's impossible to tell who was driving at the time.

Lawmakers are also pushing the Assembly to approve two pieces of legislation introduced by Peralta last year and passed in the State Senate. One would suspend the license of a driver for 60 days after they get two speeding violations in school zones in an 18-month period and the other would expand the number of speeding cameras near schools around the city from 140 to 290.

Borough President Eric Adams praised the bills and said they would finally connect different information on drivers to keep reckless ones off of the roads.

"No one has been speaking to each other so we have been allowing reckless drivers to drive," said Adams. "All of these entities have been in place separately have not been together to have one system of protection."

Aside from the state laws, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced this week that he would push for new measures to increases consequences for driver's in fatal crashes and allow officers to investigate license plates who repeatedly get issued violations by cameras.

"People who get behind the wheel of the car need to understand they have a weapon in their hands," de Blasio said. "They have to take that responsibility very, very seriously and there's too many people that don't."

The Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg also said that the agency's working on a safety overhaul for the intersection where the children were killed to be unveiled in several weeks, AM New York reported.

A group of activists, residents and politicians also plans to march around Park Slope on Monday night to call for safety improvements to all streets in the city after three children were killed by drivers in the borough so far this year.

"We’re going to continue to advocate for safety," said Adams, who's sponsored Monday's march. "We are not going away because the death’s or not going away."

Image: Nicholas Rizzi/Patch