Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Traffic Justice

Driver Who Killed Cyclist Sues the Dead Teen’s Parents

By Angie Schmitt | Apr 28, 2014 | No Comments

In a case the Ottawa Citizen called “astonishing evidence of the raw appeal of… victimhood,” a woman who struck and killed a teenage boy riding his bike outside of Toronto is suing the boy’s family for $1.35 million. The driver, Sharlene Simon, is seeking compensation for the “great pain and suffering” she has sustained since killing […]

Wrist Slap for DWI Killer After Brooklyn DAs Decline to Charge Homicide

By Brad Aaron | Apr 9, 2014 | 6 Comments

A convicted drunk driver was sentenced this week to probation, a nominal fine, and a six-month license suspension for killing a Brooklyn pedestrian. Shortly after midnight on July 5, 2013, 27-year-old Roxana Gomez was walking at Flatbush Avenue and St. Marks Avenue when Eric Nesmith hit her with a BMW sedan, according to witness accounts and the Post. […]

NYPD Denies Access to Confiscated Bikes, Including Those of Crash Victims

By Steve Vaccaro and Kimberly Kinchen | Apr 8, 2014 | 3 Comments

As seasoned observers of the department’s dealings with bicyclists know, NYPD has long enjoyed taking our bikes. Following the 2004 Republican National Convention, NYPD clipped locks and took bikes of persons suspected of associating with Critical Mass, resulting in a successful federal lawsuit that enjoined the practice as a constitutional violation. During a 2010 visit […]

Bronx DWI Pedestrian Killer Gets 90 Days and Six-Month License Suspension

By Brad Aaron | Apr 2, 2014 | 2 Comments

A judge sentenced a convicted drunk driver to just 90 days in jail and a six-month license suspension for killing a pedestrian in the Bronx. Thomas Riley, 23, was crossing East Fordham Road near Bathgate Avenue at around 4:20 a.m. on March 20, 2011, when 48-year-old Seth Johnson struck and killed him with a minivan, according […]

Alan Dershowitz: Penalize Reckless Drivers Before They Kill

By Brad Aaron | Mar 20, 2014 | 9 Comments

Noted attorney Alan Dershowitz says that to dramatically reduce traffic deaths and injuries in NYC, police and prosecutors must crack down on all dangerous drivers, not just those who kill while driving drunk. In a Daily News op-ed, Dershowitz says he has been rebuffed by 911 operators when he reports reckless drivers. The reason, he says, is police […]

As Lucian Merryweather’s Family Grieves, Charges Against His Killer Reduced

By Brad Aaron | Mar 12, 2014 | 13 Comments

Lucian Merryweather was one of at least 10 children age 12 and under killed by a New York City motorist in the last 12 months. As his family tries to cope with his death and joins others in demanding an end to traffic violence, court records say charges were downgraded against the driver who killed […]

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