Letters: Truck Driver Kills Two Boys in Brooklyn

Dear Mr. Bloomberg,

I am writing to express my deep sadness and distress at the news of the two boys killed not far from where I live in Brooklyn yesterday. When I was thirteen, my best friend was killed by a car on our street. I cannot begin to explain what such an incident does to a family or the peers of children killed. It's horrible, and should never happen to anyone.

Truck traffic in the city is extremely dangerous. Too many people are killed by cars and trucks, and these incidents, these deaths, are not an "accident." The entire transportation system is set up in favor of motor vehicles, not children, bicyclists, the elderly or the disabled, not to mention the rest of us.

Please assure the city that you will impose stricter violations on all unsafe drivers and commit to increased education of commercial drivers.

Sincerely,
Anne K.

Enough already! For much too long, cars and trucks have terrorized pedestrians and bicyclists and killed more than their fair share. Now, two more of our youngest are dead in Brooklyn. As a mayor who has already come out in favor of traffic reduction and calming, please, please do what you can to put in to practice some of the traffic calming methods proven to work in city after city around the world, and long advocated by community-minded groups like Transportation Alternatives. Too much has been done to restrict pedestrians and bicyclists for the benefit of drivers; it's time to force drivers to be responsible for the deadly weapon they wield.

Albert A.

Mayor Bloomberg,
Yesterday two young boys were denied their future by an errant truck in Brooklyn. Please let this be a lesson for our city to practice and be on the cutting edge of traffic calming and road safety issues overall. The only good that can come of such sadness is regulations that favor human life and vitality over reckless disregard for human life and vitality. Please work with citizens and the DOT to make some changes. Thanks.

Cristina C.

Dear Mayor Bloomberg,

The killing of two young boys by a cement truck yesterday has prompted me to write. As a pedestrian and a cyclist myself, I am outraged at these senseless deaths. I am a resident of Malden, Massachusetts but frequently visit the city of New York and walk and bike on your streets. Please make our streets safer for those of us that try to make a difference by choosing not to drive and contributing more toxic fumes to our already overly polluted environment.

Thank You!
Susan E.

Dear Mayor Bloomberg,

I urge you to crack down on the insane motorists of Kings County.

The recent deaths of eleven-year old Victor Flores and his ten-year old friend Juan Estrada, who were killed under the rear wheels of a turning cement truck while walking across the intersection of 9th Street and 3rd Avenue in Brooklyn, has once again emphasized how much the City needs to do to make the most vulnerable pedestrians, children and seniors, safer.

Our part of Brooklyn had a great plan for making the streets safer for pedestrians. It was called the Downtown Brooklyn Traffic Calming Plan. It took five years and $2 million to develop it. The plan proposed a wide variety of pedestrian safety measures—things like Leading Pedestrian Intervals (LPI), speed humps, neckdowns and raised crosswalks. These measures have been proven in cities all over the world to make street life safer for pedestrians. If the intersection of 3rd and 9th simply had an LPI on it, those two boys would have had extra time to start crossing the intersection before the light turned green for that truck. It's likely that the driver would have seen them crossing. It's entirely likely that they would still be alive today. LPIs really work. And they cost almost nothing to install. We want them in Brooklyn.

Unfortunately, the New York City DOT decimated the Downtown Brooklyn Traffic Calming Project. They watered down the proposals and then put off implementation of the most meaningful measures until, maybe, 2009.

We can't wait that long, Mayor. The streets are growing ever more crowded and dangerous with huge, hulking vehicles and our kids are being killed.

Thank you,
Aaron N.