Paul Steely White delivers letters to the NYPD

Today, Transportation Alternatives announced the launch of an investigation into the NYPD’s traffic crash investigation practices. Joined outside One Police Plaza by the friends and families of dangerous driving victims and concerned New Yorkers, advocates delivered more than 2,650 letters to NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, demanding the NYPD hold dangerous drivers accountable. The probe is being launched to shine a light on the Police Department’s failure to recognize traffic violence as a public safety crisis. From 2000 to 2009, more people were killed in traffic than murdered by guns in New York City. The NYPD must take these fatalities as seriously as other preventable deaths and devote the necessary resources to save lives.

Friends & family of victims demand justice for their loved ones.

This is a real issue on the streets of Greenpoint & Williamsburg. Our neighborhood has a large cluster of bicycle deaths, and has seen 4 cyclist killed in just the last few months. All the cases raise questions about how the police in our neighborhood investigate and deal with crashes. However, Mathieu Lefevre’s case is especially harrowing.  In late October, Mathieu was run over on his bicycle and killed by a flatbed truck at the intersection of Meserole Street and Morgan Avenue in East Williamsburg. The driver of the truck left the scene of the crash, parked nearby and never returned. As with all fatal crashes, the NYPD’s Accident Investigation Squad reported to the scene. Just a few days later, the investigation was closed. The NYPD then announced an all too common conclusion: the driver who killed Mathieu Lefevre would not be charged. Not with leaving the scene of the crash. Not with failure to exercise due care while driving. Not any charges at all.  Read More »