Dangerous Roads newsletter: Defining success on our roads

I’d like to thank everyone who turned out for Newsday's town hall event last week, where I moderated a panel discussion on potential solutions to Long Island's dangerous roads.

Since I couldn't get to every raised hand in the audience, I stuck around after the event to meet with as many attendees as I could. If I didn't get to you, I encourage you to send your questions and comments to roads@newsday.com, and we'll include some in future newsletters. 

Newsday will be writing more about solutions in the next year. But I began last Wednesday’s town hall event with this question: What does success look like?

Here’s how our panel of experts answered:

• Robert Sinclair, AAA, senior manager of public affairs: "We are, unfortunately, at a level of acceptance of road deaths and injuries. ... In the average year, there are about 40,000 fatalities around the country. Imagine if that was happening on airplanes. That would be like 1½ 747s going down every week. All the airplanes would be grounded. There would be investigations. That would not be tolerated. But we are, in this country, tolerant of this high level of fatalities and injuries. We have to have a major culture change so we do not tolerate these things."
• Elissa Kyle, Vision Long Island, placemaking director: "I would say success would be something where you feel comfortable letting your kid walk to school. You feel comfortable with your elderly grandmother walking to the grocery store, have a place where roads aren’t threatening and fear-inducing, where you feel comfortable that you know that just getting around your own community, you’re not taking your life into your own hands."
• Mary Tanner-Richter, state Department of Motor Vehicles, deputy commissioner for traffic safety and investigations: "I think success is zero deaths on the roadway. I think that to shoot for anything less than that is unacceptable. It’s going to take us forever to get there, maybe. But we always have to have that as the goal."
• Rob Limoges, state Department of Transportation, director of office of traffic safety and mobility: "Deaths and serious injuries should be unacceptable to all of us. ... So, to me, success means implementing that type of approach and working together to create safe roads and safe road users and safe speeds and safe vehicles and understanding that these things all have to come together for success."
• Maj. Christopher Casale, New York State Police: "Zero deaths should be the goal. But, in addition to that, you should also shoot for, when you’re driving down the highway ... you’re not seeing that ... aggressive driving of people driving across barriers, speeding on the shoulders and engaging in very dangerous behavior."

How would you define success in making Long Island’s roads safer? Let us know at roads@newsday.com.

Readers speak up

Among those who reached out to tell me they couldn’t make it to our town hall last week, but wanted to share some suggestions on making Long Island’s roads safer, was this fellow Valley Streamer:

Use video cameras for real-time monitoring 24/7 by staff who are able to capture an infraction with license plates as evidence and then dispatch a trooper ... to pull them over. Change NYS laws so that ALL license plates (even those from other states) must be in place and in good condition on the front and in back of the vehicle. No more paper, temporary plates. They must be made of a sturdier material.

Lisa Andersen, Valley Stream

Send your solutions for Long Island’s dangerous roads to roads@newsday.com.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.