Long Island Rep. Laura Gillen urges the Chamber of Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to celebrate an emergency audience on the national “increase” in mortal traffic accidents, after a disturbing investigation revealed that a severe car accident occurs every seven minutes in Long Island.
“The failure to ensure our roads has led to thousands of lives being short, the families of the bee separated separately, and a terrible emptiness left too many communities,” shouts in his letter forcing the committee to take action.
The Democratic Legislator’s campaign is produced later An investigation by Newsday revealed That Long Island drivers reach a serious accident every seven minutes, killing more than 2,100 people and wounding 16,000 on the roads between 2014 and 2023.
Car accidents They are the main cause of accidental death among young people under 20 in Long Island, and the second leading cause of all Long Island islanders, according to overdose, along with overdose, according to CDC.
But the scourge goes beyond his district, Gill said, declaring him a “national crisis.”
“The deadly increase in traffic deaths in the last decade demands our rapid federal attention and intervention,” he shouted written to the Permanent Committee of the Chamber.
“This is not just a local problem; it is a national crisis.”
New York congresswoman said Motorized vehicle deaths have been raised During the last decade throughout the country, jumping 25% of 15,035 deaths in the first half of 2014 to 18,720 that rotates the same period in 2024.
The increase is despite billions in federal funds aimed at improving road safety.
“We can and must do much more,” he shouted.
This is the second letter that Screaming has written as Newsday research.
In March, he wrote to the Secretary of Transportation Duffy, asking for a federal study and policy recommendations to inform the future transport legislation.
“I request that the United States Department of Transportation conducts an immediate investigation into this deadly increase and delineates an action plan to help prevent more commercial trochers,” he wrote to Duffy, describing the crisis as a “alarm” and “inaccessible.”
Experts say that several factors are behind the increase in deaths and road injuries, including deteriorated and distracted driving, limited public transport access and the absence of protected bicycle lanes.
However, although the federal government provides funds and establishes standards, most Long Island roads are maintained by state and local governments.
The New York State Department of State supervises only one tenth of the lane miles of the island, and the rest falls into counties, cities, towns and cities.
Now, as Congress is working on the next round of federal funds on the road to replace the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which will expire in fiscal year 2026, Scream said that the time to act now is.
According to the current Infrastructure Law, New York is scheduled to receive around $ 13.5 billion in federal road funds in five years, a figure that the shipment said that it must coincide with a stronger and a national supervision to reverse the deadly trend.
