By Rachel Holiday Smith, DNAinfo.com
Of four fatal crashes that have occurred in the neighborhood since new penalties for drivers went into effect in 2014, none have resulted in new “Vision Zero” charges meant to increase penalties for killing pedestrians and cyclists, an analysis by DNAinfo New York found.
In two of the four fatal crashes in Crown Heights, the driver did face criminal charges. But none faced the “failure to exercise due care” charge named in Administrative Code Section 19-190, signed into law by Mayor Bill de Blasio in May 2014 as part of the citywide Vision Zero pedestrian safety initiative.
The law went into effect in August of that year, creating a new misdemeanor charge that carried a penalty of up to 30 days behind bars and a $250 fine.
Since then, only 15 percent of drivers who have killed pedestrians or cyclists across the city have been hit with the Vision Zero charge, according to an analysis by DNAinfo of city data and court records.
Those who avoided the charge include a driver who ran over and killed Rabbi Yekutiel Rapp, 66, on Empire Boulevard and Balfour Place last summer. Witnesses at the time told DNAinfo the driver backed up over the Lubavitcher rabbi three times before coming to a stop.
The driver was not arrested or charged with any crime — including the Vision Zero misdemeanor — immediately following the crash, according to a report by Streetsblog.
A source close to the Rapp family said they have not been made aware of any charges in connection to the case since then.
A spokeswoman from the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office said Thursday the case is still under investigation.
An inquiry to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office about the use of the Vision Zero charges in the borough was not returned.
We have had many children hit and adults and dead ceases too , but still it’s no one who improved the sites where the incident took place …. No new sighns , no new lights nothing – but only parking tickets …..
I’m scary to cross Eastern Prkwy to 770 and back – it’s too short light for pedestrians and all who are doing left turn from Kingston Ave are literally driving in people ….. Why ? I don’t want to share road as a pedestrian with the cars !!!
Don’t you get it? There are no lawyers fees for this guy, still on the streets, he was never detained, didn’t even have to go through a trial to determine fault. Nada.
I do not know the details of this particular case, but if you are a driver, you remember well all the times a pedestrian decides to walk behind your car when you are backing up, or when the motorcycle accelerates passes you when you are making a turn, or when the bike runs a red light in front of your vehicle
. If there are no witnesses, then prepare to spend 30 days in jail and/or pay $50,000 in lawyer fees.
Some professions, such a lawyer, nurse, law enforcement, or a doctor, must have a 100% clean record. A misdemeanor in their records will almost automatically guarantee a license suspension.
Anyone that drives a car knows that do you don’t need to be reckless for an accident to occur. This means that driving a car can potentially compromise your livelihood!
People of Crown Heights need to take action and see to it that this killer is behind bars.
He’s free to keep on driving, no penalty- that’s a great message they’re sending out to all the others. It seems that if no one says a word, any ‘investigation’ taken will just be a token one and this will end up swept under the carpet until.. Where are our community leaders with connections?How can we demand that action be taken? Does no one care about the welfare of this community? Is no one going to give a thought to Rabbi Rapp? Do you really think that only Jews who get into car accidents should be arrested even before any… Read more »
We all have to stand up and make sure this man gets a big punishment and is behind bars , off the street!
Perfect description of the DeBalsio administration.