Staten Island Jogger Loses His Fight to Survive
Once again Staten Island residents are witness to tragedy as a 23-year old's life was tragically cut short. My condolences go out to the family of Daniel Kelley. Their pain is unimaginable. As a father of 2 young children, I know it's my wish to see my children grow up and to eventually have children of their own. Whether its a young child or a young adult, the loss is still devastating.
In the last few weeks, Staten Island residents have seemingly been the target of reckless drivers. From the tragic deaths of Peter and Lilian Sabados, to Arthur Katz being struck by an ambulette to Janine Brawer. The Sabados' were simply trying to cross the street to attend church. Ms. Brawer was coming home from school. Mr. Kelley was out for a jog with his girlfriend. The prevalence of irresponsible and dangerous drivers on Staten Island is alarming.
Mr. Kelley was struck by a drug-impaired driver on Hylan Boulevard, what I consider to be the most dangerous street on Staten Island, more akin to a highway. What does it say about a person who gets behind the wheel of a car while on drugs? What about a driver who flees the scene of an accident and reports his van stolen, all the while driving with a suspended license? These drivers are all too prevalent on Staten Island streets.
Every resident should be able to feel safe on our roads; that is our entitlement, our right. Driving is a privilege, not a right, and maybe we should start to take that privilege away from reckless drivers. The laws and rules in place now obviously don't deter people from driving reckless, as they amount to monetary fines and an accumulation of points on your license. We need to suspend reckless driver's licenses much more quickly. Let's be honest; sometimes, going through a red light is a mistake. Maybe you were distracted or maybe you thought you had more time. People who are running red lights 3 or 4 times are doing it intentionally. They obviously don't care about the rules and choose not to pay attention to them. Take their license away and make them earn it back by taking the driving test all over again. Until we get serious with our penalties for reckless driving, we will never rid Staten Island's streets of them.
