RETHINKING DRIVER’S ED
Bill to include pedestrian, cyclist safety in curriculum passes state senate
BY JESSICA PARKS
Legislation which would
bring pedestrian and cyclist
safety into driver’s education
passed in the State Senate
on March 11.
If enacted into law, the
bill would require driver’s
license applicants to learn
about the dangers posed to
cyclists and pedestrians
during driver’s education
courses.
The applicants would then
be tested on their pedestrian
and bicycle safety knowledge
in the pre-licensing test administered
by the Department
of Motor Vehicles.
The bill, which aims to
“create a thoughtful road
culture,” comes at a particularly
dangerous time for
pedestrians and cyclists. In
2019, motorists killed 124
pedestrians and 28 cyclists
and at least 24 pedestrians
have been killed by drivers
on New York City streets
since the New Year.
Just last week, a 66-yearold
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by a motorist while walking
his dog in Bay Ridge.
“The vast majority of
these fatal accidents are due
to reckless or inattentive
driving,” said State Senator
Andrew Gounardes, who introduced
the bill last April.
“We have to change the culture
that allows drivers to
believe they own the road,
starting with robust street
safety education when a teenager
gets their permit.”
The southern Brooklyn
lawmaker renewed calls to
pass the bill last month when
he introduced a package of
other street safety legislation.
That set of bills would
institute a safety rating for
vehicles based on its risk to
pedestrians, eliminate the
need for district attorneys
to prove that motorists were
aware of the potential harm
they could cause by reckless
driving, and classify all intersections
as a crosswalk,
forcing motorists to yield to
crossing pedestrians at every
city intersection.
Sunset Park Assemblymen
Felix Ortiz is sponsoring
the bill to expand
driver’s education in the Assembly.
Driving schools and
the DMV would have six
months from the bills passage
in both the Senate and
the Assembly to implement
the new curriculum.
State Senator Andrew Gounardes wants driver’s education courses to include information about pedestrian
and cyclist safety. Photo by Jessica Parks
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