BY BEN VERDE
A new state law prompted
by a deadly 2018 crash in Park
Slope has become law after
being signed by Gov. Andrew
Cuomo, legislators announced
Thursday.
The rule will allow the
state to suspend the licenses
of drivers who have lost consciousness
behind the wheel
until they receive medical
clearance from a doctor that
they are fi t to drive.
“This legislation will ensure
drivers who are medically
unfi t to drive will not be
on our roads,” said Assemblyman
Robert Carroll (D—Park
Slope) who introduced the
bill.
The law comes after
44-year-old Staten Island
driver Dorothy Bruns plunged
through a red light at Ninth
Street and Fifth Avenue, slaying
two children and injuring
three others, including Tonyaward
winning actress Ruthie
Ann Miles, who was pregnant
at the time, and later miscarried
as a result of her injuries.
Prosecutors alleged that
Bruns suffered a seizure at
the time of the crash, and that
her doctor had warned her not
to drive as a result of several
medical conditions, including
multiple sclerosis.
Had Carroll’s law been
in place back in 2018, Burns
may have had her license suspended
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COURIER L 6 IFE, JANUARY 3-9, 2020
before the fatal Park
Slope crash, due to a previous
medical episode she suffered
behind the wheel, which
caused her to drive into a
parked car six weeks before
the Ninth street crash.
“With traffi c deaths on the
rise again, we have to do everything
we can to stop the
heartbreak and horror of traffi
c violence,” said Senator
Andrew Gounardes (D—Bay
Ridge), who sponsored the bill
in the senate.
Specifi cally, the new rule
A makeshift memorial to the children run down by Dorothy Bruns in Park Slope in 2018, whose history of blacking
out behind the wheel spawned new laws to protect pedestrians from unhealthy drivers.
Photo by Natallie Rocha
will require the state’s Department
of Motor Vehicles commissioner
to revoke a person’s
license if they receive a report
from the police indicating that
the driver suffered a medical
episode behind the wheel.
Receiving a report will only
cause an inquiry to be opened,
they will be allowed to drive
until the DMV fi nds conclusive
evidence and closes their
inquiry. Drivers will have the
chance to request a hearing
but will be barred from driving
until the ruling is overturned.
The bill is a small victory
for safe streets advocates
that came on the same
day as a crushing blowback
when Cuomo vetoed the hotly
anticipated e-bikes bill that
would have legalized electric
bikes and scooters in parts
of New York City. The governor
derided the bill as “fatally
fl awed” for leaving out safety
measures he had included in
the 2019 budget.
Driving change
Bill prompted by deadly Park
Slope crash becomes law
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