JULY 15
C RY D E R
P O I N T
After deadly traffic incident, Queens residents
petition to regularly retest senior drivers
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
JSMONTEVERDI@QNS.COM / @SMONT76 ust one week after a fatal collision in Whitestone
that caused the tragic death of a local teenager,
Queens residents are demanding a change to the
way New York state assesses its senior drivers.
More than 7,000 residents have signed onto a petition
that calls for “mandatory retesting every two years for all
drivers age 80 and over.” New York state currently has an
eight-year renewal program that requires a vision exam.
It does not have specific provisions for older drivers.
The call comes in the wake of the June 25 collision that
killed Madeline Sershen, a 17-year-old who attended St.
Francis Prep in Fresh Meadows. Sershen was crossing Utopia
Parkway with the walk light in her favor when she was
struck by a 2005 Toyota Corolla driven by 88-year-old Sheila
Kahn Prager, who police said ignored a steady red light.
Paramedics rushed Sershen to NewYork-Presbyterian
Queens hospital, where the teen was pronounced dead.
Prager was issued a desk appearance ticket charging her with
three crimes, including disobeying a traffic control device.
The Change.org petition, which was published on June
30, suggests that drivers over 80 years of age undergo a
driving test every two years to determine whether or not
they are still fit to drive, before they are issued a new license.
“Simply passing a vision exam is an extremely low standard
for a person to maintain their privilege to drive,”
the petition reads. “Individuals over 80 must be able to
demonstrate that they can continue to remain safe on the
road.”
Across the country, states have varying rules for issuing
licenses to older adults. Many states require seniors
drivers to either renew their license in person, complete
a written test or provide a doctor’s certificate stating they
are fit to drive.
The petition, which was already just short of its
7,500-signature goal on July 2, will be delivered to Governor
Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New
York State Legislature.
Julian Ho, the local who started the petition, said Sershen’s
family reached out to him to voice their support
for the petition. He also encouraged those who signed to
call Cuomo’s office to urge the leader to change the state’s
driver’s license renewal procedures.
“My beautiful baby sister’s death shall not be in vain,”
wrote Olivia Sershen. “Please make the change we need
to see in order to prevent future tragedies like Madeline’s
— which could have been avoided!!!”
The petition is the second community response to last
A memorial set up at the site of the June 25 collision in
Whitestone
Photo via Change.org/Julian Ho
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week’s tragic accident. In the hours following the incident,
friends of the teenager’s family launched a fundraiser on
GoFundMe to help ease the burden of funeral costs. The
campaign surpassed its $10,000 goal in less than 24 hours
and has raised $37,194 as of July 2.
The Change.org petition can be accessed by visiting
www.change.org/u/23481950.
link
/www.parksidememorialchapels.com
/23481950
