8 The Queens Courier • december 26, 2013 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com After fatal accident, push to change LICENSE LAWS BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA AND ANGY ALTAMIRANO [email protected] Local elected officials are calling for a change in the law to prevent another child, like eight-year-old Noshat Nahian, from losing his life on the way to school. Noshat was crossing the street with his 11-year-old sister near P.S. 152 in Woodside around 8 a.m. on Friday, December 20 when a tractor trailer traveling southbound on 61st Street made a left turn onto Northern Boulevard, striking him with its rear tires, police said. Noshat was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The driver, Mauricio Osorio- Palominos, 51, of Newark, N.J., who remained on the scene of the accident, has been charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and operating vehicle in violation of safety rules, police said. According to State Senator Michael Gianaris, Osorio-Palominos was driving with a suspended license with multiple violations on his record. In response, Gianaris gathered with local officials, residents and advocacy groups on Monday, December 23 at the site of the accident to introduce legislation that would make it a felony if drivers with suspended licenses either seriously injure or kill someone with their vehicle. Under current law, a driver like Osorio-Palominos could be charged only with a misdemeanor. “The law needs to get tougher,” said Gianaris. “Those who have suspended licenses are twice as likely to kill somebody or injure somebody, or twice as likely to have major accidents. The law has to catch up with the data, we just need to get these people off the streets.” Gianaris has also proposed the immediate impoundment of a vehicle’s license plate, if it is operated by someone with a suspended license. The new bill will be co-sponsored by Senators Toby Ann Stavisky and Jose Peralta and also supported by Assemblymember Michael Den Dekker, Congressmember Joseph Crowley and Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer. “I have an eight-year-old son and it could have been my child; it could have been my son that was hit that Friday morning,” said Peralta. “And we need to send a loud message not only to the city, but to anyone who does this, who rides without a license, that this is not going to be acceptable.” Advocate groups like Transportation Alternatives, Make Queens Safer and Woodside on the Move are also looking to implement other safety measures, like crossing guards, stalled green lights and much more. “None of this should have happened, all of this could have been prevented,” said Van Bramer. “This school has been asking for a crossing guard at this location for months. It’s absolutely disgraceful that the administration did not provide the crossing guard when it was requested, when it was clearly needed. Anybody who has been on this street for more than five minutes knows that this requires a crossing guard.” Advocacy group Make Queens Safer organized a traffic safety memorial and vigil on Sunday, December 22 at 61st Street and Northern Boulevard, where Noshat’s family and hundreds of residents gathered to remember the eightyear old and other victims of traffic fatalities. THE COURIER/ Photo by Angy Altamirano After eight-year-old Noshat Nahian was fatally struck by a driver with a suspended license, officials, residents and advocacy groups are calling for legislation that would make it a felony. st of the 2012 THE QUEENS 2012 st The Law Firm of Vallone & Vallone • Wills & Elder Law Planning • Family Home & Asset Protection • Full Real Estate Representation QueensCourier.com • Personal Injury • Revocable & Irrevocable Trusts • Civil, Corporate & Criminal 22-45 31st Street 25-59 Francis Lewis Blvd. 233 Broadway/Suite 830 Astoria, NY 11105 Flushing, NY 11358 New York, NY 10279 718.204.2929 718.428.PAUL 212.VALLONE www.vallonelaw.com NEW YORK INTERNAL MEDICINE, P.C. 1 7 - 5 2 F R A N C I S L E W I S B L V D • W H I T E S T O N E • 7 1 8 - 7 4 6 - 9 4 9 4 Dr. Ayman Attia Alla & John Kelly, P.A. 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