Mothers of kids killed in city traffic accidents have a message for Mayor de Blasio: Slow down.
Days after de Blasio flouted his own traffic-safety plan by riding shotgun in a speeding SUV that ran two stop signs, the moms — members of a new concerned parents group — urged him to practice what he preaches about putting on the brakes.
“Obviously, everybody needs to obey traffic laws, including the mayor and the police. It is too bad that this story is overshadowing what’s really important. New York City took an enormous step forward this week when the Mayor announced the Vision Zero plan,” said Amy Cohen, who helped organize the group, Families for Safe Streets.
Cohen’s 12-year-old son, Sammy Eckstein, was killed Oct. 8 when he was struck by a van while chasing a soccer ball on a Park Slope street.
Cohen said de Blasio should move faster to implement his ambitious Vision Zero safety plan, which includes lowering the city’s speed limit and cracking down on reckless cabdrivers.
“Vision Zero did not have any timeline,” Cohen said. “We are demanding a timeline for rapid implementation. We demand change now.”
Cohen, at a City Hall press conference Sunday, said she was pleased with de Blasio’s call to lower the city’s speed limit from 30 to 25 mph, but said he should take it all the way down to 20 on residential streets.
She and others will make that case Monday to a City Council subcommittee.
Dana Lerner, whose 9-year-old son, Cooper Stock, was killed by a cabdriver on the Upper West Side last month, said cabbies who kill should lose their licenses.
“What if I hail a cab and he’s the driver?” Lerner said. “The TLC should make sure drivers are well-trained and immediately revoke a driver’s license if they kill anyone.”
Lerner was also upset that de Blasio hadn’t reached out to her about her son’s death.
“I’ve heard from strangers all over the world,” Lerner said. “I have heard nothing from him and nothing from the TLC.”
The mayor didn’t stick around over the weekend to answer questions about his SUV misadventures. Instead, he took off for a family outing in Gettysburg, Pa.
De Blasio returned to his Park Slope home with son Dante Sunday afternoon and refused to answer even any questions about the trip, other than to say he had a “wonderful time.’’
Additional reporting by Amber Sutherland