Newsday forum explores the road to safer driving on Long Island
A panel of Newsday journalists at Tuesday evening's Dangerous Roads community forum at the newspaper's Melville headquarters. From left are transportation reporters Alfonso Castillo and Peter Gill, NewsdayTV anchor and forum moderator Shari Einhorn, deputy editor David Schwartz and data journalist Karthika Namboothiri. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
Deadly crashes, dangerous intersections and aggressive drivers topped the list of concerns aired by attendees at a Newsday forum in Melville Tuesday evening that included a panel of the newspaper's journalists on the yearlong Dangerous Roads investigative series.
Moderated by Newsday TV journalist Shari Einhorn, Newsday’s Dangerous Roads community forum highlighted the team's work, which started in March and stemmed from the "alarming increase in fatalities" the newspaper has covered in recent years, deputy editor David Schwartz told the audience of about 60 people.
The journalists onstage and audience members alike noted that solutions would not be easy.
Any solution would require "political will and ... community buy-in," Newsday transportation reporter and panelist Alfonso Castillo told the group.
Among the many concerns of Deer Park resident Noel Wong, 73, is the Southern State Parkway, along which he noted, memorials for loved ones lost in a crash can be seen on the side of the roadway. Wong, who is retired from his job at Kennedy Airport, said he would see the memorials as he drove to work. Reducing the curves at certain locations is one solution to reducing the chance of future memorials.
"If you don’t know the roadway that’s a big problem, because sometimes it throws you into a sudden curve," Wong told Newsday before the forum began. "By the time you realize ... you run off the road or run into somebody. It’s not speeding alone. The roads are not modernized, they should be straightened."
When Wong aired his concern about Southern State safety to the panel, Newsday data solutions journalist Karthika Namboothiri noted that she had discussed such engineering concerns with experts throughout her work on the project.
"A source I spoke with was mentioning how there’s talks about straightening parts of the Southern State Parkway," Namboothiri said. "But then ... the caveat to that is that then there’s nothing that slows people down ... There’s a lot to consider there."
The Dangerous Roads series has highlighted statistics Einhorn called "sobering, startling and alarming," including that more than 2,100 people have died in crashes on Long Island from 2014 to 2023 and more than 50,000 drivers on Long Island operate vehicles without a license.
The event included Newsday TV footage of traffic experts and grieving families. After the roundtable, which also included transportation reporter Peter Gill, audience members shared their stories of hazardous roads in their neighborhoods.
Pearl Jacobs, 66, Uniondale, said she would like to see speed cameras on Jerusalem Avenue, which connects multiple hamlets in Nassau County. The technology, Jacobs told the panel, proved successful at curbing speeding in Queens, where she grew up and frequently visits.
"All these roadways were known as ... roadways of death," she said, listing multiple roads in Queens. "I go to Queens a lot. They drive like little old ladies now."
One of the upcoming entries to the Dangerous Roads series will highlight hazardous intersections, Castillo said. Various reporters assigned across Long Island compiled a list of several concerning intersections in their coverage areas, the transportation reporter added. Some intersections saw more than 10 fatalities within a 10-year-span.
"A lot of them are not surprising," Castillo said. "They branch off of some really busy thoroughfares ... We’re looking at that and potential solutions to that."
Deadly crashes, dangerous intersections and aggressive drivers topped the list of concerns aired by attendees at a Newsday forum in Melville Tuesday evening that included a panel of the newspaper's journalists on the yearlong Dangerous Roads investigative series.
Moderated by Newsday TV journalist Shari Einhorn, Newsday’s Dangerous Roads community forum highlighted the team's work, which started in March and stemmed from the "alarming increase in fatalities" the newspaper has covered in recent years, deputy editor David Schwartz told the audience of about 60 people.
The journalists onstage and audience members alike noted that solutions would not be easy.
Any solution would require "political will and ... community buy-in," Newsday transportation reporter and panelist Alfonso Castillo told the group.
Among the many concerns of Deer Park resident Noel Wong, 73, is the Southern State Parkway, along which he noted, memorials for loved ones lost in a crash can be seen on the side of the roadway. Wong, who is retired from his job at Kennedy Airport, said he would see the memorials as he drove to work. Reducing the curves at certain locations is one solution to reducing the chance of future memorials.
"If you don’t know the roadway that’s a big problem, because sometimes it throws you into a sudden curve," Wong told Newsday before the forum began. "By the time you realize ... you run off the road or run into somebody. It’s not speeding alone. The roads are not modernized, they should be straightened."
When Wong aired his concern about Southern State safety to the panel, Newsday data solutions journalist Karthika Namboothiri noted that she had discussed such engineering concerns with experts throughout her work on the project.
"A source I spoke with was mentioning how there’s talks about straightening parts of the Southern State Parkway," Namboothiri said. "But then ... the caveat to that is that then there’s nothing that slows people down ... There’s a lot to consider there."
The Dangerous Roads series has highlighted statistics Einhorn called "sobering, startling and alarming," including that more than 2,100 people have died in crashes on Long Island from 2014 to 2023 and more than 50,000 drivers on Long Island operate vehicles without a license.
The event included Newsday TV footage of traffic experts and grieving families. After the roundtable, which also included transportation reporter Peter Gill, audience members shared their stories of hazardous roads in their neighborhoods.
Pearl Jacobs, 66, Uniondale, said she would like to see speed cameras on Jerusalem Avenue, which connects multiple hamlets in Nassau County. The technology, Jacobs told the panel, proved successful at curbing speeding in Queens, where she grew up and frequently visits.
"All these roadways were known as ... roadways of death," she said, listing multiple roads in Queens. "I go to Queens a lot. They drive like little old ladies now."
One of the upcoming entries to the Dangerous Roads series will highlight hazardous intersections, Castillo said. Various reporters assigned across Long Island compiled a list of several concerning intersections in their coverage areas, the transportation reporter added. Some intersections saw more than 10 fatalities within a 10-year-span.
"A lot of them are not surprising," Castillo said. "They branch off of some really busy thoroughfares ... We’re looking at that and potential solutions to that."
More coverage: Every 7 minutes on average a traffic crash causing death, injury or significant property damage happens on Long Island. A Newsday investigation found that traffic crashes killed more than 2,100 people between 2014 and 2023 and seriously injured more than 16,000 people. To search for fatal crashes in your area, click here.
Tentative deal on SALT tax ... Wet holiday weekend getaway ... Domenico's closing ... Knicks drop heartbreaker
Tentative deal on SALT tax ... Wet holiday weekend getaway ... Domenico's closing ... Knicks drop heartbreaker
