It is a continuing source of amazement to me that the carnage on our highways garners so little attention. On Saturday May 1st two teenagers were hit by a car while attempting to cross Sunrise Highway. 
One a popular junior at Lindenhurst High School was killed, the other student remains in serious condition. The driver of the car that hit them, was a young man not much older than the two students he hit; a 22 year old from Middle Island. This young man happens to be a friend of my oldest son, and was at my house the very day of the accident. He is of course devastated by the accident. One young manıs life tragically cut short, a second youngster critically injured, and a third completely devastated. A tragedy for all those involved, their families and friends.
Unfortunately, such tragedies are common place on Long Island. On Friday May 7th, a 14 year old girl was killed attempting to cross Hempstead Turnpike. She ran across the street attempting to beat the car, unfortunately, she didn't make it. Another 17 year old died on Friday on Old Westbury Road, and a fourth, Jared Morris of Coram, a sweet kid who loved music, on Rt. 112 on Saturday night.
The carnage is staggering. According to Newsday an average of five people die on Long Island roads each week. Thatıs equal to a Boeing 757 crashing every year. Newsday also pointed out that nearly a quarter of the people who died on Long Island roadways were pedestrians. Thatıs more than twice the national average.
Every year in the United States about 7000 pedestrians die and 110,000 more are badly injured in traffic accidents. Most of these deaths and injuries occur among young children, the elderly and young adults. (U.S. DOT, National Bicycling & Walking Study) According to Jane Holz Kayıs, Asphalt Nation, in the U.S. two million people annually are involved in disabling motor vehicle accidents, and 43,000 die on our highways. The fact that many of these terrible statistics are young people makes them even more tragic. The automobile is the largest killer of young people in the U.S. 
So what are we doing about it? Unfortunately, I have heard of no marches to Washington to demand increased investments in traffic calming; No marches to Albany crying for the state to spend at least 10% of their transportation budget to make our streets safer for pedestrians, and cyclists; No demonstrations at the Dennison Building or before the Suffolk County Legislature to demand an increase in the efficiency of our dilapidated bus system; No picketers in front of our new Brookhaven Town Hall to demand that future development be steered into compact pedestrian friendly centers.
It is time to lift our heads out of the sand. We must dedicate our resources, time and energy to decreasing the tragedies which occur on a daily basis on our roadways We must begin focusing on the terrible price we pay for high speed highways which race through communities, the terrible price we pay for our sprawling land use patterns which not only encourage, but demand the use of the automobile, and the terrible price we pay for an underfunded, inefficient mass transportation system. It is time to demand a plan of action from our elected officials.
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