State Sen. Andrew Gounardes and street safety advocates rallied in Downtown Brooklyn on June 17 to celebrate the state Senate’s passage of the Stop Super Speeders Act — and to urge the Assembly to pass the bill in the next legislative session.
The bill (S.4045C/A.2299C) passed the Senate on June 12 in a 44-15 vote. It would require the installation of speed-limiting devices — known as intelligent speed assistance, or ISA, technology — in the cars of drivers who accumulate 11 or more points on their license within 18 months, or receive 16 or more speed camera tickets in a single year.
The device would prevent drivers from traveling more than 5 mph over the speed limit in a designated zone — similar to an ignition interlock device required for individuals convicted of drunk driving under existing state law.
Standing at the corner of Flatbush Extension and Tillary Street, state Sen. Andrew Gounardes, who co-sponsored the bill with Assembly Member Emily Gallagher (D-Brooklyn), noted that one of New York City’s top 10 worst speed offenders was caught racing five times on that very block.
The reckless driver received more than 470 speed camera tickets last year, racking up over $47,000 in traffic fines.
“You might be scratching your head and saying, ‘How is this possible? How can we let this happen?’” Gounardes said. “It happens because we do not have a single tool in our toolkit at either the state or local level to crack down and hold accountable repeat reckless drivers, repeat super speeders.”
Gounardes emphasized that passing the bill in the Assembly and getting it to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk for signature is imperative to saving lives.
“This bill, when enacted, will save lives,” the Brooklyn pol said. “This bill, when enacted, will hold reckless drivers accountable. This bill, when enacted, will keep our streets safe for everyone. And so the job is half done. We need our partner in Albany, the state Assembly, to pass this bill and make sure that we can hold these reckless drivers accountable.”
According to NYC Department of Transportation data, drivers who rack up 16 speed camera violations in a single year are twice as likely to be involved in a crash resulting in serious injury or death.
Supporters say the proposed law could help prevent tragedies like the horrific crash that claimed the lives of 34-year-old Natasha Saada and her two daughters — Diana, 8, and Deborah, 5 — earlier this year. Miriam Yarmini, 35, was speeding through a red light when she plowed into a group of pedestrians. She was driving with a suspended license and had amassed 99 traffic violations, including 21 speeding tickets, over the past two years.
Family members and friends who lost loved ones to traffic violence also spoke to the urgency of passing the bill in the state Assembly.
Darnell Sealy-McCrorey, whose daughter Niyell McCrorey — a high school freshman — was struck by an SUV while crossing an intersection in Upper Manhattan in November 2024 and died from her injuries a week later, has turned his grief into action, spending time in Albany to advocate for the bill’s passage.
“Unfortunately, the device wasn’t installed at the time during my daughter’s death, which could have probably prevented her from dying seven days later,” said Sealy-McCrorey, who described the tragedy as one of the most traumatic experiences of his and his family’s lives.
Amanda Servedio, 36, was struck and killed by a speeding Dodge Ram while cycling in Astoria in October 2024. Her friend, Joseph Jankoski, said the driver had accumulated 90 speed camera and red light camera violations over two years.
“I’m here on her behalf because she wouldn’t want this to be about her. She’d want to get this bill passed for the countless others that have been taken from us too soon,” Jankoski said. “Nothing we do now can bring back Amanda or anyone else who has been so cruelly and senselessly taken from us, but passing this bill will help keep others from feeling what we who lost people feel, that emptiness, that sense of loss.”
Juliane Williams lost her daughter, Doniqueca Cooke, in 2016, when the 21-year-old college student was struck and killed by a speeding Porsche that jumped the curb at the intersection of Junction Boulevard and the Horace Harding Expressway service road in Queens.
Williams said losing her daughter has been a constant nightmare and called on the state Assembly to pass the bill.
“We need you to pass this bill,” Williams urged. “Because this is not about us alone. It’s about every living human being. Because at no time can you tell what’s gonna happen next by the speeding motor vehicles. I’m calling on all Assembly members — please pass this bill, because you could be saving your own life.”
