A serious car crash occurs every 7 minutes on Long Island and NY rep is demanding action: National crisis

Long Island Rep.Laura Gillen is urging the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to hold an emergency hearing on the nationwide “surge” in deadly traffic accidents — after an unsettling investigation revealed that a serious car crash occurs every seven minutes on Long Island.“The failure to secure our roads has led to thousands of lives being cut short, families being ripped apart, and a terrible void being left in too many communities,” Gillen wrote in her letter compelling the committee to take action.The Democratic lawmaker’s campaign comes after an investigation by Newsday revealed that Long Island drivers get into a serious accident every seven minutes — killing more than 2,100 people and injuring 16,000 others on the roads between 2014 and 2023.Car crashes are the leading cause of accidental death among young people under the age of 20 on Long Island, and the second-leading cause for all Long Islanders under the age of eighty, next to overdoses, according to the CDC.But the scourge goes beyond her district, Gillen said, declaring it a “national crisis.”“The deadly surge in traffic fatalities over the past decade demands our swift federal attention and intervention,” Gillen wrote to the House standing committee.“This is not just a local problem; it is a national crisis.”The New York congresswoman pointed out that motor vehicle fatalities have risen sharply over the past decade across the country — jumping 25% from 15,035 deaths in the first half of 2014 to 18,720 during the same period in 2024.The surge is despite billions in federal funding aimed at improving road safety.“We can and must do much more,” Gillen wrote.This is the second letter Gillen has written since Newsday’s investigation.

In March, she wrote to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, calling for a federal study and policy recommendations to inform future transportation legislation.“I request the U.S.Department of Transportation conduct an immedia...