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"Cooper's Law" Would Suspend Cabbies Who Kill Or Maim Pedestrians
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Feb 16, 2014
Modified Feb 16, 2014
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Feb 16, 2014
Modified Feb 16, 2014
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City councilmember Helen Rosenthal is poised to introduce a law that would strip cab drivers of their TLC licenses if they kill or maim a pedestrian as a result of failing to yield. Rosenthal represents the Upper West Side, where 9-year-old Cooper Stock was killed last month while walking with his father by a cab driver who failed to yield.
"I am enthusiastic about naming the law after Cooper," Rosenthal told the Post. The legislation would impose a temporary suspension on the cab driver's license pending a thorough investigation of the incident, the results of which would determine whether the suspension becomes permanent.
In the past five years, 21 cabbies have killed or injured pedestrians, and only one was charged with a crime. Only two taxi drivers out of 16 involved in fatal or serious crashes since 2009 have had their licenses revoked.
“What he did, he did not do intentionally, and I imagine that if he is a good person, he is in hell right now," Stock's mother, Dana Lerner told the tabloid, referring to Koffi Komlani, the cab driver that struck and killed the boy on West 97th and West End Avenue.
Komlani, 54, was given a citation for failure to yield that carries a maximum fine of $300. He has not driven since the incident, but can resume driving a cab because he has not accrued enough points for a suspension—six are needed, and failure to yield earns only three.
“The city and the TLC—they can care less,” Lerner said. “Nobody from the city or TLC contacted us. I got letters of condolence from all over the world. And nothing — nothing from these people.”
Stock's family issued a statement at the Community Board 7 meeting last month urging for "meaningful reform."
“I just don’t want his death to be in vain," Lerner says. "If there was a Cooper’s Law—a law named after him—that would be something that would be extraordinary and bring us some solace.”
Tagged
Cooper Stock
pedestrian fatalities
pedestrian safety
tlc
Upper West Side
vision zero
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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