Laura Gillen Leads The Charge to Tackle Long Island’s Traffic Crisis

Following the relentless advocacy of Congresswoman Laura Gillen, federal officials are now stepping up to address Long Island’s dangerous roads—one of the deadliest regions for motorists and pedestrians in New York.

Gillen initially sent a letter to the U.S. Transportation Secretary calling on the agency to intervene following a Newsday investigation that revealed a serious crash occurs every seven minutes on Long Island, resulting in more than 2,100 fatalities and 16,000 serious injuries recorded over the past ten years.

After Gillen sounded the alarm on the staggering number of crashes across Long Island, the U.S. DOT confirmed that the agency will coordinate with state officials to study the surge in accidents and implement real solutions.

New York Post: Feds promise to clean up Long Island’s deadly traffic nightmare after congresswoman sounds alarm on 10 years of staggering crashes

• After a decade of registering some of the deadliest roads across the US, the feds say they’re now “committed” to tackling Long Island’s traffic crisis — following pressure from Rep. Laura Gillen and years of staggering crash stats.
• US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, in a letter to Gillen, confirmed his agency will coordinate with state transportation officials to study the surge of accidents on the Island and find ways to reduce the alarming death toll for motorists.
• The Long Island congresswoman penned a letter to Duffy back in March urging the US Department of Transportation to probe the issue.
• Gillen, in her letter, pointed to a Newsday investigation that found a serious car crash occurs every seven minutes on Long Island’s 118 miles of roadway — killing more than 2,100 (roughly 210 annually) and seriously injuring more than 16,000 (about 1,600 per year) others in both Nassau and Suffolk counties from 2014 to 2023.
• “The Department remains committed to eliminating fatal crashes and working with you to achieve that goal,” Duffy wrote in response.
• While the feds already coordinate with state agencies to flag high-crash locations and dole out safety grants, Duffy said his agency will now work even more closely with the state DOT and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee on Long Island.
• Even though the federal government provides funding and sets certain traffic safety standards for states, Long Island’s roads are owned and maintained by a patchwork of state and local agencies — creating confusion when it comes to accountability.
• But Gillen, a Democrat, charged that’s no excuse for inaction.
• “The deadly surge in traffic fatalities over the past decade demands our swift federal attention and intervention,” she wrote. “We can and must do much more.”

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