Following Tragedy, Police Crack Down on Traffic Violations

A number of police checkpoints have been spotted in Crown Heights over the past 24 hours, one of which is currently ongoing on Empire Blvd. between Kingston and Albany Avenues.

Last night a similar police checkpoint was erected on Kingston Ave. between Carroll and Crown Streets.

At these checkpoints, police stop each car and check its license plates and registration tags. They also check inside and outside the car for any visible violations, such as a broken headlight or taillight, windows tinted too darkly, lack of a seatbelt, cell phone use etc.

Any such violation is followed by the further checkup of the driver’s license, registration and insurance, as well as a summons for the violation.

Detective Vincent Martinos of the 71st Precinct told CrownHeights.info that this sudden surge in police checkpoints is standard procedure for 72 hours following a fatal accident involving a motor vehicle.

Known as the ’72-hour response time,’ the checkpoints are meant to showcase the NYPD’s commitment to road safety following a fatal accident.

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14 Comments

  • Non Sequitor

    The police should be checking all the sanitation vehicles instead and leaving the innocent citizens alone.

  • WOW! What a waste of time and money!

    They should not be pestering ordinary law abiding citizens.

    The only vehicles and drivers to be checked, harassed and ticketed should be ONLY the Garbage Trucks and city buses who have no respect for pedestrians and other users of the road.

  • moshe der farmer

    how stupid

    a city truck is involved and the people suffer ?

    how ironic …

    but that is typical liberalism.. the government can do no wrong .. only the people so we suffer.. more tickets more traffic more harassment

  • really?

    how about cracking down on the state and city workers the NYPD and sanitation workers are always driving while talking on the cell phones

    lets not forget who the driver was at this accident

    not one of us? but hey if it means they can put the blame on us make them feel better then go for it

  • Are they still checking on Kingston?

    This is ridiculous. Punishing the victimized who are already suffering the loss of a community member won’t fix anything.

    How about returning the sidewalks to their original configuration so pedestrians won’t feel even more comfortable crossing against the light and drivers won’t get stuck in the narrowed street openings and retraining sanitation workers how to drive their trucks?

  • Guilty Conscience

    Not long ago I was on Empire Blvd travelling from Bedford towards Flatbush avenue.

    I watched as a NYC Sanitation truck crossed the yellow lines and drove “Counter Flow” from bedford until making a left onto Washington avenue.

    At the time I considered taking down a plate # & filing a complaint. For some reason I decided against it.

    While I realize the chances of this being the same driver are slim, and tragic accidents do occur, and that not all sanitation truck drivers are alike.

    It pains me to think even for one second that maybe this could have been avoided if I acted on my “Gut feeling”.

  • To Everyone

    I can’t believe what I’m reading! A young person was tragically killed yesterday due to bad driving, and your lamenting the fact that the police are trying to crack down on bad driving? Granted that it was done by a garbage truck but doesn’t mean that they should not crack down on everyone else as well!!

    • Harassment

      Stopping and checking all cars on the street when the drivers have done nothing wrong is harassment. Plain and simple. Don’t confuse the issues.

  • Boruch Hashem

    The driving in our neighborhood is woefully bad and dangerous. This can only be a good thing.

    For all those blaming the sanitation truck, did you see what happened? This was clearly an accident in every sense of the word. The sanitation worker was not at fault; neither was the bochur. It was a tragic, tragic accident.

    My heart goes out to the poor parents, and yes, also to the driver, who had to live with this for the rest of his life.

  • Yossi

    I was stuck in traffic twice for this ‘show’. Now the talk of making 25 mile/hr rule sounds ridiculous. If laws were kept there would not be as many issues, but to make more drivers go slow will make the crazy ones more nervous and speed along anyway. Addressing the fact that cars can kill cannot be moved away with a few dumb laws and stops.

  • moshie

    to #11 how is the driver not responsable when the bachur had the green light as seen on line from the cameras from local stores i think the driver should be changed with murder

  • ussr

    When will this police state stop! To taxpayers really pay them to make sure no one’s registration is 2 weeks expired or a tail light is out. That’s what is the pressing issue in ch today? Reminds me of my trip to Russia