In Washington Heights, New York, a neighborhood of Manhattan, residents are starting to become worried by a rapidly-growing problem. It seems that there, more than anywhere else in the Big Apple, reckless drag racers are taking to the streets for regular and illegal competitions late in the night. In particular, they seem to be blasting down a stretch of road directly adjacent to a high school and a park, inciting understandable worry about potential fatalities.
Mayor de Blasio is perhaps most well-known for implementing his “Vision Zero” plan, which focused on eliminating dangerous driving behaviors and reducing deaths on New York City’s roads to zero. Despite his administration’s best efforts, the drag racing complaints in Washington Heights have shot up 31% since last year, according to the area’s non-emergency 3-1-1 call records.
Who Can Slow Down the Reckless Racers?
So far, residents are not seeing any improvement to the situation. Many are pointing fingers at local law enforcement for lack of appropriate response to the issue. In certain scenarios, it took police more than two hours to show up to the scene to investigate, giving the drag racers plenty of time to flee. Out of all the 3-1-1 complaints, only two have recently led to traffic summonses. Until a regular police route is created in Washington Heights during peak racing hours – which seem to be around 4 in the morning – residents may not see any form of improvement to the situation.
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