It was a rough week for New York City pedestrians. Last Thursday, after a four month investigation, the Queens District Attorney announced that state law prevented him from seeking felony charges against John Wirta, the drunk driver who mowed down two boys in Flushing last October.

The 56-year-old boiler repairman was driving eastbound on 73rd Avenue at 150th Street when his van barreled into Vasean Alleyne, 11, and Angel Reyes, 12, as they stepped into the street from between two parked cars. Vasean was killed and Angel seriously injured. When the police got to the scene they found Wirta with bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, breath stinking, and blood alcohol content of .13 percent. The legal limit in New York is .08 percent. Wirta told the cops that had had "a couple of beers." It must have been a couple of big ones. A 200-pound man would have to knock back eight in about two hours to pump that much alcohol into his bloodstream.

Wirta's lawyer says, and the D.A.'s investigation appears to confirm, that Wirta had the green light and was driving under 30 when the boys stepped out into the darkened street. Because he wasn't breaking traffic laws when he hit them, Wirta can only be charged with a misdemeanor, driving while intoxicated. At most, he faces a year in prison and a $1,000 fine. In other words, if you ever need to kill someone in New York, do it with a car.

The boys' mothers are now up in Albany trying to get the Legislature to pass "Vasean’s Law" for harsher penalties on killer drivers. Vasean's mother, Monique Dixon, told the Times that she isn't coming home until legislators "can tell me to my face why there is no law to cover the death of my son."

She might consider renting an apartment. Activists have been trying to compel state lawmakers to stiffen penalties for killer drivers for decades. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a former defense attorney and expert foot-dragger, is deeply skeptical of any law favoring prosecution and is likely to continue to stall any such legislation.

Yet, even if Vasean's Law is passed, toughening up penalties for drivers who kill is only the tip of the iceberg. What New York City really needs are measures that prevent and reduce reckless driving in the first place, things like red light cameras, traffic calming, congestion pricing, and stricter licensing and inspection regimens.

The legislature refuses to take action on these items as well. Silver has for years allowed David Gantt, a libertarian-leaning upstate Assembly member who runs the transportation committee to stop New York City from getting more red light cameras at dangerous intersections. Gantt believes the life-saving, revenue-generating cameras are a slippery slope to Big Brother government.

Donald Hennessy’s family and friends could tell Gantt something about how far we’ve slipped down the slope of allowing automobiles rule the city. Hennessy, 74, stepped out into the street in front of his building in Woodside, Queens last Sunday morning only to be mowed down by a speeding red Mitsubishi sports car driven by Royce Quigua. When Quigua was caught by police the next day, he claimed to be unaware that he had hit anyone. Quigua wasn’t drunk. Neighbors say that he regularly careens around the neighborhood like an asshole.

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If government won’t do anything to make city streets safer, it looks like Mother Nature may be in the process of getting the job done herself. This week gas prices in California made their first foray past the $3 mark. A gallon of self-serve regular unleaded at the Malibu 76 Union on the Pacific Coast Highway costs $3.05. President Bush’s inner circle has begun quietly mulling the economic and political implications of a $4 gallon “nightmare scenario.”

Perhaps the White House team will conclude that it is finally time to level with the American people: There is much evidence to suggest that we are approaching a global oil production peak, an era in which demand for fossil fuels begins to outpace supply. No matter how you slice it, this is the start of a long, painful and permanent upswing in energy costs. The implications for the United States, a suburban nation built on the assumption of an endless supply of cheap oil, are significant. Fortunately, we still have time to make a choice. We can scale back our sprawling, guzzling, oil-addicted way of life. Or we can ensure that our oil supply continues to grow by waging resource war against China and other competitors, sending Marines to places like Venezuela and Nigeria, and drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

There is no doubt that Karl Rove has already figured out exactly how to pin rising gas prices on congressional Democrats' refusal to open up A.N.W.R. to exploration and production. Of course, the Democrats could seize this opportunity. They could be the leaders who level with the American people and begin to build the progressive, economic-environmental-foreign policy vision necessary to deal with the impending global energy crunch. But then again, that would require leadership and vision. Oil industry: Sharpen your drill bits. Polar bears: Watch out.

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The good news is that by the time the Peak Oil crisis really starts hitting home, it may finally be a bit easier to commute by bike in New York City. A mere two weeks after I reported on the issue in the New York Press, the Department of Transportation has grudgingly acknowledged that the bone-breaking steel bumps on the Williamsburg Bridge were, perhaps, a mistake. DOT is in the process of hiring a consultant to study the matter. New Yorkers can rest assured. If nothing else comes of their work, in the future we can heat our homes by burning DOT’s vast reserve of useless, ignored consultant studies.

3:44 PM | Link |