‘COOPER’S LAW’ COULD CURB DEADLY CAB DRIVERS

Posted on February 18, 2014 at 12:34 am by West Sider

Photo by Liz Patek at 96th Street and Broadway.

The family of Cooper Stock, the 9-year-old boy hit and killed by a cab while walking across 97th street and West End Avenue, has pushed the city to yank the driver’s licenses of cab drivers who injure or kill pedestrians. For now, cabbies who kill people can keep driving if they have fewer than six points on their license. And they’re almost never charged with crimes.

Police determined cab driver Koffi Komlani, who hit Cooper, was at fault in the crash and they gave him a ticket for failure to yield. But Komlani got just three points on his license for the infraction and can get back on the road whenever he wants (though he hasn’t yet started driving again).

Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal has introduced a bill that would force any cab driver who kills or seriously injures a pedestrian or bicyclist to be suspended pending an investigation. “If the outcome of the investigation determines that the driver is guilty of ‘failure to yield,’ the driver’s TLC license would be automatically and permanently revoked.”

In an interview with the New York Post, Cooper’s mother Dana Lerner said that she felt the need to do something to help others after her son’s death.

“I just don’t want his death to be in vain. I don’t want anybody to forget about him,” said Cooper Stock’s mom, Dana Lerner, in an emotional interview last week at the family’s Upper West Side home.

“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.”

A crowd of people demonstrated at 96th and Broadway on Sunday to call more attention to pedestrian safety, according to the Daily News.

Carrying signs that said “Love our Streets” and “Streets are for sharing,” demonstrators rallied at the corner of W. 96th St. and Broadway…

“We are here because this intersection received a great amount of attention from (his) death,” Keegan Stephan, 30, an organizer for the group “Right of Way,” said.

“After that, the NYPD cracked down on jaywalking,” he said. “We think that’s the wrong approach. What needs to be promoted is safe driving and safe streets.”