Calls for change after Broadway star's daughter, friend's son killed in Brooklyn
PARK SLOPE, Brooklyn (WABC) -- State lawmakers on Friday proposed new laws that would make it harder for certain people get behind the wheel by mandating that doctors notify the DMV of certain health conditions.
The moves come after a driver who apparently suffered a seizure as the result of a medical condition killed two children in Brooklyn and injured their mothers and another man.
The car struck Tony-winning actress Ruthie Ann Miles and another mother, Lauren Lew, as they crossed the Park Slope street with their children. Lew's 1-year-old son, Joshua, and Miles' 4-year-old daughter, Abigail, were killed.
Authorities say the driver, Dorothy Brns, had numerous violations for going through red lights, and lawmakers are also proposing another measure that would suspend the registration of drivers who have six violations in a year at stop signs or red lights. There's an additional call for more cameras in school zones.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams says it's time for all of these changes to be made in order to create a "closed system of safety." The New York City Department of Transportation is also considering changing the traffic pattern at 9th Street and Fifth Avenue, where the crash happened.
Miles is seven months pregnant and remains in the hospital recovering.
Earlier this week, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the driver should never have been allowed behind the wheel.
"This should never have happened," he said.
Bruns had a valid driver's license, but was stripped of it after the collision. Police and Brooklyn prosecutors were looking at Bruns' medical records, bloodwork and driving record, but unless a doctor advised her not to drive, she may not face charges, they said.
City records show the vehicle Bruns was driving had been cited four times in the past two years for running red lights and another four times for speeding through school zones. It is not clear from the citations who was driving the car at the time.
"She should never have been allowed to have been driving a car after what we know of these other violations," said de Blasio, who has a home a short walk from where the accident happened. "I share the frustration of many in my community. I wish she was under arrest right now. I certainly believe measures need to be taken to ensure she will not drive a car anymore."
Miles, who goes by Blumenstein off the stage, won a featured actress Tony in 2015 for her role as Lady Thiang in a revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "The King and I." Other credits included "Sunday in the Park with George" opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and playing Imelda Marcos in David Byrne's off-Broadway musical "Here Lies Love." She had a recurring role on the FX series "The Americans."
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