Who Pays for Silence? Fourteen Dead. Zero Answers.

AD 27: Jan 1, 2022 - Jun 4, 2025

The Bodies in the Road

In Assembly District 27, violence comes in pieces. Fourteen dead. Thirty with injuries so grave they are called serious. Over three years, 3,648 crashes. These are not just numbers—they are people who never come home. A cyclist’s legs crushed by a turning car. A pedestrian thrown from his car and left to die on the expressway. A child struck by a distracted driver. The pain does not fade. It spreads.

The Machines That Kill

Cars and SUVs do most of the damage: five deaths, ten serious injuries, sixty-six more with broken bones or worse. Trucks and buses follow, with two more serious injuries. Motorcycles and bikes are not spared, but the carnage is driven by the largest, fastest machines. The street is not safe for the old, the young, or anyone who walks or rides.

Leadership: Missing in Action

Assembly Member Sam Berger has not led. When a bill came to put speed cameras near schools in Schenectady, Berger was excused—missing a chance to boost school zone safety. When Queens politicians lined up to kill the e-scooter share, Berger joined them, ignoring the data: “37,000 riders, 290,000 trips, no reported serious injuries or deaths”. The program worked. Still, Berger stood with those who called it chaos.

Victims wait for justice. Families wait for action. In one crash, a man watched an Amazon truck hit his car and drive off. “He comes out, looks at it, shrugs his shoulders, and leaves. No note, nothing. No care for anyone else’s property”.

What Now?

The blood on the street is not an act of God. It is a choice. Every day without lower speed limits, every day without cameras, every day of silence from leaders is another day someone else pays the price.

Call Sam Berger. Call your council member. Demand a 20 mph speed limit. Demand cameras that never go dark. Demand streets where children can walk and ride and live.