Selvena Brooks-Powers: Lead-footed councilwoman caught speeding three times AFTER pledging to ‘do better’
QUEENS, NEW YORK: In recent months, the City Council’s transportation chair was caught speeding as many as three times despite her pledge to "do better." Councilwoman Selvena Brooks-Powers (D-Queens) promised to make sure to follow the rules in April after a local news site caught her with 17 speeding tickets in just 11 months. After being called out for speeding, Brooks-Powers 39, reportedly said, “I absolutely pledge to do better."
However, despite her promise, she has been caught on city cameras driving over the legal speed limit on April 24, June 23 and July 22. Streetsblog reported that two of the councilwoman's speeding tickets were issued on days she was touring the city and discussing public transit with her colleagues. Almost all of the traffic violations Brooks-Powers was involved in took place in Queens, where as many as 27 people died in car crashes as of July 31 this year.
RELATED ARTICLES
'I run the county': Florida official Joe Mullins caught threatening trooper after speeding stop
3 youngsters die in fiery crash as 'impaired' driver hits guard rail in high-speed chase with police
Brooks-Powers’ driving record qualifies her for the 'dangerous vehicle abatement program.' Under the program, the city can impound vehicles with 15 or more speed camera tickets in a 12-month period, until the registered owner undertakes a driver safety course. However, it is unclear if she has been enrolled in the program.
Several politicians around the US have been involved in traffic violations in recent times. Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot's motorcade has been busted for several speeding and traffic offenses, but none of the fines, totaling $658, have been paid. The lawmaker has pushed for harsher punishments for drivers who are caught speeding. Since February 2020, Lightfoot's SUVs have been involved in at least eight incidents. Footage accessed and uncovered by CWB Chicago shows various incidents involving her cars. One video shows two Ford Expedition SUVs racing through a set of red lights. Traffic cameras are seen flashing in their wake. Another video shows a black Chevy SUV making a left turn at a red light at a large intersection. It is unclear if Lightfoot was in the SUVs at the time of the incidents, and she reportedly would not have been driving even if she was.
New Jersey councilwoman Amy DeGise was recently seen on surveillance footage hitting a cyclist at an intersection in Jersey City with her SUV and subsequently speeding away without stopping. Amy DeGise is being asked to resign after she drove into Andrew Black, 29, a bicyclist, on July 19 at around 8 am. The incident took place at the intersection of Martin Luther King Drive and Forrest Street.
Meanwhile, the father of a five-year-old girl said he is terrified that Wisconsin Democratic leader Janet Bewley will not be charged despite being involved in a car crash that killed his daughter and wife. Marine Brandon Fink has slammed Bewley for not reaching out to him after the horrifying collision. 70-year-old Bewley had undergone cataract eye surgery the day before the fatal crash that killed Fink's wife Alyssa Ortman, 27, and daughter Khali, five.