Hello, 

My name is Ashna Balroop and I am a local Long Island high schooler who is a part of the national student leadership organization, Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America. I am advocating for parkway safety along with another member of my chapter, Win Hla. 

The Southern State Parkway is a high traffic road, occupying approximately 190,000 vehicles everyday. In 2022, it was estimated that there are over 4,000 crashes on this parkway per year that result in hospitalizations and ultimately lives lost.

The S.O.S. Safety on Southern State Legislation (otherwise known as NYS Senate Bill S6417A) aims to increase traffic safety, but it has NOT been passed in New York State Government. 

The purpose of this bill, created by Assembly member Michaelle Solages, aims to establish a highway safety corridor pilot program. This program will identify special segments of the Southern State Parkway that are prone to a high amount of collisions and require an engineering investigation. It will permit the usage of increased penalties for traffic violations within the segments identified. Implementation of the program will provide the necessary information to determine the best practices for future highway safety corridors in New York. Many states in America, like Arizona and Ohio, have implemented this program with success. This legislation has a relatively low investment cost and demonstrates responsiveness to public safety concerns. 

The Southern State Parkway has been deemed one of the deadliest parkways in AMERICA, and too little has been done by the State of New York in an attempt to make it safer. If this legislation is not passed, increased accidents and deaths will occur when it could be prevented. We hope you can sign the petition in support of establishing this safety corridor on the Southern State Parkway.