After passing both the Assembly and the Senate, Governor Cuomo is poised to sign a bill requiring large trucks to affix a "crossover" mirror that eliminates blind spots in front of the vehicle. The bill, sponsored by state senator Martin Golden of Brooklyn, was spurred on by the death of 4-year-old Moses Englender, who was killed by a truck in May as he was riding a tricycle because the driver couldn't see him. Cuomo's office told the Daily News that the law was a "necessary step" to "reduce the number of injuries and deaths that have been the result of a drivers' inability to see pedestrians that pass in front of their vehicles."
Though the mirrors will cost truck owners around $50, 71 percent of pedestrians killed by large trucks were struck by the front of the vehicle, and common sense dictates that drivers need to see what is in front of them. The mirrors will allow drivers to spot anything at least 3 feet tall and 1 foot away from the front of the vehicle. 204 pedestrians were killed and another 4,698 were injured by large trucks between 1994 and 2003 in New York City alone. Transportation Commission Jeanette Sadik-Khan released a statement applauding Albany for requiring the mirrors, which "can mean the difference between life and death…we owe it to everyone that uses our streets, particularly children and seniors--the least visible on our streets--to take this step."
