Dangerous Roads newsletter: New year, new driving resolutions

I’ve never been big on New Year’s resolutions. If I’m going to decide to get in shape, and then give up a few weeks later, I figure June is just as good a time to do that as January.

But there is something to be said for starting the year with a clean slate. At Newsday’s recent town hall event, I asked each member of our expert panel for one thing Long Island could get started on right away to make our streets safer. Their prescriptions helped shape this Dangerous Roads to-do list for 2026.

• Don’t drink and drive — like, at all: When I was Newsday’s Suffolk courts reporter 20 years ago, a DWI expert told me something that really resonated. One of the biggest challenges of addressing drunk driving in New York, he said, is that most people assume it's actually legal to drink and drive, as long as you’re within the allowable blood-alcohol limit. But, as New York DMV Deputy Commissioner Mary Tanner-Richter noted on stage with me, "You could be at a much lower number and still not be OK to drive. There’s this misunderstanding of what the law is. They think, ‘Oh, because I’m not an .08 [blood alcohol content], I’m good to go. But that’s not true." In 2026, we should all get in the habit of setting our own acceptable number of drinks before taking the wheel at zero.
• Spend less time criticizing other people's driving, and more time criticizing your own: Tanner-Richter astutely pointed out that, for too many of us, bad driving is "what everyone else does." It’s easier to rush to Facebook to post the license plate of that teenager who cut you off than it is to pick apart your own bad driving habits. This goes for me as well. I’m guilty of forgoing the posted speed limit with the excuse that I’m "going with the flow of traffic." Driving laws exist for good reasons, one of which is to protect the person looking to violate those very laws. AAA’s Robert Sinclair Jr. shared an anecdote on stage about observing a crash test in which, at 40 and 50 miles per hour, a car’s crumple zone absorbed the impact, but at 56 miles per hour, the crash-test dummy indicated a person would have suffered brain damage. "As you go faster, you’re more and more likely to get very injured, hurt and killed," he said. In 2026, let’s keep our eyes on our own driving, and on our speedometers.
• Make your voice heard: Having covered nearly every monthly MTA Board meeting over the last 18 years, I’ve seen the power of advocacy firsthand. Every month, the same small group of disability rights advocates shows up to speak during the public comment period about the importance of increased accessibility in the region’s transit system. Through public shaming, lawsuits and generally being a constant thorn in the side of decision-makers, they’ve moved mountains over the years, pushing the MTA to spend billions to retrofit and install elevators in dozens of subway and rail stations. That kind of sustained advocacy could make a big difference in making our roads safer, especially when many Long Islanders push back against potential improvements as expensive, inconvenient or unnecessary. Tanner-Richter said she’s already started to see a shift in momentum in the fight to toughen laws on drugged driving. "Our victims are banding together, and that united voice means so much more. You have to just keep going." In 2026, if 10 people show up at a municipal hearing to speak against a road project or law change that you believe can save lives, then find 20 people to show up at the next meeting to speak in favor of it.

Here’s wishing you and yours a happy and safe New Year's.

Readers speak up:

This week’s email comes from a reader frustrated with the amount of distracted driving he sees on the road, including by those who are supposed to be addressing it.

When I stop for a light, I look to my right or left, and almost always they are texting. When the light changes, the autos behind [them] must honk to alert the driver that the light changed. I have even observed the police on the phone while driving.

-Tony Calabro

How often do you notice distracted drivers on the road? Let us know at roads@newsday.com.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.