Teen car crashes and banning gas stoves
The wreckage from a deadly crash that killed a teenage driver and injured other teens in the car, in Old Brookville on Jan. 8. Credit: James Carbone
Parents need to halt teen car tragedies
Having taught driver education for 50 years at Oceanside High School, I am keenly aware of the problems with teen drivers ["Driving laws protect teens," Editorial, Jan. 18]. Most of them want to drive long before they are ready. Parents must take a strong stand in reinforcing the law and use good sense when allowing their children access to their vehicles. Giving their children cars before they are capable of driving safely is a recipe for disaster. The recent crash reminds me of the teen driver and friends killed on the Southern State Parkway a few years ago. Driving a powerful sports car his parents had just given him, he drove off the road at a high rate of speed. Blame was directed at the poor engineering of the roadway rather than his being a junior driver in a powerful car around midnight and his parents allowing him to do so. Until we all are on the same page, this tragic circumstance will continue to regretfully repeat itself.
Michael Limmer, Wantagh
Most New Yorkers already cook electric
Amid the brouhaha about gas stoves, New Yorkers don’t realize that nearly 60% of U.S. households are already cooking with electric ["Don't even think of banning gas stoves," Letters, Jan. 16]. Here, we’re still abiding by the 80-year-old gas industry slogan “Now, we're cooking with gas,” designed to persuade consumers that electric cooking is less effective.
With asthma now directly connected to gas stove use, we can understand why asthma rates in this state, nearly 19%, exceed the national 12.7% average. Gas stoves emit lung-invading particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and formaldehyde, even when turned off. Despite these dangers, you still have the freedom to use a gas stove. Nobody is coming to take it away.
Fortunately, Gov. Kathy Hochul supports the All-Electric Buildings Act, which soon will ban gas hookups in new construction, and shift the state from dirty fuels to clean, renewable ones.
Rebecca Marks, Merrick
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