Deadly Wild West in our backyard

Reckless and noisy drivers — threatening both public safety and community tranquility — are operating with impunity. And they know it.”

Drive a mere exit or two on any of Long Island’s main thoroughfares, and you are sure to see at least one roadside shrine remembering the victim of a fatal car crash.
These memorials — already too commonplace — will only become more ubiquitous if nothing is done to stem the rising tide of dangerous drivers on these roads. In fact, just last week, Peninsula Boulevard was sadly the site of two separate fatal accidents. On the same day.
We all have seen the tricked-out cars and motorcycles that zig and zag through traffic — exceeding the speed limit in spades — with no concern about repercussions from law enforcement or consequences to the lives of others. 
That sickening feeling you get when your heart skips a beat and you thank heaven to be alive because yet another vehicle comes out of nowhere at 100 mph to cut you off, and then does the same thing to the next car? And the next car? All of us, especially on Long Island, know this feeling all too well.
Reckless (and noisy) drivers — threatening both public safety and community tranquility — are operating with impunity. And they know it.
Their cars are hard to miss, with their illegally modified mufflers that can be heard miles away, at all hours of the day and night. Illegal license plate covers and fake temporary tags protect their callous disregard for law and order by making it impossible for anyone to catch their plate, including law enforcement tools like speed cameras. And their friends are now sometimes even setting up lawn chairs on the side of the road to watch cars race in broad daylight — missing the irony that a crash victim’s memorial is often just over their shoulders. 
More than 75 people lost their lives and another 13,000 were injured in nearly 37,000 traffic accidents in our county last year. Those are unacceptable numbers.
It’s difficult to find law enforcement on these central thruways. We need more — not less — patrolling of our roads.
We need more — not less — enforcement of sensible laws already on the books.
We need more — not less — coordination between state and local law enforcement.
And we need more stringent laws and harsher penalties coming out of Albany so that we can make these reckless drivers as scared to continue these dangerous activities as we are to witness them.
We implore all jurisdictions to work together to reign in the scourge of irresponsible, dangerous and selfish drivers. 
Because even one more roadside shrine is one too many.