Brooklyn pol looks to make road rage a crime for first time in city history

A Brooklyn pol is looking to tackle road rage head-on.

Councilmember David Greenfield – whose district encompasses Midwood, Borough Park and Bensonhurst – introduced a bill earlier this month that would designate road rage as its own crime for the first time in the city’s history.

The bill – Intro. 1752 – would make it a Class B misdemeanor to engage in threatening or violent behavior towards the operator or occupants of a vehicle. These misdemeanors would be punishable by up to three months in prison or a $500 fine.

“I was driving near 55th Street in Brooklyn back in September, stopped at an intersection, and these two drivers in front of me were shouting the vilest things at each other,” Greenfield said. “I’ve lived in New York City my whole life, and I haven’t heard anything like this before. Road rage only happens because it’s being tolerated, and that means we in the City Council aren’t doing our job, because threats and violence should never be tolerated in our city.”

California is currently the only state in the country with a law against road rage – a statistic, Greenfield believes, contributes to the high volume of road rage in cities like New York.

“When I saw those two drivers physically threatening each other and their families, their cars weren’t moving, so what they were doing wasn’t a crime. All they were doing was road-rage, which is perfectly legal,” Greenfield said. “That’s the problem. My law would solve it.”

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