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Senator wants safety measures after LIE crash

By Connor Adams Sheets

A Long Island state senator has introduced a bill aimed at putting an end to avoidable car crashes like the one last month in which police said an allegedly drunken Long Island man driving the wrong way on the Long Island Expressway in Queens hit a van head-on, severely injuring the driver, who died two weeks after the crash.

Sen. Carl Marcellino (R-Syosset) was contacted by the family of 64-year-old Huntington, L.I., resident John Rey, who was hit head-on in his Super Shuttle airport transport van at about 6 a.m. July 5 by 30-year-old Hempstead, L.I., resident Dave Richards on a Queens stretch of the Long Island Expressway, according to the criminal complaint.

Richards was under the influence of alcohol and had been driving a gray 2002 Mercedes Benz ML500 westbound in the eastbound lane of the highway for about 2 miles when he struck Rey’s van, causing both vehicles to ignite into flames and causing both men to sustain serious injuries, according to the complaint.

According to the office of Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, Richards, who does not have a driver’s license, had entered the expressway using an off-ramp. Marcellino, who was contacted by a sister of Rey’s after he died, hopes his bill will help ensure no one else succumbs to a similar fate on the roadways of New York by requiring the state to install either traffic spikes, speed bumps or take another measure to make it physically impossible to go against traffic on an off-ramp.

“We’re going to stop that from happening as best we can. If the DOT comes to us and says, ‘This is impractical,’ we’re going to insist that they find a way,” Marcellino said. “It’s as simple as that. We want to find a way to make our on-ramps safe.”

The bill, which has been dubbed “John Rey’s Law,” does not lay out the specifics of how the new traffic features would be implemented — it instead allows the state DOT commissioner to propose and install such traffic-stopping devices.

“We’re trying to get the bureaucracy moving to look at the options,” Marcellino said. “We wouldn’t have to do this at every ramp in the state, we’ll let the experts determine what areas to install [the devices.]”

After the crash, Rey was taken to New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens in Flushing with a torn abdomen, crushed leg bones and various internal injuries, including a lacerated liver and damaged intestines, according to Brown. Rey remained in a coma until succumbing to his injuries July 22, Brown said.

Richards was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court Aug. 4 via video link from New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens, where he is recovering from his own injuries.

If convicted, he faces seven years in prison on charges of assault, vehicular assault, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and aggravated unlicensed motor vehicle operation. Brown said the charges will be upgraded to include homicide.

“Regrettably, the van’s driver succumbed to his injuries despite a brave two-week struggle to survive. The charges will now be upgraded to reflect his tragic death.”

Richards was ordered held without bail and to return to court Sept. 13. His lawyer, Leonard Ressler, did not return a call seeking comment.

Reach reporter Connor Adams Sheets by e-mail at csheets@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.