Long Islanders push Nassau County for safety improvements on Glen Cove Road after student killed in latest deadly crash
OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. -- There are new calls for safety improvements to a road near several schools in Old Westbury.
The parents of a teenager killed on Glen Cove Road are among those pushing hardest for improvements, CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reported Friday.
Rana and Javed Suleman are suffering unspeakable grief. Last week, their 17-year-old son, a straight-A honor student with aspiration to be a doctor like his parents, died on Glen Cove Road.
Hasan Suleman's SUV collided with a Nassua bus. Weather was poor and he had just left the Wheatley School. He was a half-mile away from his home.
"Glen Cove Road is like a road of death," Javed Suleman said.
"May we all hope that Hasan is the last student to die on such a dangerous stretch of roads," said Dr. Sean Feeney, principal of the Wheatley School.
The stretch of Glen Cove Road between Hillside Avenue and IU Willets Road is without lights or a median. It parallels the Northern State Parkway and is often filled with commercial trucks.
"This unfortunate and tragic accident is just one of the many car accidents that occur regularly behind me on Glen Cove Road," said Nassau County Legislator Joshua Lafazan, who is demanding an immediate traffic study.
Drivers are suggesting rumble strips, speed cameras and flashing lights.
"All of a sudden a car out of nowhere just hit us straight on," said Beth Ostrow.
"Very, very dangerous. There's no divider on the road. People speed, there are no speed bumps," said Roy Ostrow.
Residents said they have complained through the last three administrations that the county has dropped the ball on road safety investigations, with a backlog of 1,300 unanswered cases.
"Therefore I am calling on County Executive Bruce Blakeman to immediately increase the number of employees within the Nassau County Department of Public Works," Lafazan said.
"The reality that for years we've been trying to have those Nassau County roads that bound the village reviewed, analyzed," said Old Westbury Mayor Edward Novick.
"There are a lot of questions to be answered," Javen Suleman said.
"I do not, we do not want this to happen any other child, anybody," Rana Suleman said.
Blakeman said his heart goes out to the Sulemans and pledged to look into potential measures to increase traffic safety.