Brooklyn DA’s office holds safe driving program to educate young people

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office hosted “Choices and Consequences,” a traffic safety and crime prevention initiative that educates young people on the effects of impaired, distracted and reckless driving, was held the morning of July 22 at 320 Jay St.

The program is part of a six-week internship curriculum sponsored by the Izetta Johnson Internship Empowerment Program and Summer Youth Employment Program.

According to Hon. Deborah Dowling, executive director of the program, “Choices and Consequences” explores how one wrong decision can have lifelong negative effects. “This is a program that every high school student and particularly college student needs to view because it is just that important,” Dowling said.  

The number one cause of death for young people 

“Choices” is an interactive presentation that uses real Brooklyn motor vehicle collision cases to demonstrate how a single poor decision behind the wheel can result in serious injuries or fatalities, criminal charges, imprisonment and lasting emotional consequences for victims, families and drivers. 

Deputy Bureau Chief Ron Snyder, a veteran assistant district attorney with the Brooklyn DA’s Office who specializes in prosecuting serious vehicular crimes, presented the event. Snyder said that automobile collisions are the number one cause of death for young people between the ages of 15 and 24 years old. 

“This is why we are here to talk to you today,” he said. “This is really serious stuff.”

The program was broken down into various segments, including a slideshow presentation explaining the definition of being legally drunk and the dangers of reckless driving, an audience roleplay skit with a highway patrol officer based on a real Brooklyn criminal collision case, and dramatic in-person remarks from defendants who have pleaded guilty to vehicular crimes cases. The defendants spoke about the mistakes that led them to either seriously injure or kill someone and their experiences with the legal system. 

“These are not actors,” assured Dowling. “These people are defendants coming in to tell their stories. It’s one thing when one talks about choices and consequences, but it’s another thing when you hear from actual people who have lived it.” 

An intern’s reaction 

Intern Exavier St. Felix, 20, called the afternoon’s presentation “incredibly moving.” 

“I’ve always known that drunk driving was bad,” he said. “But one thing I didn’t know was the myth about sobering up. Coffee, exercise, all that — it does not help. You can’t push through being intoxicated, it just takes time.”

St. Felix said he was especially moved by the defendants’ experiences. 

“I felt for them. They’re not terrible people, they are just people who did stupid things,” St. Feliz said. “I couldn’t imagine living the rest of my life knowing that somebody else’s life was lost as a result of a poor decision that I made.”

St. Felix, who hopes to become a public defender one day, said that while the justice system may not be perfect, “it could definitely be improved, and I want to be a part of that improvement.”