Uncuff 'em, Mr. Mayor!

TWU Local 100 releases our third ad bringing attention to the unfair arrests of Bus Operators under the Vision Zero law in the Daily News tomorrow, May 27th. The ad depicts New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who wears the mantle of a political progressive, in the act of handcuffing one of the pillars of New York City's working class, an NYCT/MTA Bus Operator. The Daily News promoted the ad in a copyrighted article which you can read here. The ad urges the Mayor to stop this unfair policy. TWU Local 100's position is that reckless or dangerous acts by any motorist -- including  Bus Operators -- should be punishable offenses, but that arresting responsible Bus Operators at accident scenes is an unwarranted criminalization of professional drivers before the facts of the case are known. The fact that an accident has occurred is not proof of culpability on the part of the driver, or proof that the driver has not exercised "due regard" when operating in the intersection. Bringing added muscle to our ad campaign, TWU Local 100 has filed suit in NYS Supreme Court to have the section of the law that provides for misdemeanor penalties against drivers who infringe on the "right of way" and cause injuries voided. Our reasoning: the law does not contain a definition of what "due regard" actually means. Short of clear evidence that the driver ignored safety rules or was operating under the influence, that's for trained accident investigators to determine -- not for officers on the scene to engage in a rush to judgement. View/download the complete ad here.