Days after New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio presented a sweeping traffic-safety plan that included harsh restrictions on reckless drivers, his official vehicles were recorded breaking several traffic laws on Thursday, the Associated Press reports.
The SUV with de Blasio in the front passenger seat was captured on video, speeding, running through stop signs and not signaling when changing lanes. The footage was taken as de Blasio was returning to City Hall from a new conference in Queens, AP reports.
A member of the NYPD was behind the wheel of de Blasio's SUV and as such, de Blasio's office deferred all questions to NYPD officals, AP reports.
In a statement issued by the NYPD and viewed by AP, it was noted that members of the security detail "receive specialized training in driving based on maintaining security as well as safety." AP notes that the statement covered the issue of protecting the person being transported, and how police personnel are instructed to use "protection and professional judgment" in determining how to handle vehicles.
According to AP, the footage shows de Blasio's vehicles driving from a news conference where he discussed his administration's plans to combat potholes.
The two black vehicles failed to stop at two stop signs in the neighborhood. Later, a CBS camera—which was in a car that followed the mayor's motorcade—showed de Blasio's SUV going 40 mph in an area where the speed limit was 30 mph, and then nearly 60 mph in a 45-mph zone, AP reports.
AP notes that the SUVs changed lanes without using their directional signals. The total number of violations witnessed by the news crew would yield a suspended license.
Just a few days earlier, de Blasio released his "Vision Zero" traffic-safety plan to eliminate all traffic fatalities. The plan aims to reduce the citywide speed limit to 25 mph, and have more NYPD officers in the field to enforce speeding violations and issue tougher penalties for speeding drivers.
"We hope that every time someone reads one of your stories, they're also asking themselves the question, are they handling their vehicle as responsibly as they could?" the mayor told reporters at the Tuesday press conference.
"The likelihood of a fatal crash and this statistic is very powerful," he also said at the traffic event, AP reports. "The likelihood of a fatal crash drops significantly for speeds below 30 mph. If we get those speeds down, it will be the difference between losing a life and saving a life."
Read more at Associated Press.