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New York|A Deadly Crash Puts a Spotlight on New York’s Worst Drivers
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/nyregion/nyc-drivers-brooklyn-car-crash.html
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The city has long grappled with traffic fatalities. Officials and residents are now asking what more can be done after a fatal crash that killed a woman and two of her children.
April 2, 2025Updated 4:10 p.m. ET
Miriam Yarimi should not have been driving at all.
But on Saturday, even with her license suspended, Ms. Yarimi, a 32-year-old professional wig maker and social media influencer, got behind the wheel of a blue Audi sedan. Her trip down Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn ended in three deaths: that of a 35-year-old woman and two of her children, ages 8 and 5.
Ms. Yarimi now faces charges that include criminally negligent homicide, reckless driving and speeding, the police said. A funeral was held Sunday for the woman, Natasha Saada, and her two daughters, Diana and Deborah Saada, who the police said were out walking when Ms. Yarimi’s car slammed into another vehicle before veering into their path.
According to Hows My Driving NY, a parking and camera violations database, Ms. Yarimi’s license plate, WIGM8KER, was associated with over $10,000 in fines, with almost 100 violations since August 2023. Those include 18 speed camera violations in school zones and at least five instances of failing to stop at a red light.
Most drivers are not reckless. According to New York City data, about 75 percent of vehicles that are issued speed camera violations receive no more than two. But the city has not yet established an effective way to handle the outliers — those habitual speeders and rule breakers whose behavior can be deadly.
Under the city’s Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Program, Ms. Yarimi’s vehicle could have been booted or impounded. But the initiative, which was enacted in 2020, lapsed three years later.
“The Adams administration allowed it to expire,” said Brad Lander, the city comptroller, who spearheaded the program when he was a City Council member. “They failed to implement it.” Mr. Lander, a Democrat, is running to unseat Mayor Eric Adams.
