New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who just touted a new safe-driving initiative to lower the city’s speed limits by 5 mile per hour, has now been caught in an embarrassing situation: His SUV was seen blowing through a pair of stop signs in Queens.
The Democratic mayor’s two-unit police detail sped through two stop signs and changed lanes without signaling, according to a local CBS News affiliate. The mayor was riding shotgun in one of the vehicles at the time.
The affiliate captured on video the mayor’s driver speeding — going 40 mph in a 30 mph zone, and later at 60 mph in a 45 mph.
The mayor had just spoken at a news conference about pothole repair, and CBS tracked his convoy’s exit.
The recorded traffic violations come just two days after the mayor addressed the need to reduce the number of pedestrian fatalities in the city to zero, primarily by lowering speed limits and increasing the number of speed bumps.
A spokesman for the New York Police Department said to CBS that Mr. de Blasio’s security detail was sometimes required to break the law in order to maintain safety.
The mayor, meanwhile, dodged explanation.
“Guys, listen, you need to talk to the NYPD, they can tell you about the security protocols that the drivers observe,” he said Friday as reporters caught him on the way to a workout, the New York Post reported. “We take very seriously the NYPD protocols, the NYPD training, so please talk to them.”
Asked directly if his traffic-safety campaign was hypocritical in the wake of the actions of his own drivers, he again demurred, saying he would address the matter at a later press conference.
“Again, talk to the NYPD,” he said before adding, “I’ve got to go to the gym.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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