“You have to try to
make sense of how this happened and how some small silver of something
important comes from it.” – Amy Cohen
On a Sunday
afternoon, my mom and I were on the couch reading. My mother then gasped and
handed me the New York Times, and on the front of the section it said Since
They Lost Sammy. Sammy Cohen Eckstien had gone to my school and was killed
by a van on Prospect Park West at the beginning of the school year. The article
was about his parents pushing for safer traffic laws in New York City. The
article mostly talked about the Vision Zero, but it also talks about how his
parents and his sister’s struggle with his death. His mother started the change
by taking a borrowed raider gun outside her house. The results were shocking.
Ten miles above the speed limit, three people ran lights, and some were just
plain reckless. This started the change. Amy and her husband then went to city
council meetings to speak about better traffic control, and soon will spark a
change.
The author,
N.R. Kleinfield, claims Sammy’s mother is working hard to have Vision Zero into
a reality. Sammy’s
mother had made small picture books with pictures from Sammy’s short life. She
then made 60 of them and the plan was to give one to each council member at a
City Council meeting. She then gave one to a local police commission asking
them to ticket more speeder. This takes a lot of effort. She put these books in
51 council members hand. She had to be at the meetings, she had to make them,
and this requires hard work and determination, proving the authors claim.
Another way Sammy’s mother worked hard to make Vision Zero a reality is using
her time to moan as motivation to make a change. In the middle of the night
when she can’t sleep she rights emails and works on the campaign. I don’t think
someone who wasn’t passionate about the cause and working hard would do this.
She is strong to push her emotions into a revolution. So, this evidence
supports the claim that Sammy’s mom is working hard for a change.
As I was reading the article, the author
really convinced me to become apart of this movement. The author used a lot of
statistics, such as “701 deaths in 1990 and 1,360 in 1929.” And “…the number of
fatalities fell to 245 in 2011 from 393 in 2001, but worsened the past two
years, climbing to a preliminary estimate of 286 in 2013 (a majority of them
pedestrians and bicyclists).” These facts really gave some depth into the
article and could help a reader understand the severity of the situation. He
also uses a lot of quotes from Sammy’s parents. This really gave the opinions
and the feelings of his parents. He also used the disturbing side of Sammy’s
death. He included the Internet comments, even the cruel ones. Such as “His
parents should have conditioned him not to run out into the street without
looking.” This raw and unfiltered comment really brought out the truly
horrifying side of this story. The fact that the author included this and made
me more motivated to step up and make a change. The author had many other
fantastically put together craft moves and really brought the piece alive.
I felt strongly invested in this
article even though it was hard for me to read it. When I was in third grade,
one of my best friends, Zander, was killed by a truck on his bike. I felt like
the author not only brought justice to Sammy, but to all the living and passed
victims of car accidents in NYC. The amount of effort Sammy’s parents are
putting into this change really inspires me. I felt like because they are doing
this, they are helping me feel like Zander going to finally lie in peace
knowing that a change has been made so that kids like him and Sammy no longer
have to leave the earth so suddenly. I’m so proud of Sammy’s parents for pushing
through the pain and starting a revolution. This article really helped me feel
like someone finally understands my emotions and anger. This article helped my
cope with my thoughts and feelings that I’ve buried inside of me for six years.
And it really brought me to closure. I guess what I’m trying to say is this
amazingly written article not only gave me information on Sammy and his parents
but it touched me emotionally and helped me get through a tough time I’ve never
really coped with. This article was my beacon of light in a tunnel of darkness.
The New York Times always has
amazing articles and really brings justice to things we don’t think twice
about. I hope Sammy’s parents never give up and find motivation and inspiration
everyday of their lives. I hope his sister will go on to do great things and
help those in need like people of helped her. I hope their whole family fights
for what’s right. I believe in this family, more then I believe in myself. Keep
going, keep moving and Vision Zero will become Reality Zero if we all workat
least half as hard as the Cohen-Eckstien family. You all inspire me.
***NOTE***
Please read the article for yourself. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/26/nyregion/after-a-sons-death-parents-turn-their-grief-to-activism.html It's truly inspiring.
-LC
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