The city of New Haven and some local businesses are being sued over a street-racing incident that caused a five-car crash in October 2022 that left one man dead and six others with injuries.
Three separate lawsuits have been filed, along with a motion to consolidate by four women involved in the crash who were not racing.
According to police, a BMW M340X1, a Subaru Impreza STI and a Honda Civic were street racing when the passengerside of the BMW hit the Subaru, which then hit the Honda. After the collision, the Honda crossed the double yellow line and crashed head-on with another vehicle that was traveling south on the other side of the road, investigators said.
Two were arrested over a year later in connection with the crash and the third racing driver died at the hospital because of the crash, officials said.
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“This case highlights the need for safe streets. These women were all seriously injured and as alleged in court, this tragic accident was preventable,” said attorney Jonathan Spodnick.
Four women are suing the city, and local businesses on Sargent Drive in the Long Wharf corridor for an unspecified amount of money in damages. The lawsuits claim the city and businesses along the corridor knew street racing was a problem and didn’t do enough to stop it.
The lawsuits outline Long Wharf Ventures LLC and the New Haven Food Terminal Inc. should have done more to prevent racers from gathering on their property and the roads, operated by the city, should have had preventative infrastructure in place or been maintained so racing wasn’t an option.
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“There is a real sense of lawlessness,” said New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker.
He couldn’t speak to the specifics of the lawsuit but could note that street racing and speeding are a real and frustrating problem.
“This is one of the issues that I have found deeply frustrating because it seems on the outside it’s an easy issue to solve,” Elicker said.
He said the city continues to take steps to prevent racing along the Sargent Drive corridor and other areas in the city. Sargent Drive has since received speed tables along the road to prevent people from traveling at high speeds.
“There are people who have died because of this activity and we need to hold people accountable so New Haven is a safe place for everyone,” Mayor Elicker said.
Strategies they have deployed include increasing camera presence so police can track where racers or speeders are traveling to catch them when they stop for gas or pull over, also, a multi-community task force to bolster police response when a drag race, or street takeover, is called in.
At the state level, Elicker continues to call on the legislature to increase penalties like fines and potential for suspension of your license for racing or street takeovers. He also noted there is potential for penalties for those spectating as well to discourage gathering around illicit activity.
“The folks that are involved in this activity are drawn to this activity because they can avoid the law and violate the law and, in some cases, they flaunt it by gesturing at the officers,” said Elicker.
Elicker also mentioned the infrastructure upgrades like narrowed roads or speed tables like on Sargent Drive as potential solutions to curb speeding. He said the city will continue to work with the state to potentially add speed tables to Route 80 or Ella Grasso Boulevard because of speeding problems there.
The city has to directly respond to the lawsuits filed on behalf of the women by Jan. 20 per a court order.
New Haven is also one city with an application currently under review for the deployment of speed and red light cameras in certain areas of the city.
That plan needs approval from the state Department of Transportation before they can install the technology.
Mayor Elicker is hopeful they can install those cameras at some point in 2025.
