Aggressive driving on the rise on Long Island

Speeding, weaving, cutting off other drivers and other angry behavior from behind the wheel are on the rise on Long Island roads and nationwide, according to a AAA study that shows a major uptick in aggressive driving and local law enforcement.

In what may come as little surprise to Long Island drivers, 96% of those surveyed admitted to aggressive driving behavior in a nationwide study that surveyed about 3,000 drivers and focus groups.

Mike Armstrong, 73, of Lindenhurst, who served 32 years as a Suffolk police officer, said yesterday that aggressive driving has increased with rising tempers and distracted drivers.

“It’s pretty wild. Aggressive drivers are a reflection of more aggression in society,” Armstrong said.

“People, just think about where you're going and why you have to be there.”

John Asbury reports in NEWSDAY that according to AAA’s study, 82% of drivers admitted to speeding up through a yellow light to beat a red light and about 68% of drivers admitted to using the slow right lane to pass another vehicle. About 65% of respondents admitted using their horn rather than other measures to avoid a crash. The same number of drivers admitted to glaring at another driver when passing on the road.

More than half of drivers admitted to going 15 mph over the normal flow of traffic, which can often go well above the speed limit.

The national increase in aggressive driving is certainly showing itself on Long Island, said Robert Sinclair, a spokesman for AAA’s Northeast Division.

"I think Long Island typifies all of the bad behaviors in this study. They all manifest while driving on the Long Island Expressway," Sinclair said. "Aggressive driving is going to lead to crashes, injuries and may lead to fatalities. These things come about as a result of bad behavior and can lead to road rage, the physical manifestation of aggressive driving,"

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Accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann will face a single trial for all seven alleged killings, a Suffolk judge ruled yesterday in Riverhead.

NYS Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei informed attorneys for both sides during a brief conference Tuesday morning that he ruled against a defense request to split the cases into multiple trials.

Mazzei also determined for the second time that nuclear DNA evidence in the case will be admissible at trial, denying a final push by Heuermann’s defense to exclude the DNA because an outside laboratory lacked New York State Department of Health permits.

Grant Parpan reports in NEWSDAY that Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney described the judge’s decisions as victories for his office, which he said properly joined each of the killings in a single superseding indictment because they are "inextricably interwoven." D.A. Tierney noted that an alleged planning document for the killing that investigators found Heuermann once maintained was a considerable factor in Mazzei’s decision to keep the cases joined together.

Justice Mazzei, who previously indicated a trial date could be set this week, instead set a Jan. 13 deadline for defense motions to be filed.

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Brookhaven National Laboratory’s first female director has stepped down two years after coming from the West Coast to take the post, the Upton, Long Island lab announced yesterday.

JoAnne Hewett decided earlier this month to resign to focus on her other role as a faculty member with the C.N. Yang Institute of Theoretical Physics at Stony Brook University, lab officials said in a news release.

Carl MacGowan reports in NEWSDAY that John Hill, the lab's deputy director for science and technology, will serve as interim director until a permanent director is named. The lab plans a nationwide search to find Hewett's permanent successor.

BNL is part of the U.S. Department of Energy and is operated by Brookhaven Science...