Let’s stop the scourge of drunk driving in LI

It was a typical nail salon in a typical mall on a typical Friday afternoon. Employees busy cutting and painting nails. Customers enjoying a manicure as the weekend approached.

And then one of Long Island’s curses struck. Steven Schwally, 64, plowed his SUV into Hawaii Nail & Spa in Deer Park, killing four people and injuring nine others. Schwally told police he had drunk 18 beers the night before. The fact that people can drink to that extent and then get behind the wheel is terrifying and intolerable. As is the fact that we haven’t done enough to stop it.

This wasn’t Schwally’s first time drinking and driving. In 2014, he pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol. His license was suspended, and he received a $500 fine and probation. How many times did he get behind the wheel over the next decade?

There is much we do not know about Schwally and the circumstances surrounding this horrific incident. But we do know the names of those killed and the families destroyed. How many times must we mourn the lives lost and others irreparably changed because of drunk driving before we act to stop it?

Among those killed were NYPD Officer Emilia Rennhack, 30, of Deer Park, who probably never imagined that the greatest risk to her life was being in a nail salon on her day off, and the spa’s owner and employees who all made difficult sacrifices in life only to have their dreams dashed by our scourge of alcoholism: owner Jiancai Chen, 37, of Bayside, who had just celebrated Father’s Day with his two children, and employees Yan Xu, 41, who was working to support her ailing son and mother, and Meizi Zhang, 50, both of Flushing.

But the list of drunk driving victims last Friday is even longer. Cheryl Bergenstock, 64, of East Meadow, crashed into a Toyota Corolla driven by Alan Goldsand, 82, killing him. Bergenstock is charged with drunken driving and second-degree vehicular assault.

It’s not just about drunk driving. The same day as the fatal nail salon crash, Lindenhurst resident Michael DeAngelo, 33, was sentenced to seven to 21 years in prison for driving under the influence of cocaine and fentanyl and killing four members of a family — a “car with so much potential,” as the mother of the youngest victim put it.

Tighter enforcement, traffic calming measures, and traffic signaling would help address the problem of drunk driving. But the best measure is to ensure that no one can start or drive a car while intoxicated. In New York, people convicted of drunk driving are required to have alcohol ignition interlock devices installed for 12 months. That’s not enough. The National Transportation Safety Board recommends that all new cars be equipped with a blood alcohol monitoring system. The bipartisan federal infrastructure bill includes provisions that would mandate the technology, though the timeline is uncertain.

It’s more than clear: don’t drink and drive, and take the cars away from those who do.