Going into Newsday’s Dangerous Roads town hall event last week, I was prepared for the night to be something of a downer. Surrounded by people closely touched by Long Island’s worsening car crash epidemic, I expected the mood in Newsday’s Studio 2 to be solemn. Bitter. Even hopeless.

It was none of those things. While there was no shortage of emotion, and even outrage, among the dozens of people who came out for the event at our Melville headquarters, I can’t remember anybody saying anything close to, "Unfortunately, there’s nothing that can be done."

On the contrary, speaker after speaker came armed with proposed solutions to the scores of problems some not even on our radarthat combine to make Long Island’s roads among the deadliest in the state.

One veteran firefighter brought up the idea of including a closed-road component to the driving test in New York, as other states and countries have, to better prepare drivers to deal with hazardous road conditions. A woman suggested Long Island adopt an initiative similar to New York City’s "Vision Zero," which reduced speed limits citywide in 2014 and improved street design. An optician in the audience noted that the eight-year span before a New York driver’s license must be renewed doesn’t account for the significant changes in vision that drivers in certain age groups can experience within just a few years. A biker talked about the need to better educate young drivers to be on the lookout for motorcycles, especially when making left turns. Others pushed for a renewed focus on aggressive driving and wrong way driving. One guy even had a design for reflective strips on car doors to make it less likely that cars, or bicycles, crash into them.

What pretty much everybody in the room had in common was a belief that Long Island’s dangerous roads present a problem that can be solved. Those of us who were on stage share that belief, as does the entire Newsday organization. It’s what’s driving our Dangerous Roads project.

One of the final speakers of the night, Huntington Station resident Eric Michelsen, captured what is at the root of the problem, and why it’s so important that we do something about it.

"We’ve built our suburbs around the automobile. We’ve designed our zoning around automobiles. And when we talk about traffic engineers, we’re implicitly referring to cars. We’re not referring to ... the ability to live a happy and safe life," Michelsen said. "Every citizen, from the smallest child to the most elderly adult, regardless of their ability to walk ... deserves equal access to these public spaces."

Michelson closed out his remarks with some much-appreciated motivation for me and my Newsday colleagues. "Keep up the good work. This is a really important series. It’s way overdue."

We agree, and thanks to Eric, and everyone else who turned out last week, we now have more fuel in our tanks, and some more good stories to pursue.

Even if you couldn’t make it last week, you still have the opportunity to be part of this important conversation. Share your experiences driving on Long Island’s Dangerous Roads with our nextLI team, or send an email to [email protected].