Brad Lander has built his political brand on cracking down on reckless driving near schools, even as his own record behind the wheel reveals a long trail of violations in those very zones.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, Landerthe former New York City comptroller now seeking a congressional seathas amassed $6,055 in fines for traffic infractions between 2013 and 2024, based on data from the watchdog site HowsMyDriving. The left-wing Democrat, who is challenging Levi Strauss heir Dan Goldman in the Democratic primary for New Yorks 10th Congressional District, received 10 of his 134 parking and speeding violations for driving too fast in school zones.
The violations span a wide range of infractions that most New Yorkers are expected to avoid, especially those who campaign on public safety and accountability. Records show that Landers tickets include 4 citations for standing in bus stop zones, 12 for fire hydrant violations, and 35 for expired inspection or registration stickers.
The pattern extends beyond Landers personal vehicle to cars associated with his public office. Two additional vehicles, which a Lander spokeswoman said were tied to the comptrollers office, racked up 21 more violations totaling $1,340, though she insisted Lander never personally drove those cars.
Those office-linked vehicles were cited eight times for speeding in school zones, adding to the picture of a public official whose rhetoric on traffic safety has not consistently matched the conduct of his own operation. The spokeswoman told the Free Beacon that New York City taxpayers ultimately paid those tickets, meaning the public absorbed the cost of behavior Lander has publicly condemned.
Landers political career, however, has been marked by aggressive advocacy against dangerous driving, particularly near schools. As a member of the New York City Council, he sponsored the Reckless Driver Accountability Act in 2020, saying it would be designed "to target the city's worst offenders (measured by red-light and school speed zone camera violations) with escalating consequences."
He has framed traffic enforcement as a life-or-death matter, using stark language to justify stricter penalties. "Traffic crashes are consistently a leading cause of preventable deaths in New York Cityand reckless driving is too often the cause," Lander said in 2023.
In that same statement, he argued that without his legislation, the city lacked meaningful tools to rein in the most dangerous drivers. "Without the Reckless Driver Accountability Act, and in the absence of any City or State programs in place to improve or replace it, the City's transportation department and traffic courts have no tools at their disposal to hold the most dangerous drivers accountable outside of a fine that is currently less than a parking ticket, no matter how many red lights they run or times they speed in school zones."
Landers own record became a political liability in April 2021, when his speeding violations first drew public scrutiny. He responded with an 800-word public mea culpa, acknowledging his conduct and declaring that he needed "to slow down and drive less."
Yet the contrition did not immediately translate into a spotless record. Two of his school-zone speeding violations occurred after that pledge, one in December 2021 and another in May 2023, underscoring the gap between his public promises and his subsequent behavior.
His campaign now insists that Lander has changed his ways. "After Brad's seven speed camera violations in 2020-2021, he took accountability, met with members of Families for Safe Streets, and changed his behavior," Lander's spokeswoman told the Free Beacon.
She further argued that his recent record shows improvement, portraying the earlier pattern as a thing of the past. "Over the past 4 years, since 2022, he has only received one speed camera violation (in 2023) and no other moving violations."
Even on the question of financial responsibility, however, the facts are less tidy than Lander has suggested. Lander has claimed to have "paid every single ticket on time," but records from the New York City Department of Finance showed that the former comptroller incurred $45 in late fees, the New York Post reported in 2024.
Landers situation fits a broader pattern among Democratic officials who publicly champion regulation and accountability while privately flouting basic rules. Virginia attorney general Jay Jones (D.), best known for fantasizing about shooting a Republican former colleague and wishing death on that colleague's children, was convicted of reckless driving in 2022 after driving at 116 miles per hour on a highway at midnight.
Other Democrats have faced similar embarrassments over their driving habits and disregard for the law. Democratic congresswoman Susan Wild (Pa.) had a parking boot placed on her car in Washington, D.C., for $775 in unpaid speeding tickets and other violations, the Free Beacon reported in 2024.
Wilds conduct drew additional criticism when she appeared to treat driving as a backdrop for political theater. Wild faced scrutiny in 2022 when she conducted a virtual campaign event while driving.
Progressive star Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) has also been cited for ignoring basic traffic rules, despite her frequent calls for more regulation and government oversight. The Free Beacon reported on multiple instances in 2021 in which Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) defied traffic regulations by illegally parking her Tesla near a Whole Foods in the Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Lander, for his part, has aligned himself firmly with the partys far-left flank as he seeks to move from city office to Congress. Lander cross-endorsed New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani (D.) in the city's 2025 Democratic mayoral primary, helping the democratic socialist win the nomination, and has positioned himself as a far-left challenger to Goldman.
His foreign policy stance is equally radical, particularly on Americas closest Middle Eastern ally. An outspoken critic of Israel, Lander has vowed to oppose military aidboth offensive and defensiveif he is elected to the House of Representatives.
That posture has earned him the backing of some of the most prominent figures on the progressive left. He has endorsements from noted left-wing politicians such as Mamdani, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), and New York City public advocate Jumaane Williams (D.), as well as organizations like the Working Families Party.
For voters in New Yorks 10th District, the contrast is stark: a self-described reformer who demands strict accountability for others but has struggled to live up to his own standards, and a far-left candidate whose record on basic lawfulness and support for key U.S. allies raises serious questions about judgment and priorities.
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