STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Rossville resident Lou Alfano is turning personal tragedy into a mission to save lives through an innovative take on driver education.
Alfano’s daughter Madison, 18, was a 2023 graduate of Tottenville High School and a freshman at Monmouth University majoring in journalism and minoring in photography.
On Friday, Jan. 12, 2024, Madison was heading home from school when she was involved in a multi-vehicle collision on the Garden State Parkway near Exit 127 — the exit drivers typically take to travel over the Outerbridge Crossing into Staten Island.
Transferred to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, she underwent several surgeries but succumbed to her injuries early the next morning.
Within months of Madison’s death, Alfano and his wife, Michelle, managed to establish The Madison Rochelle Alfano Foundation, a nonprofit organization that’s now aiming to launch a free mobile driving simulator program to address gaps they feel are common in most driver education courses.
“We realized the majority of [Madison’s] accident was probably due to inexperience, you know, a young driver,” Alfano, 46, who serves as the foundation’s fundraising coordinator, said. “When looking back at driver’s ed, we see there’s holes there.”
Alfano believes that a critical shortcoming in training new drivers is the inadequate emphasis on the ethical and practical responsibilities associated with operating a motor vehicle — an object that, when mishandled, possesses the potential to become a weapon.
Teens often don’t take the classes seriously, while others never even enroll and are handed their licenses and car keys upon their 18th birthday, he noted.
The foundation’s novel approach involves a 24-foot mobile trailer equipped with two driving simulators that will travel to high schools, colleges and community events throughout Staten Island.
The program will offer free simulator training for drivers ages 17 to 20, focusing on situations and scenarios that can’t be safely practiced during traditional driver education.
“Our goal is to make the road safer,” Alfano explained. “We think this is going to become muscle memory when these kids learn what happens in a dangerous situation and how to avoid it or get out of it.”
Sessions would include classroom instruction followed by hands-on simulator experience with realistic controls — a steering wheel, gas and brake pedals — similar to those used in immersive driving-themed video games.
Once in the virtual driver’s seat, participants will face varying simulations programmed to replicate experiences such as navigating wet roads and recovering from hydroplaning, reacting when another driver brakes suddenly and handling being cut off by angry drivers.
Alfano, who owns SINYDJS, an event company based in the borough, spent over a decade with the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, drawing inspiration from his law enforcement training in which simulators were commonly used.
“I was thinking about how I’ve had years of experience with the MTA. We did a lot of active shooter drills on simulators because you can’t take live fire,” he explained. “Our military and pilots do a lot of training with simulators. Delivery drivers train on them too. I wondered why young drivers aren’t doing this.”
The foundation is currently in its fundraising phase. Alfano estimated approximately $125,000 will be needed to purchase the trailer, equipment, power stations, and a pickup truck powerful enough to tow the mobile unit.
During a ceremony held at the Corporate Commons Three campus Thursday morning in Bloomfield, The Lois & Richard Nicotra Foundation presented the Alfanos with a $1,500 grant. They are also pursuing additional funding opportunities.
“We’re hoping to have this launched in the spring,” Lou Alfano said. “It’s all funding at this point.”
Future plans include expanding to a permanent location while maintaining the mobile program. The foundation also hopes to develop a program to address another vulnerable driving demographic — drivers ages 65 and older.
“We want to protect not only the young drivers in our community but the community as a whole,” Alfano said. “With safer people on the road, it’s going to have a trickle-down effect where there’ll be less accidents.”
In addition to the driving program, The Madison Rochelle Alfano Foundation provides a scholarship at Monmouth University benefiting Staten Island graduates and assists local community members in need.
This past March, the Alfanos donated 100% of the proceeds from a local pickleball tournament to help a family with whom they were not acquainted recover from a fire that decimated their Tompkinsville home.
“Through all that tragedy and heartache that’s never ending, that’s never going to go away for us, we’re trying to make a positive difference in the community and hopefully beyond, in Madison’s memory,” Alfano said.
Winant Avenue, the Rossville street on which Madison grew up, will be renamed in her honor during a ceremony expected to be held next month.
“You die twice. Once when you leave this earth and once when your name is uttered for the very last time,” Alfano explained. “So, if we could keep Madison’s name alive for way beyond my lifetime, then we at least know she’ll live on in spirit.”
Those interested in supporting the virtual driving school project can visit: www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/the-madison-rochelle-alfano-foundation-driver-saftey-course-fundraiser.
For more information on The Madison Rochelle Alfano Foundation, visit: www.mrafndn.org.