the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, from the NJ Transit Police , whether you’re a parent, caregiver or student yourself, knowing this law can help to make pedestrian travel safer and save you from fines and points this new school year.
For DRIVERS:
Drivers in New Jersey MUST stop for pedestrians in a marked crosswalk. Failure to observe the law may subject you to one or more of the following: 2 points, $200 fine (plus court costs), 15 days community service, and or insurance surcharges. Exceptions to this include when a police officer or traffic control signal is regulating traffic. For additional exceptions please see New Jersey statute 39:4-36.
For PEDESTRIANS:
Pedestrians must also obey pedestrian signals and use crosswalks at signalized intersections. When crossing, STAY ALERT. Don’t be distracted by electronic devices and never assume a driver sees you. Make eye contact with drivers as they approach the crosswalk
Kids must look both ways before walking into any street . That is the first thing that they should teach.
and adults should too – encounter many a person crossing looking at their phone and not even looking up
Yes yes and yes . Pedestrians need to wake up in the morning.
Downtown hoppin’ as usual. Where on earth will we park?
There should also be penalties for the pedestrians who just walk out in front of cars while not looking either way. It should be mandatory that they take caution and pay attention while walking. I was making a turn onto Ridgewood Avenue the other day and a woman walked out in front of me from between the first car–illegally parked at corner–without looking. Fortunately I was able to slam on my brakes but she never once looked up from her phone. The entire burden of caution should not be placed solely on drivers. The pedestrians who think they have the right of way–even against a red light–should also receive a fine or punishment of some sort! I have another question as well. Where did the pedestrians think that it is a great idea to walk behind a car that is backing up? No one ever stops for a backing car and it is very likely that the driver cannot see them when they suddenly appear behind the car.