I do not buy the “raise the speed limit” argument. The same people who ignore 25 mph limits will ignore higher limits. Perhaps more stringent enforcement, along with public awareness campaigns on speeding and safe crossings would help. When officers forgive speeds of 10 mph over the limit, 35 mph becomes the real speed limit. Speeding on Linwood and Glen Avenues is normal behavior in Ridgewood, but it is very rare to see police out checking. I walk (and drive) past the electronic speed sign in my neighborhood, and regularly see numbers in the high 30’s and even low 40’s, and still some of the drivers do not slow down. All too many of those drivers can be seen with cell phones in hand, including Ridgewood police officers, which is particularly inexcusable behavior. Yes. I have seen this myself on several occasions.
As a pedestrian, I wait until it is safe to cross, but even in areas with signs advising drivers to yield to pedestrians in cross walks, few drivers in Ridgewood do so. Indeed, some speed up when pedestrians enter the crosswalk. I have had a dozen consecutive cars drive past me as I waited to cross before one driver politely (and legally) stopped, only to have drivers traveling in the opposite direction continue.
How do we change the attitudes of the large percentage of drivers in Ridgewood who ignore pedestrian crossing signs and laws? How do we get more of those people to recognize that they would be protecting the lives of their friends, neighbors, and family members by demonstrating respect for the law as well as common courtesy?
