The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
file photo by Boyd Loving
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Police Traffic Officers Association of Bergen County reminds everyone a pedestrian is killed every 85 minutes. Think about one thing you could do to be safer as a driver or pedestrian. That one action could save someone’s life.
file photo by Boyd Loving
the staff of the Ridgewood
Rutherford NJ, The Borough of Rutherford kicked off a month-long Street Smart NJ campaign on Monday, October 22, to raise awareness of pedestrian safety ahead of Halloween, when thousands of children will take to the streets to trick-or-treat.
The campaign is a collaborative effort between Borough officials, EZ Ride Transportation Management Association and the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA), which coordinates the Street Smart NJ program. Local police will be enforcing pedestrian-related laws in Rutherford and working with Borough officials and the school district to educate everyone about safe driving and walking practices.
photo by Boyd Loving
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Wyckoff NJ, this was issued by the Wyckoff Police Department, but it applies to all of Bergen County. Three pedestrian fatalities on Bergen County roads in the span of seven days across the County serves as a reminder of the safety rules both pedestrians and drivers should follow. These numbers could rise as the days grow shorter heading into the fall/winter season. Federal statistics show that 75% of pedestrian fatalities in 2016 occurred in the dark.
Continue reading 75% of pedestrian fatalities in 2016 occurred in the dark
file photo by Boyd Loving
Road Warrior: 2014 safer on the road but deadlier on foot
JANUARY 12, 2015, 9:37 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2015, 8:40 AM
BY JOHN CICHOWSKI
RECORD COLUMNIST |
THE RECORD
Despite all the potholes, unlit roadways and cellphone abuse that made driving a sour experience for many New Jerseyans last year, 2014 offered at least one sweet conclusion: The death count for drivers and passengers fell to its lowest level in several decades — 380 fatalities, according to preliminary state police figures. Even bicycling deaths dipped at bit to 13.
But for those traveling New Jersey roadways on foot, 2014 marked the deadliest time in 18 years. Crashes killed 172 pedestrians last year, a figure that exceeded the previous year’s pedestrian tally by more than 30 percent and accounted for more than 30 percent of all the road deaths recorded in 2014.
file photo Boyd Loving
The most hazardous county by far was Bergen with 24 pedestrian fatalities, including an on-duty special police officer killed two days after Christmas in Cliffside Park — the second fatal crash to take an officer’s life in the county last year. The county’s pedestrian death count was so large that it doubled its driver death count, a highly unusual occurrence. Walking deaths were even greater than the combined pedestrian death counts in Camden (the second-deadliest county at 18) and Passaic (five).
New Jersey’s pedestrian figure was high enough to make the state’s traffic safety chief shake his head with worry.
file photo Boyd Loving
“Very discouraging — the worst year since 1996,” said Gary Poedubicky, acting director of the state attorney general’s Division of Highway Traffic Safety. “The numbers are much too high … something we’ll have to address as soon as possible.”
