The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
photos courtesy of Boyd loving’ Facebook Page
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, a late afternoon crash on Tuesday, September 24, at the intersection of Kenilworth Road and Laurel Road in Ridgewood resulted in significant damage to a stop sign, a Toyota Corolla, and a Toyota Camry. The collision also left the driver of the Corolla injured.
Continue reading Ridgewood Collision Leaves One Injured and Two Vehicles Damaged
FRANK GERAGHTY
Continue reading DANGEROUS ILLEGAL U-TURNS MUST STOP AT STEVEN COURT IN PARAMUS
July 21,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood, N.J. It seems we write this story every summer , once again Stop signs and other road signs are disappearing in Ridgewood, in what has now turned into an annual and costly event.
Ridgewood police said a stop sign at Grove Street and Stevens Avenue was stolen this week. Creating a dangerous hazard for unsuspecting drivers .
Ridgewood Chief of Police Jacqueline Luthcke spoke with CBS News on why street sign thievery is an ongoing problem in Ridgewood.
Luthcke said ,“We generally average two to three per month for stop signs,” she said. “When it comes to all other types of signs, by the end of the year, it’s over 100.”
Luthcke continued stating the problem spikes in the summer. “Summertime is always one of the hardest, because although the kids think it’s not a problem – they want to take it off to college with them – it’s really something that is both a financial and a safety issue.”
According to Luthcke last year, it was such a big problem that Ridgewood offered amnesty to anyone willing to bring back the stolen goods.
“The amnesty that we did last year got an amazing amount of signs back,” Luthcke said. “We haven’t had a discussion yet this year.” Its was reported the over 20 signs were returned during the amnesty period.
In April of this year a social media post led to a Wyckoff man being charged with theft after police found a picture of him with stolen street signs from the village .
If they are caught and convicted, sign thieves face fines and even jail time.
I sat at the top of East Ridgewood Avenue this beautiful Sunday morning enjoying some time on a bench with my granddaughter, drinking iced coffee and a blueberry coolatta. She noticed that cars were not stopping at the stop sign heading south on Broad Street at the Ridgewood Avenue “T” by the train station parking lot. She is 6 years old and was disturbed by this. So we counted 40 cars passing through. Out of 40 cars, 28 of them rolled through the stop sign without stopping. Only 12 actually stopped. And all the while people were crossing on foot, pushing strollers, on bicycles, etc. So dangerous. And mind you, this was on a Sunday morning from about 9:00 – 9:15. What must this be like on a busy weekday when the trains are coming and going, when commuters are rushing about, when people are trying to get their kids to school, and so on. I suggested that we tell a police officer but she was afraid to get the police in trouble for not doing their job of ticketing these drivers.
