the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, according to the NJ Attorney General, New Jersey experiences a disproportionate number of pedestrian injury crashes and fatalities compared to the nation as a whole. To combat the problem, the Division of Highway Traffic Safety assists local and county agencies in the development of comprehensive pedestrian safety programs involving Education, Enforcement, and Engineering.
The Education component of the pedestrian program involves getting the pedestrian safety message to all members of the community, with a special emphasis on three high-risk groups: children, senior citizens and non-English speaking residents.
The Enforcement component involves targeted police patrols at high pedestrian-crash locations in the community. During these patrols warnings and summonses are issued to motorists and pedestrians whose actions put pedestrians at risk. Stop for pedestrian and jaywalking laws are emphasized.
The Engineering component provides traffic engineering assistance such as enhanced crosswalk striping and signs.
Comprehensive Pedestrian Safety Grants funded by the Division have been very successful. On average, participating municipalities have seen a [20-percent first year] reduction in crashes involving pedestrians.
The most important pedestrian safety message for New Jersey residents is: Pedestrian Safety is a Shared Responsibility
There is no one cause of crashes involving pedestrians. Pedestrians and motorists must both do their part to keep pedestrians safe.
Pedestrians:
Always cross at corners, within marked crosswalks where available.
If crossing in other locations, yield the right of way to vehicles. Failure to obey the law carries a $54 fine (court costs additional; C.39:4-32, 33)
Look left, right and left again before crossing. Watch for turning cars.
Always walk facing traffic.
Obey traffic signals, especially “Walk/Don’t Walk.”
Remain alert! Don’t assume that cars are going to stop.
Wear reflective clothing when walking at night.
Stay sober. Walking while impaired greatly increases your chances of being struck.
Motorists:
Stop for pedestrians in marked crosswalks. Failure to stop carries a $200 (court costs additional) fine, a 2 point license penalty, 15 days community service, and insurance surcharges. (C.39:4-36)
Watch for pedestrians when turning right on red.
Obey speed limits.
Do not block or park in crosswalks.
Keep your windshield clean for maximum visibility.
Be alert for pedestrian at all times.
Children and senior citizens are at a higher risk of being struck by a motor vehicle. Special emphasis must be made to educate children and seniors about the importance of walking safely.
Children:
Cross at intersections only.
Never cross from in-between parked cars.
Before crossing, look left, right and left again and listen for traffic.
Always walk facing traffic.
Wear light colored or reflective clothing at night.
If there is no sidewalk available, walk as far off the roadway as possible on the left side of the road, facing oncoming traffic.
Obey all traffic signs and signals.
Seniors:
Walk on sidewalks and cross only at corners, within marked crosswalks where available.
If crossing in other locations, yield the right of way to vehicles. Failure to obey the law carries a $54 fine (court costs additional; C.39:4-32, 33)
Always walk facing traffic.
Wear bright-colored or reflective clothing, especially at night.
Look left, right and left again before crossing and be on the lookout for turning vehicles.
Make eye contact with the driver before crossing in front of a vehicle.
Learn the proper use of “Walk/Don’t Walk” signals.
Use the buddy system. Walk and cross with others when possible.
If possible do not walk at night or during bad weather such as snow, rain or ice.
“Motorists who see pedestrian(s) in a marked crosswalk MUST STOP”
.
Yes, this is true.
But when the pedestrian DOES NOT look and does not yield to the motorist who is not paying attention, then the dead/injured pedestrian will be legally in the right, but will be physically in the hospital/rehab center/wheelchair or morgue.
.
… so, pedestrians, please protect yourselves and DO NOT RELY on the law to protect you from a 4000lb vehicle.
.
well said Anonymous and of course,where are the police when we need them to monitor this problem?
Yes we know that when you see someone in the crosswalk you have to stop for them. The problem is sometimes you cannot see them when they run off the sidewalk and walk extremely fast right into the crosswalk and you cannot see them, so what the hell can a driver down in the CBD. They should lower the speed limit through out the CBD to 15miles an hour end of the story.Why can’t the mayor and council adopt a new town ordinance. This is for safety the big problem is New Jersey transit flying through the CBD they are animals. They are extremely rude employees. And for school bus drivers a good majority of them then don’t have an idea what the hell they’re doing. At times I seen some weird things going on with the walkers they just don’t care some of them. And what about when he walked through in between cars that’s Jay walking.I better never ever get a ticket for that that’s bullshit I don’t have to yield for people walking out in between cars no f’in way. We need more police walking to be in the CBD in our bicycles.
I am certain there would be many fewer accidents if pedestrians would not assume that they can walk into any crosswalk without looking as they assume they always have the right of way–even when they are crossing on a red light. I can’t even count the times that the pedestrian is listening to his earphones and doesn’t even look one way before crossing. A car can be right in the midst of a turn or crossing to the other side of the street and the pedestrian–NOT limited to kids–just walks on. It definitely should be the pedestrian’s fault if he/she just walks out. I was there on the corner when a bicyclist kept going against the red light after several cars had already gone through the intersection. Luckily the motorist only hit her back tire but she could have been seriously injured. The responding Officer asked the girl “What in the world were you thinking? You had a red light.”
The gIrl’s response “They always stop for me. I’m in the crosswalk.” This attitude just has to STOP!
the Speed limit should be 15 in the c b d at all times. It would help, it would be safer for all. More lights by the walks.
Bicyclists are not pedestrians until they dismount their bicycles.
Motorists, especally new motorists, on Franklin Avenue sometimes come to a halt all the way across the intersection from the crosswalk a pedestrian is using to cross Franklin. They are actually stopping before crossing the parallel crosswalk across the street! This is excessive and needlessly increases the risk of a rear-end collision because the motorist almost always has to stop quite short in order to create that kind of buffer zone.
Right on. This lot needs to be corrected immediately. They made this long without deeply investigating this. Very big mistake. Many years ago we did not have this problem because we look both ways before crossing the street. Wow that’s what I teach my kids you don’t have the right away you stop at the curb and look both ways and let the driver seat you and let you cross then you are safe. Wake up
We are not doing our kids any favors, agree with the comments here. Kids are empowered to walk across the street at any time, as long as they are in the crosswalk. I had a group of middle school kids leap out in front of me, i was doing between 15-20 mph on Franklin, and it was a challenge to stop on time. luckily, the car in back of me was also able to stop. those kids felt like they could just go at any time, as long as they were in crosswalk. They were not gauging how long it would take me to stop, and how far I was from the crosswalk before they decided to run out. We need to go back to the ‘look both ways’ mentality, it would be much safer for our pedestrians. Don’t even get me started on the commuters when the train arrives. In their dark clothes, they cross when they want to and where they want to, and are very hard to see in the dark. If it is raining, the visibility is even lower. They can see a car with headlights, but I can’t see them. It is a 2-way street. Both pedestrians and cars need to look out for each other. Changes need to be made in CBD with all of the new apartments and traffic flow, 15 mph is a good start. Lighted crosswalks also great. People wearing reflective tape on coats if they walk in the dark, amazing thing to have. Let’s all work together to make these changes, and more.