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Trenton
– Police agencies throughout New Jersey
will be participating this summer in a pedestrian
safety enforcement and education program
designed to increase awareness about safely
sharing the road, Division of Highway Traffic
Safety (HTS) Director Pam Fischer announced
today.
Known
as “Cops in Crosswalks,” the
federally-funded initiative places undercover
police officers, posing as pedestrians,
in marked crosswalks. Motorists who fail
to stop for the undercover officers are
stopped and issued warnings or tickets by
uniformed officers a short distance away.
The Division will be providing federal grants
of $8,000 each to 13 police departments
for the program, which will run from mid-July
to mid-September. In addition, towns receiving
year-long pedestrian safety grants from
the Division will also participate in this
initiative, which has been run in towns
throughout the state for the past two years.
Fischer
noted that the initiative will also help
to reinforce New Jersey’s pedestrian
safety law, which was amended on April 1,
to require motorists to stop and stay stopped
for pedestrians in marked crosswalks. Prior
to the change, motorists were required to
yield.
“By
changing the language in the state’s
50-year old pedestrian statute from yield
to stop, motorists now know that when they
approach a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk,
they must stop and remain stopped to allow
that pedestrian to cross safely,”
Fischer stated. “The law also makes
it unlawful for a vehicle to overtake or
pass another vehicle that is stopped to
allow a pedestrian to cross. It also infers
that a motorist is at fault when there is
a conflict between a vehicle and a pedestrian
in a crosswalk.”
Pedestrians
must also do their part under the amended
law. “It’s a pedestrian’s
responsibility to take due care when crossing
the street,” she said. “That
means that a pedestrian should never suddenly
leave a curb or other place of safety and
walk or run into the roadway, where it is
impossible for a motorist to stop. Pedestrians
must also obey all traffic signs and signals,
including ‘walk/don’t walk.’
If a pedestrian does enter the roadway at
any point other than within a marked crosswalk
or at an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection,
he or she must yield the right of way to
all motor vehicles.”
Motorists
violating the law face a $200 fine, plus
court costs, and 2 points on their license.
They can also be subject to 15 days of community
service and insurance surcharges. Pedestrians
failing to comply with the law face a $54
fine, plus court costs.
According
to a recent Fairleigh Dickinson University
PublicMind poll on driver attitudes and
behaviors, nearly 95 percent of New Jersey
drivers know that state law requires them
to stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk.
As
part of the Division’s ongoing effort
to educate the public about the amended
law, an oversized palm card (similar in
size to a traffic ticket) that outlines
the changes, has been distributed to police
departments. The card will be given to motorists
and pedestrians as part of the effort announced
today. This information has also been made
available to high school driver education
teachers and defensive driving program providers
and will be detailed in the New Jersey Driver
Manual to ensure that all novice and experienced
drivers are educated about the law change.
In
addition, the Division of Highway Traffic
Safety is partnering with Downtown NJ, a
statewide organization that works with elected
officials, local businesses and community
organizations to promote municipal downtown
areas, to reinforce the pedestrian safety
message in town centers.
"Pedestrian
safety is an utmost concern to our members
in Downtown NJ. Shopping districts, large
and small, suburban and urban, rely on people
to shop, dine, live and work there,”
said Kathleen Miller Prunty, President,
Downtown NJ and Downtown Director, Cranford.
“We are pleased that an emphasis is
on people and not just vehicles. Many of
our member communities have been proactive
in making downtowns more pedestrian friendly.
Downtown NJ is committed to working with
the Division of Highway Traffic Safety to
spread the word that keeping pedestrians
safe is good business."
“Foot
track is vital to our downtowns, so we want
to ensure that pedestrians travel safely
while they’re patronizing local businesses,”
Fischer said. “That not only means
that motorists must slow down and observe
the posted speed limit in our downtowns,
but pedestrians should always use marked
crosswalks. To help reinforce the crosswalk
message, we have developed a decal that
local businesses and municipalities can
prominently display in their windows and
storefronts, as well as on sign posts, benches,
garbage cans, and even stencil on sidewalks.”
Fischer
noted that since 2004, approximately 150
pedestrians have been killed and 6,000 injured
annually in traffic-related crashes on New
Jersey roadways. The percentage of pedestrians
killed annually in New Jersey, between 20
and 25 percent, is double the national rate.
In 2009, after a three-year downward trend,
the number of pedestrian deaths statewide
increased to 157. As of July 12 of this
year, 70 pedestrians have been killed in
motor vehicle-related crashes statewide,
as compared to 84 for the same time period
last year. Additionally, since 2004, more
than 30,000 pedestrians have been injured
in motor-vehicle related crashes statewide.
“While
the return to a downward trend is positive,
our goal has been and will remain, zero
fatalities,” Fischer said. “Initiatives
such as the one unveiled today can go a
long way in helping us achieve our goal.
Until then, we will continue to educate
both pedestrians and motorists about the
importance of always taking personal responsibility
for their actions. Everyone using our transportation
system, regardless of their mode of travel,
shares the responsibility for ensuring their
own safety.”
List
of towns receiving grants for the summer/fall
pedestrian safety enforcement program
pdf
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