Governor
McGreevey has achieved another major legislative goal
with the enactment of his comprehensive “Safety
First” initiative, a bill that authorizes the NJDOT
to designate “Safe Corridors” in New Jersey.
More than 700 New Jerseyans lost their lives last year
due to highway accidents, prompting the Governor to
seek sweeping changes.
The
new law authorizes the Commissioner of Transportation
to designate segments of state highways as "Safe
Corridors" based upon accident rates, fatalities,
traffic volume, and other highway traffic safety criteria.
Fines will be doubled for motor vehicle violations,
such as speeding and reckless driving, committed within
the corridors.
The
initial corridors include:
- Route
1 between Lawrence and South Brunswick, and between
South Brunswick and Edison
- Route
9 from Lakewood to Sayreville
- Route
22 between Branchburg and Newark
- Route
40 between Hamilton and Egg Harbor
- Route
46 from Netcong to West Paterson
- Route
47 in Millville and Vineland
- Route
73 between Voorhees and Maple Shade
- Route
206 through Montgomery and Hillsborough.
In
addition, the law increases fines for out-of-state overweight
trucks and requires truckers to complete a special driver
education class to restore a suspended Commercial Driver
License (CDL). Half of all “Safe Corridor”
fines collected will be deposited in a new Highway Safety
Fund. To be used exclusively for highway safety projects
and programs, funds will be made available to State
Police and municipal police departments for education,
enforcement, and related measures that foster highway
safety.
Governor
McGreevey also released the final report of the Route
1 Safety Impact Team which contains short- and long-term
recommendations for improving the safety of a 10-mile
stretch of Route 1 in Mercer and Middlesex Counties.
The team is a first-in-the-nation collaborative effort
between state and federal officials.
The
Governor announced $3 million in short-term improvements
to Route 1 that will include upgrades to traffic signals,
installation of new, larger signs, new pedestrian crosswalks
and enhanced pavement markings.
The
NJDOT has taken other steps in the Safety First campaign
of “education, enforcement and engineering”
initiatives, including actively promoting the #77 Aggressive
Driver Hotline statewide; expediting the installation
of 100 miles of safety barriers; allocating $20 million
for engineering and technological highway improvements;
adding 500 miles of raised pavement reflectors over
the next two years; recording public safety announcements;
and expanding driver education programs.
