N.J. towns participate in unsafe driving crackdown

By Megan DeMarco

Inquirer Staff Writer

Aggressive drivers, look out.

Seventy-five New Jersey municipalities - including 20 in Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties - are participating this month in a first-time statewide initiative to reduce crashes caused by speeding and other forms of reckless driving.

Each municipality received a $4,000 grant from the state Division of Highway Traffic Safety to enforce laws against speeding, tailgating, weaving in traffic, running stop signs, recklessly changing lanes, and other risky practices.

The number of speed-related accidents in New Jersey has steadily increased since 2000, said Pam Fischer, director of the agency. This year, speed has overtaken alcohol consumption as the top road-safety concern, Fischer said. Speeding was the cause of 22,118 accidents in New Jersey last year, up from 14,624 in 2002.

The new program, called "Obey the Signs or Pay the Fines," enables police departments to increase the number of officers they have on the street at a time when many municipalities face diminished resources, Fischer said.

The initiative is mainly aimed at raising police visibility, she said. If an aggressive driver sees an officer parked on the side of the road or pulling someone over, he or she may slow down.

"We're not about writing tickets," Fischer said.

High visibility is a proven deterrent, she said. "It gets people to really stop and slow it down and be more mindful of what they're doing."

In Deptford, Lt. David Raso said police have focused on Delsea Drive, a high-traffic area.

"We're going to have more people out there, and their objective is to enforce the traffic laws," Raso said. "We want to make it visible."

Fischer said the municipalities that applied for grants range from congested areas to rural and suburban locations. Some smaller towns have pervasive speeding problems caused by commuters who use back roads as alternate routes, Fischer said.

"It's not just a highway problem," she said.

Other states have similar programs, such as Pennsylvania's Smooth Operator program, to combat aggressive driving.

July was chosen for the campaign because it falls in what traffic experts call the "101 most dangerous days of the year," the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

The program began in North Jersey in 2006 and reduced speeding-related crashes, said Fischer, who hopes this year's statewide effort will become an annual event.

"People are in a hurry. They want to get there fast," she said. "We knew we had to address it, we knew it was something we had to go to statewide."

Participating in Burlington County are Burlington City, Burlington Township, Cinnaminson, Delran, Evesham, Florence, Medford, Mount Laurel, and Willingboro. Berlin, Cherry Hill, Pennsauken, and Voorhees are involved in Camden County. And in Gloucester County, Clayton, Deptford, East Greenwich, Franklin, Glassboro, Washington Township, and Westville are part of the crackdown.

Contact staff writer Megan DeMarco at 856-779-3844 or mdemarco@phillynews.com.