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The Bordentown Township Police Department kicked a Street Smart pedestrian safety campaign this morning against the backdrop of Route 130, a highway known to many as ‘the most dangerous New Jersey road for pedestrians’.

Township Police were joined by Assemblywoman Carol Murphy along with the Bordentown City Police Department and local Bordentown Township and Bordentown City Government Officials in announcing the campaign which will run throughout the entire month of October. 

Pedestrian safety is an ongoing challenge in New Jersey. In 2014, 170 pedestrians died as a result of pedestrian-vehicle crashes, according to the most recent data available from the New Jersey State Police. From 2010 through 2014, 749 pedestrians were killed on New Jersey’s roads and more than 17,000 were injured, according to the New Jersey State Police. That translates into one death every 2.4 days and 11 injuries daily.

The Bordentown Township Police successfully applied for a $12,000 Pedestrian Safety and Education Grant from the NJ Division of Highway Traffic Safety (NJDHTS), and will be working with southern New Jersey’s transportation management association, Cross County Connection (CCCTMA), by engaging in a comprehensive “Street Smart NJ” pedestrian safety campaign starting on October 1. 

Street Smart NJ is a State-wide outreach program which urges pedestrians and motorists to “Check Your Vital Signs” to improve safety on the road. Motorists are urged to obey the speed limit and stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. Pedestrians are told to use crosswalks and wait for the walk signal where applicable. A new “Heads Up, Phone Down” message has been added to the campaign this year to combat distracted driving and walking.  Said CCCTMA, “We have to help do something about that, and so we’re proud to put our regional transportation expertise fully behind the Street Smart NJ pedestrian safety awareness campaign.”

The primary goal of our local campaign is to improve pedestrian safety within the Bordentown area by increasing awareness of pedestrian safety and improving behavior. To achieve these goals the Township Police will be:

• Conducting numerous pedestrian safety enforcement operations at problem crosswalk and intersection areas.
• Partnering with CCCTMA who will provide assistance with education, outreach and campaign materials.
• Identifying local areas where pedestrian crosswalks and signage should be installed.
• Continuing to work with the NJ Department of Transportation to improve safety along our local highways and make them more pedestrian accessible.

The Township Police have scheduled educational pedestrian safety assemblies to take place, during the month of October, at the Bordentown Middle School and the Bordentown Township Senior Center; and will have a pedestrian safety booth at this year’s Cranberry Festival, which takes place on Saturday, October 6 and Sunday, October 7, on Farnsworth Avenue in Bordentown City. 

The landscape of the Bordentown area is unique due to the abundance of hotels, and Township Police have partnered with all 12 Bordentown area hotel owners, who have agreed to hang our pedestrian safety posters and hand out pedestrian safety palm cards to all their guests upon check-in. This campaign recognizes that these hotel guests are often traversing our area on foot, and are an important demographic that we must reach.

Finally, Township Police will utilize promotional items to help spread the campaign’s message. These branded promotional items will include nylon reflective safety bracelets with the imprint “Be Safe, Be Seen – Heads Up, Phones Down” and reflective, hook zipper pulls with the same message. These giveaways will not only help engage our local youth during outreach, but also serve as a reminder of the campaign message into the future.

The overall, State-wide campaign is coordinated by the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) and is supported by Federal and State funds, with additional funding/in-kind contributions from local partners. Cross County Connection, a nonprofit organization, partners with NJTPA, the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), the South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization (SJTPO), member organizations, and the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, to provide solutions to complex transportation problems for counties, municipalities, employers and in the southern New Jersey region encompassing Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties.

For more information about Street Smart NJ, please visit http://bestreetsmartnj.org/

For more information about CCCTMA, please visit www.driveless.com