Crossing the Street is Deadly in NJ

By Jeff Deminski

After all the public awareness campaigns and changes to law, pedestrian deaths in the Garden State are actually slightly higher than the year before.  A report from the Tri-State Transportation Campaign found 440 pedestrians died on Jersey roads from 2009 to 2011, up from 436 killed from 2008 to 2010.

Will this mean a return to more decoy Cops in Crosswalks ticket blitzes?  More tax money spent on driver awareness?  I propose pedestrian awareness.  I've said all along when they changed the law, requiring cars not to just yield and be prudent but to fully stop and not move until a pedestrian is entirely out of the road, pedestrians would misinterpret it.  I think a significant number of pedestrians believe they have the right of way ANYWHERE they cross, out from between two cars in the middle of the block, against lights, etcetera.  That's NOT the law.

Furthermore, the advent of smart phones and numerous other electronics have turned pedestrians into zombie-like creatures paying little to no attention to their surroundings.  Combine that with one of the most congested traffic regions of the country you're bound to see numbers like this.

Am I wrong?  Or have you noticed pedestrians being more reckless than drivers?