Why have dozens of lawn signs popped up in Holmdel, NJ this week?

🚔 A NJ patrolman wants to honor victims of fatal car crashes

🚔 He's dedicated an entire week of remembrance with road signs

🚔 The signs are placed at each crash location, one for each victim

HOLMDEL — During the COVID-19 pandemic, a Monmouth County patrolman noticed a direct correlation between less-than-prevalent traffic enforcement and increased traffic crash fatalities.

So, following the pandemic, Holmdel Police Department Patrolman Matt Menosky wanted to raise awareness of the alarming rise in traffic crashes and deaths by developing the Goal Zero Initiative (Zero Crashes. Zero Fatalities. Zero Injuries).

“I started choosing one roadway throughout Monmouth County and I contacted every police agency that covers that roadway. I did Highway 34, Highway 35, Route 9, and then during the summer months we did mostly all the routes that lead to the shore because we would see a traffic increase there,” Menosky said.

For four hours from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., all of those towns would focus on traffic enforcement to raise awareness and bring down traffic crashes and fatalities.

This year, for the first time, as part of his Goal Zero Initiative, Menosky has decided to dedicate an entire week to The World Day of Remembrance for Traffic Victims. The date of the one day remembrance is on Nov. 17.

He combed through Holmdel Township’s fatal crashes over the years and found 70 victims going back to the late 1960s when the police department was established.
Menosky got the crash reports to see where the crashes happened.

“I had lawn signs made up that say Remember Me. Drive Safely and The Goal Zero logo. Each crash location will be memorialized for this entire week and each victim is represented by their own sign,” Menosky said.

The lawn signs will be up from Nov. 15 to Nov. 25.

The goal of the weeklong dedication is two-fold, Menosky said.

One is to obviously keep each of the 70 victims remembered, and two, it will hopefully get motorists to think about their own driving behaviors if they see multiple signs on their daily commute where people have passed away, he said.

Route 34 is a small stretch in Holmdel, and that has the most signs, nine of them, Menosky said. That’s where the most traffic crashes happened, claiming nine victims since the 1960s.

He said while he was placing signs along Route 34, a motorist stopped to ask what these signs were all about because he had seen two or three of them already. Menosky said when he explained the signs, the motorist was almost speechless.

Other signs can be seen this week along Route 35, Telegraph Hill Road, Crawfords Corner Road/Everett Road, Bethany Road, and more.

“The staggering rise that we’ve seen, that we’re about 15 percent higher than we were last year during this time frame, it needs to come to an end. People need to realize it can happen to you or someone you love. So, if you check your driving behaviors now, all you’re going to do is prevent a death,” Menosky said.

As of today, 593 people have died on New Jersey roadways. That is a nearly 15% increase over 2023.

If anyone is interested in promoting Goal Zero, please email Patrolman Matt Menosky.

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