Dear Editor:
I live and work downtown on Grand St. I see daily the speeding cars that are endangering the lives of everyone in this neighborhood. Within five blocks of my home there are five schools, the Boys and Girls Club and the hospital. That means there is a huge number of children and elderly people trying to cross Grand St. at a number of intersections, which are made extremely dangerous by a non-working street light and many speeding cars and trucks.
I agree with Yvonne Balcer (Jersey City Reporter, Feb. 22) that restoring parking on Grand St. would probably help slow traffic and that re-routing the buses at the hospital might prevent potential accidents. I also agree that as city spokesperson Jennifer Morrill stated, “Most all traffic control methods rely on law abiding drivers.” But of course it’s not the law abiding drivers that cause most accidents and deaths. Morrill’s comment that “signal timing, and speed limit signs……, are acceptable and effective methods to control traffic speeds.” is ludicrous. It is the drivers that ignore the red lights and posted speed limits that cause the problem. She also mentions police enforcement as a control. Of course that is effective, but hardly a deterrent that is realistically available most of the time.
Cars that speed are the same ones that run red lights. More and more cars are running red lights with impunity all the time. I think the most effective way to slow down speeders is to fine them every time they do by installing cameras on the traffic signals at busy intersections and issuing tickets based on the resultant pictures. Some people have raised objections to this technology based on a possible violation of privacy or that the amber lights aren’t long enough to enable some drivers to stop in time or that there will be more rear end collisions by cars trying to stop too quickly. To those people I say, slow down and you won’t have any of those problems! Let’s install those lights. The money they generate, based on the number of speeders and red light runners I’ve seen, will more than pay for the cost of installing them. Any money left over can be earmarked to fund other safety measures in the city like more police patrolling of neighborhoods and more and better lighting in our parks and streets.
Charlotte Kreutz