Officials Hope To Address Dangerous Driving Around Greenwich

GREENWICH, CT — Greenwich officials hope to address traffic issues and dangerous driving around town, as more and more cars are out on the road during the summer months.

During the most recent Board of Selectmen meeting, Sectwoman Lauren Rabin said she wants to tackle the issue after residents have complained about people not obeying the laws of the road.

"It seems to have accelerated. Maybe a part of that is comparing it to how things were during the pandemic, but enough people are saying it's not just that," Rabin told Patch on Friday. "There seems to be a lot more cars on the road and a lot more cars that aren't necessarily adhering to the [laws of the] road. I personally am seeing it myself as I drive around town."

Rabin said some drivers don't obey stop signs, and others tailgate, don't use their turn signal, speed, and cut other drivers off. Rabin's sister, who recently visited from California, also noticed a change in how people are driving.

"I have the town attorney looking into what we can do with the new law that was passed enabling municipalities to address traffic issues on the local level, some of which now has to be directed from the state," First Selectman Fred Camillo said last week. "Then my plan is to put together a group with people representing each part of town. Each part of town has a traffic, speeding and distracted driving problem...Who better than the people who live in those areas to be on this to say, 'Hey, here's what we see as a problem here,' and we'll use whatever that law allows us to use as a tool to address it."

The Byram Neighborhood Association (BNA) came before the Board of Selectmen earlier in July with a list of problems related to dangerous driving that residents are seeing on a routine basis. During that meeting, Selectperson Jill Oberlander said she'd like to see simple changes, such as more noticeable crosswalks or trimming foliage near pedestrian lights, implemented before school starts in the fall.

"I would encourage Fred, DPW, and also the BNA to stay on top of this so that particularly over the summer some of these improvements can be done before school starts, and then to develop a plan for the fall to start to address some of the other issues," Oberlander said.

Rabin said she'd like to see more enforcement to help curb the problems; she has not yet had a conversation with Greenwich Police Chief James Heavey. She said perhaps re-establishing the Community & Police Partnership —or CAPP — would be a good place to start.

CAPP's mission is to "create and maintain a forum between the Greenwich community and its police department for the dissemination of information, sharing of ideas and suggesting ways the community can become engaged in making Greenwich a better place in which to live and work."

Rabin believes the increase in dangerous driving could be attributed to the fact that a lot of new residents have moved to town. Also, Metro North is not experiencing the same level of service as they did pre-pandemic, so there are more cars on the road as a result.

The hope is to address the issues as soon as possible, Rabin said. Anyone who notices problems in their neighborhood can email Rabin at lauren.rabin@greenwichct.org.