Traffic Accidents Saw 8 Percent Decrease in 2011, Police Say

Barnegat police say the number of traffic accidents in the township dropped by 8 percent in 2011, and they’re crediting new stringent guidelines put in place in recent years as part of the department's efforts to gain national accreditation.

There were 430 collisions in Barnegat in 2011, down from 468 in 2010, said Lt. Keith Germain of the Barnegat Township Police Department, an even bigger decrease than the department had hoped for when it crafted a new traffic safety plan.

That plan was based on standards set by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, the body that granted the department its accreditation this year. Germain said traffic safety officers analyzed accident data to find problem areas – sections of Route 9 and Route 554. They examined what caused crashes and built a response around the data, said Germain. 

“Driver inattention was a big thing, and cell phones were a big thing,” he said, and instead of simply ramping up enforcement, officers first worked to educate drivers. “You look for those offenses, and when you pull somebody over, they get a warning.”

Explaining to people that driving dangerously in a high-accident area made a difference, Germain said. Enforcement played a role, too.

The results were better than expected. By the end of 2011, Germain said, Route 554 ceded its position as the number two most accident-prone road in the township to Barnegat Boulevard. 

“We set a goal for 2011 to reduce collisions by 5 percent, and we thought that would be kind of ambitious on our part,” Germain said. He said the strict CALEA standards, which mandate the kind of close analysis of traffic data the department undertook, offered a framework for success.

“CALEA forced us to develop much more comprehensive strategies and initiatives than we had in the past under the state program,” he said. 

Now the focus shifts to continuing problem areas on Route 9 and Barnegat Boulevard South, Germain said, with police targeting cell phone use, failures to observe signals, right-of-way violations and tailgating.