Borough to Explore New Traffic Safety Measures

In the midst of what happens to be a national campaign from Monday through Friday called Drive Safely Work Week, the borough council agreed to explore the feasibility of several new traffic safety measures for Fair Lawn's streets.

At Tuesday night's worksession, the council agreed to have the borough investigate what kinds of additional traffic safety signs make sense and fall in line with various regulations, where they should be placed, and how much they would cost.

Deputy Mayor Lisa Swain, who launched the traffic safety discussion by citing national statistics that indicated the increasing danger pedestrians face, suggested a signs reading "look both ways" before stop signs because drivers simply "don't look both ways before they make a turn." Deputy Mayor Steve Weinstein echoed a suggestion from a previous council meeting for the placement of stop signs with flashing lights, particularly for traffic coming on and off Route 208. 

Borough Manager Timothy Stafford agreed to research the suggestions and revisit them with the council in a month.

"I thought, as a council, it's time to do what we can to address pedestrian safety," Swain said at the meeting.

"Maybe we want to set the bar for what other communities can do," she said.

Fair Lawn needs to ensure that any new signage conforms with the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), Fair Lawn police officers explained during the meeting. MUTCD regulations limit the types of signs that can be placed near stop signs, such as Swain's suggested "look both ways" sign, they said. Police Chief Erik Rose noted that Route 208 is a state road, raising the question of "If we can put it there, will the state pay?" regarding flashing stop signs.

"You don't want to put something there because it sounds good if it doesn't work," said Tim Franco, the police department's traffic safety officer.

"It's just a matter of cost and where we can put [the signs], and still being compliant with the rules," Rose said.

Fair Lawn resident Craig Miller said that one particularly dangerous traffic area in town is on Plaza Road North between Fair Lawn Avenue and High Street near the New Jersey Transit station. Miller suggested a "right turn only" sign there, and Swain agreed, saying that she has seen several accidents in that vicinity.

Franco also detailed the department's thorough safety regulations for Halloween night as well as the night before, including the distribution of glow sticks for kids to carry when they walk in the street and police officer lectures in all grammar school classes. At the lectures, kids are handed special tip cards to give their parents about safe driving on Halloween, Franco said.

Drive Safely Work Week, from Oct. 4-8 this year, is the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety's (NETS) annual workplace safety campaign, reminding employees about safe driving practices. The 2010 campaign materials focus on the dangers of distracted driving, particularly relating to making cell phone calls and texting while driving. For more information, visit www.trafficsafety.org/drivesafelyworkweek.