Fort Lee Police Bring Pedestrian Safety Campaign to Community Center

As part of an initiative to inform and educate the residents of Fort Lee, Chief of Police Keith Bendul and members of the Fort Lee Police Department held another in its series of  at the Fort Lee Community Center Wednesday evening.

Open to residents of all ages, the seminar highlighted the continued problem with accidents involving pedestrians over the course of the past year. Bendul discussed initiatives he has put in place to help raise awareness on pedestrian safety, such as the distribution of flashing clip on reflectors, ice scrapers and reflective umbrellas that when not opened, can still be carried to make pedestrians visible to drivers at night.

In addition to providing safety information and tips, Bendul said that the police department is also continuing to enforce traffic laws. The Patrol Division will continue to stop pedestrians for “jaywalking” and summonses may be issued. In lieu of a summons, a pedestrian pamphlet and or a safety reflector may be given to the pedestrian. 

Bendul also said that the police department will conduct decoy pedestrian details throughout town where a plain clothes officer will cross the street to see if drivers yield.

"Drivers that fail to yield for the pedestrian in the crosswalk will be stopped and given a summons by police officers waiting down the street," Bendul said. He added that individual officers in marked patrol cars, stealth cars and unmarked cars are being employed in various traffic enforcement details at all hours of the day and night.

Bendul reported that the police department is working in conjunction with the Department of Public Works surveying all stop signs, pedestrian crosswalk signs, and painted crosswalks in town to review and evaluate the locations and compare them to the collision data in an effort to identify methods to increase visibility of the signs and crosswalks. Last year the two departments worked together on a pilot program where crosswalks were illuminated with flashing lights. An expansion of this program may be implemented once the winter weather is gone and the devices can be installed. 

The police department and the DPW are also examining the installation of reflective sign post covers on specific stop sign posts and pedestrian sign posts in areas where a high volume of pedestrian traffic and/or a high number of collisions have been reported.

"Safety is a top priority for the police department," Bendul said. "Every uniformed officer is assigned a pedestrian detail or a traffic enforcement assignment on each shift."

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