Speed Awareness This Week, Other Awarenesses Needed
More than a third of accident fatalities in New York State stem from speeding, and speeding continues to be a frequent subject of Port Jervis resident complaints, says Police Chief William Worden. For Speed Awareness Week, an enforcement initiative launched by the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee for July 31 to August 8, he reviewed related statistics and the city’s efforts to address the dangers involved.
Although accidents related to speed alone as a contributing factor dropped from 3.5% in 2019 to 2.7% in 2020, Worden said, “Speeding coupled with distracted driving has greatly contributed to accidents.”
At unsafe speeds, drivers are more likely to lose control and have less time to respond to whatever or whoever is in the road, resulting in more severe injuries and damage in a crash, he said. Distracted driving caused 24% of personal injury auto accidents and 18% of Port Jervis crashes involving property damage.
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Locations of the most city crashes have been on East and West Main Streets, contributing to 32% of property damage auto accidents, 30.4% of accidents involving personal injury and 20% of accidents, Worden said.
Meanwhile, Jersey Ave. has the most personal injury accidents, with 43% of personal injury crashes along with 10% of accidents involving pedestrians.
“Speeds tend to be higher on these streets, necessitating targeted radar patrols,” said Worden.
To prevent speeding, four-way stop signs have been placed at intersections, and more are planned for the Second and Fourth Ward.
“In addition,” he said, “we launched the public education campaign, ‘Slow Down-We love our children,’ and placed high visibility lawn signs throughout the city to remind motorists to slow down on our residential streets.”
In Mount Hope, Police Chief Paul Rickard said he followed Worden’s example with the lawn signs.
“People call and ask for them,” he said. “Speeding is the single greatest complaint we get. It’s always on our radar.”
As in Port Jervis, Mount Hope police also use a speed trailer, the mobile sign that shows a passing driver’s speed.
“When people are distracted, the sign helps them focus,” said Rickard. “At twice the allowed speed, if a dog appears, the available reaction time is halved. After having children, I became more aware of speed.”
Worden pointed out the city’s efforts to improve safety for children around schools with the Safe Routes to School Grant, a project completed in 2019, to improve pedestrian safety along the East Main Street, Kingston Avenue, Hamilton Street and Culvert Street school route between the Port Jervis High School/Anna S. Kuhl Elementary complex and the middle school. New sidewalks, curbing, crosswalks and signage were added to reduce speeding and increase safety.
Other forms of aggressive driving could use some “awareness,” too, according to Worden’s statistics. Aggressive driving caused 66% of crashes involving personal injury and 73% of crashes involving property damage. That included following too closely, unsafe backing, failure to yield right of way and failure to keep right, he said.