Starting at around 3 p.m. yesterday, Lieutenant Kenneth Miscia, Jr. began an afternoon of stepping into the oncoming traffic driving east and west-bound on Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair. Mind you, he did so carefully — in fact, he’s received special training to do so. Miscia is certified by the Division of Highway Traffic Safety to conduct pedestrian awareness campaigns, as a method of educating drivers about the year-old law that mandates vehicles to stop for pedestrians in a cross walk.
The sting operation was set up just west of Park Street, on the corner of Maple Place — a notoriously dangerous crossing point in the town center. With Miscia as the plainclothed “pedestrian” (wearing a light-colored shirt for better visibility), Sergeant Stephanie Egnezzo as the monitor who reported the violators and two teams of uniformed police further up and down the street who actually stopped the cars and wrote the $200 tickets, the campaign was designed to catch offending drivers and thus raise awareness of the law.
When we got to the scene at around 5:30 p.m., tipped by an unhappy reader whose family member was ticketed an hour earlier, the Montclair Police team had already caught more than 50 drivers who neglected to stop for the lieutenant as he walked back and forth across Bloomfield Avenue. Egnezzo and Miscia explained that they give drivers the benefit of the doubt, and only ticketed those who had ample time to stop safely for a pedestrian, but didn’t. They used a formula, based on speed and distance, to determine whether a driver was in violation of the law. Sometimes, as we observed, they got 7 or 8 cars per crossing — people just totally ignoring the pedestrian standing in the street.
Shortly after 7 p.m., we stopped by again and found the operation shutting down for the night, with just a few last tickets being written. Lieutenant Miscia had discontinued his street crossing activity for the day, but said that he’d be back. “Now that the weather is good, we’ll be doing this a lot, in different locations around town,” he said.
When asked if the campaign was in response to last week’s fatal pedestrian/car accident which tragically killed Montclair resident Betsy Niles as she was walking to the train, Miscia said that they have planned to do this for quite some time, and were waiting for the good weather. “The more we make drivers aware of the law, the safer pedestrians will be,” explained the lieutenant.
Read about the Pedestrian Safety law here.
We know there are similar operations in other parts of Baristaville. One driver told us of being fined on Valley Street in Maplewood a few weeks after the law was initially enforced last April. Have any of you been nabbed? Have you learned your lesson?
Dear Lieutenant Kenneth Miscia, Jr:
Please come to Grove and Oxford and do the same. Cars just zip by even when I stare them down, trying to cross. You could stand there for 20 minutes and never get across. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Crank
I’m all for this, bravo, please do more.
I don’t understand the new law, though. It doesn’t make sense. Practically speaking, there’s no difference between having to stop for pedestrians in the crossing, and having the yield to them.
I support this initiative 100 per cent. I hope they continue to run these stings through out the summer. Maybe then we can safely walk around Montclair.
The law must be extended to stopping for marsupials…amd people on bikes!
I think you’re allowed to hit people on bikes.
crank – You beat me to it. I second the nomination for Grove and Oxford. The town will make a mint at that corner. Dear MPR – Please come Sunday morning so my dog and I make it home alive after getting the Sunday paper at Grove Convenience.
Oops MPD!
“PEDESTRIANS MUST obey pedestrian signals and use crosswalks at signalized intersections. Both carry a $54.00 fine for failure to observe the law.
(C.39:4-32 and 33)”
How many tickets were written to pedestrians breaking the law? A great place for a sting for pedestrian laws would be Watchung by the parking lot across from Bluestone Coffee.
Kudos to the sting. People need to be aware of this. But I’m also with Howard: so many pedestrians seem to anywhere. Let’s start stinging them as well? I sometimes think pedestrian behavior is such because so many of our neighbors have emigrated from NYC…
Stop for Pedestrians: It’s the Law
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Oh baristanet, you crack me up.
I had a woman almost run me down in the Stop and Shop parking lot, for crissakes. And that has speed bumps.
They did this sting near me on Broad street last spring. There were at least 10 cars lined up by the side of the road getting tickets.
I would rather see this than have speed bumps. Speed bumps are bad for your car, even if you go over them at 5 mph. Slow down, people, pay attention. I am still thinking about the poor woman who lost her life last week while walking to the train.
I love “awareness campaign”. That to me is stopping the driver and giving the people of your community a warning. An awareness campaign shouldn’t carry a $200 fine, so don’t hide your revenue producing pick off behind “awareness campaign”. Montclair has real issues but for some reason bushwhacking drivers and people wanting to bust chops of people ducking under Railroad crossing are important. The walls are closing but for some reason people think they are in Mayberry RFD. This is nothing more than setting up and picking off people and it will not help the issue anywhere else in town.
Herb: I usually agree with you but not in this case. Speeding and not paying attention while driving have been going on for quite some time (and not just in Montclair). People HAVE been warned. It’s the law. It’s also against the law to talk on the phone or text while driving but people still do it. Maybe the hefty fine will wake them up.
@herbeverschmel, note that “awareness campaign” is my wording, not the MPD. And as for “real issues,” to me, anything that might preserve the unnecessary loss of human life or prevent serious injury is a pretty big priority. I happen to cross at this particular spot regularly, to get to some of my favorite restaurants from the south side of town, and I could swear that people are trying to deliberately run me down. Maybe it’s personal, I don’t know, but I’d prefer not to become someone’s careless mistake. Slow the heck down and let people cross. And yes, it’s the law…
I am all for this. I just wish I had known, I would have brought a lawn chair and camped out! While in college, I lived in New England where this law has been in effect for 20 years +. Drivers are aware of you, and if you even stepped off the curb stumbling home(college days) they would stop & yield until you got back on the sidewalk. I think Bloomfield ave is a very dangerous road, and so is franklin near the bloomfield steak house.
So many cops assigned to this one? Sorry, but it really does seem there should be better uses for limited police manpower. What, there were no PSE&G operations requiring a police presence yesterday? Yes, it’s the law, but there are also laws against spitting on the sidewalk and picking up after one’s dog, and virtual task forces are never assigned to their enforcement. Makes me even wonder if the revenue from those $200 tickets is the real incentive.
On the fantasy level, there’d be something very satisfying about running down a walleroo at a crossing, aiming at that telltale pink shirt and revving the ol’ 409 up. But then, it’s also been fun while in Holland to dream about driving right into a pack of blond, generally meandering (and quite often dangerously stoned) bicyclists too.
Looks the the police budget was short this month and they needed to raise dough. We may be seeing more ‘awareness campaigns’ as budgets continue to shrink and little enforced laws begin to be used as revenue centers.
I’m all for yielding to pedestrians. Stopping for pedestrians in marked crosswalks is self explanatory, as is stopping at unmarked crosswalks at intersections. However, I’ve noticed that many pedestrians seem to view this rule as an invitation to a game of chicken on some of our busier streets. If I see someone that is standing on the curb, obviously attempting to cross, I gladly stop, but it’s the ones that basically dart into the street that get me. It is important to let the driver know your intentions. Are you waiting to cross, or are you waiting for the bus? Of course all of this is predicated on me being a safe and observant driver.
Here’s the wording in the law that applies to pedestrians: “Every pedestrian upon a roadway at any point other than within a marked crosswalk or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles upon the roadway.” Observation of this rule is what prevents rear end collisions as drivers need to slam on the brakes to the careless or oblivious walkers that incorrectly believe that this law has given them carte blanche to randomly stroll into traffic.
I may have singlehandedly raised some money for the Parkway Authority today. I went through the toll by the Clifton entrance ramp (Exit 154). I had no change and there was no attendant booth and no envelopes to take. So I guess I’ll be hit with a $50.00 fine. I felt like flippin’ the bird as I went through.
But I do stop for pedestrians, even for bikers (nice bikers, anyway).
I wish they’d do more of this. As someone who has done a lot more walking around town in the last year, it has become very apparent that most drivers are not paying attention to the pedestrian crossing law. Try crossing in the crosswalk right in front of the library! Cars stop maybe 10% of the time. Once a line of 5 cars was coming (with plenty of time to stop) – the first 4 zoomed by, the last stopped because… it was a police cruiser! And of course no one is ticketed outside of these stings.
I know they did one of these crosswalk stops at Grove and Oxford once (because I stopped for the pedestrian, but saw the line of cars pulled over that didn’t!), but it was definitely more than a year ago. I can think of lots of places where they should do more!
The next time someone gets mugged, assaulted or a home or business is robbed and you ask yourself why, this right here will give you your answer……Because they are wasting valuable police presence on nonsense like this instead of fighting crime like they should be
I wish they would try this on Ridgewood avenue!
While walking my dog, no matter what time of day, I can wait at the crosswalk for quite a while before a driver will actually stop and let me cross. Mind you, this is a crosswalk where there are kids crossing in the morning and where the crossing guard has nearly been hit several times!
I am also a cyclist, and when I am nearing Ridgewood avenue on my way home I end up standing by the crosswalk and watching the cars stream by me before a clearing opens that allows me to cross. Very frustrating. …
I hope they increase the ticket price, this is a great way to raise some funds because– it’s all you see.
EVERYWHERE!!! Busy roads. Quiet roads. Doesn’t matter. Everyone is so damn important (is there where I mention that too many are STILL talking on cell phones?)
The worst are the fools who ignore kids, parents and dogs at schools at drop-off/pick-up. Of course, some are even doing the dropping-off/picking-up.
These are the simple (and selfish) civil examples that makes me sad.
I am aware of the law and have no problem stopping. It’s the safe thing to do. It just so vague in terms of enforcement, what happens when your driving and then somebody darts in in the crosswalk and doesn’t give you a safe distance to stop and you need to slam on the breaks?
2 things about this law though, motorist are allowed to proceed once the pedestrian is on the other half of the roadway, when traffic is flowing in the other direction.
Pedestrians are also subject to a $200 fine if they fail to yield to motor vehicles anywhere except a crosswalk. Do you think that will be enforced or is just the easier part of the law will be enforced? Let’s see the outcry the first time they nail a pedestrian or will they ever bother enforcing that part of the law?
I am always amazed that when I am in Summit, drivers actually stop when I am in the crosswalk. In Baristaville, almost never!
It would be nice if the police also cut down on the jaywalking in Upper Montclair on Valley RD by the Dunkin Donuts and the Post Office during rush hour.
BTW: To cut down on crime the police need to actually patrol the problem areas. Instead on sitting in a parked cruiser, illegally parked on Church St. playing with his cell phone. (March 17th ~8:30 PM)
I love the history and it’s importance to the expansion of the towns along it. Amazing. It’s a far cry from when Israel Crane ran it as a toll road. I believe before Bloomfield Ave the only way to get from Baristaville to Newark was via Claremont Ave. I dont know what this has with tickets, just rambling.
Personal Observations.
We have worse drivers than in Summit. That is an observable fact.
Make it obvious to drivers that you intend to cross. I drive by people with their dogs chatting with friends on the corner at curbside, and have no clue what their intentions are.
I don’t believe that the pedestrian law applies to cyclists. Cyclists need to observe traffic and go with the flow. This isn’t the countryside. I put in lots of miles on the bike, but would rather be dragged over broken glass than ride around here. There’s far too much traffic, lights, stop signs…just not enjoyable whatsoever.
Enforce the cell phone ban. I see flagrant violators every single day, just chatting away. Driver distraction could be a big part of the pedestrian crossing problem.
Let’s just give everyone a $50 ticket when they wake up. Call it an existence tax.
Most people break some little tidbit law at least once/day. I’m usually guilty of 3-4 different violations on a daily basis.
Dear Drivers: I’ll stop threatening you with all 95 pounds of me walking throughout town and using crosswalks if you promise not to hit me with a ton or more of metal and steel. It’s only fair.
BTW, those of us who moved to town from Manhattan are alive due to our creative street sense and festive crossing patterns. If looking out for me in a crosswalk causes a meltdown…then your meds aren’t working.
Love,
Lucy
True story: My husband and I were in Vermont 2 years ago where, law or now law, people just automatically stop for pedestrians. One day, we were up in Burlington crossing the street and almost got ourselves clipped by a driver who didn’t boteher to stop. We looked at the license plate and then understood why: it said “New Jersey.”
I support ticketing people who don’t stop for pedestrians and drivers who talk on cellphones (we agree, Deadeye!!) It’s a way to generate revenues with potential for positive outcomes. And If I were to be ticketed, it’d be my bad. I learned to drive in California (try parallel parking an Oldsmobile Toronado on a steep hill) where people have routinely stopped for pedestrians everywhere for decades. It’s about time NJ joined the civilized world.
It’s been the law all over New England for at least a couple of decades, NJ drivers can’t be bothered with quaint local customs.
Lucy, Hopefully your “festive crossing patterns” will land you a jaywalking ticket out here in the sticks.
Wow, I am proud to say that not only did I get a big thank you wave from Lieutenant Miscia for stopping for him yesterday (while some jerk on the Lt.’s side of the road sped right through and hopefully got a tix) but I even had a fleeting thought after I pulled away that I wondered if this was another X-ing sting. The scene just looked “stingish” I guess! (Yes, I would’ve stopped regardless.) I didn’t give it another thought until I just saw his pic. Phew!
What most drivers and pedestrians do nowadays is a flagrant disregard for the law and its sickening to read about people’s compliants because nothing seems to change it, ever. These stupid sting operations are useless. What is the point? What heavenly force will it take to make offenders conform to a safer way of life? It can start with individual concern and good example, but we’re too far gone, in this metro area, to give a damn!
Just walking to and from lunch I broke 4 laws.
Are we training pedestrians to be stupid, however? Leaving aside that Montclair has always had the highest per capita number of people who blunder into traffic that I’ve ever seen, I could swear that since this law went into effect, I’ve had more close calls than ever with pedestrians just walking out in front of my car when I’m too close to stop, assuming that state law trumps laws of physics and the fact that they have the legal right of way will magically bring my car to an abrupt halt.
I am actually thrilled to see civility being drummed into the collective consciousness of B’ville. And by reinforcing the crosswalk-relatedness it reminds me of the large-posteriored offisker who literally THREW himself in front of my car on Bloomfield Ave as a “pedestrian” (I maintain, a JAYWALKER) was on the far side of the yellow line, crossing from the Wellmont corner of Seymour Street to the North side of B’field Ave to rejoin his picketing of women’s free choice. Not only did he threaten me with bodily harm, the Badged Beast enabled my wife to yet again find fault with my driving skills. All because I told the copper to go ticket the crosser, not lil old me.
Livesinglenridge could not be more correct. What you are describing are most likely the “festive crossing patterns” of non-driving transplants from various NYC precincts. I’m glad that I’m not the only one that has noticed the same thing.
Sometimes when I stop for a pedestrian the ‘schmoe’ behind me will attempt to pass me and once or twice came close to clipping the pedestrian. After this happened I felt guilty for giving the pedestrian a false sense of security, knowing that even if you’re a good driver and stop, there’s no guarantee the person behind you will.
I don’t think this ‘sting’ operation will change much. We live in a hyper-charged, super intense, fast paced, ‘me first’ environment. I don’t think anything is going to slow it down any time soon.
It would be helpful if – in addition to these campaigns – the Blmfld ave/Midland crosswalk and the Grove st/Oxford area crosswalks each had them nifty yellow flashing lights that you see here and there (the crosswalk on Grove could also use better lighting at night).
Of course the crosswalk signs should be enough, but they obviously arent enough if they merit an annual safety campaign. Why not just add those features, or their ilk, to address the reality that Bloomfield ave and Grove both often serve as major throughways for people passing through town?
if the objective is pedestrian safety a great start would be to truly underscore those areas visibly so that all the magoos on the road can see them further ahead.
Crosswalks on heavy trraffic streets (like Blmfd. Ave should only be at corners with traffic lights. IF you are going down Blmfd. Ave. towards Newark (East) and there is traffic behind yu, lots of it, and cars & trucks are going 30 MPH … or even just 25 MPH and a person steps out into the street, to cross, an you jit the brakes, you are sure to get rear-ended and hurt.
Must have been real fun when the trolleys were still running.
Every coin has two sides right? I personally do a great deal of walking in and around Montclair, Glen Ridge, Bloomfield and Brookdale Park. I can’t tell you how many times cars fail to yield for me as I try to cross the road while within a clearly marked crosswalk. While this is not only dangerous and frustrating as a pedestrian, I also feel at times it can be confusing for drivers. I also do a great deal of local driving always stopping at crosswalks when I see someone stepping into the road. I have also been in situations where it would be dangerous to stop short and driven on through. The law is not perfect and yes it is not always fair either. I could be wrong but the law seems to be reserved for those within a crosswalk, not those on the sidewalk or next to the crosswalk. It seems reasonable that unless you step off the curb a driver cannot be expected to guess as to your intentions. I have slowed down more than a few times only to be waived on which is fine. What if there is no crosswalk? While it is nice to let someone cross the street am I legally required to do so? I wonder? The article about the trap on Bloomfield Ave actually upsets me (the trap, not the article). There are traffic lights on Bloomfield Ave for a reason. It is an extremely busy four lane road. It seems dangerous to me to require folks to just stop on a busy four lane road with four lanes of moving vehicles, plenty of parked cars and occasionally double parked cars to obscure your view of pedestrians. Isn’t that one of several reasons for a traffic light? Traffic lights = safety for all concerned. I am for Pedestrian crosswalks. I totally get it on two lane roads like Grove Street, Ridgewood Ave, Walnut Street, Church Street etc. A Bloomfield Avenue pedestrian crosswalk without a traffic light sounds to me like inviting trouble, particularly at night. Moreover it sounds like revenue raising and sticking it to the public to have a trap as described in the article. No one wants to see anyone get hurt. I cross Bloomfield Avenue at a light because it is common sense to cross a four lane road at the safe and designated place to do so. I would argue that if the town of Montclair feels it needs a crosswalk on Bloomfield Avenue so pedestrians can safely cross this busy thoroughfare, they should work with the county to install a traffic light at the intersection in question.
It’s amazing, just utterly unreal, to read all the comments that express outrage (and even mild dissatisfaction) over this operation. As if the most egregious crime a pedestrian can commit is not making it crystal clear his desire to cross the street. I can only imagine the anger a driver must feel if he has wasted 2 seconds of his life stopped in his vehicle for someone who does not want to cross. Oh the humanity! Or the horrendous state of confusion the poor, defenseless driver in a ton of steel must feel if a pedestrian does not look you boldly in the eye and take a deliberate, purposeful step onto a clearly marked crosswalk.
The problem is not the jaywalking or the location of the crosswalk. The problem is the self-absorbed, angry or distracted drivers who fail again and again to stop for pedestrians.
Hmmmm, on second thought….to protect drivers against the unpredictable, dangerous pedestrian, I suggest the following campaign: Cars Rallying Against Pedestrians, aka CRAP. Who is with me here? I’ll start a petition.
Tudlow….All pedestrians have the right to cross the street but NOT until you look in your rearview mirror and see what’s barrelling down on you! In NJ most people use their mirrors only to check their hair…..and forget about turn sigs, they don’t exist.
When Joe Motorist is driving, he wants the pedestrians to stop and let him pass, and when Joe Pedestrian is walking, he wants motorists to stop and let him pass. No big news here.
Why’d the baristanetizen cross the road?
To get to Bottle King.
I was not stopped but I hope the police continue this good work. Having almost been hit in the crosswalk at Van Vleck and Valley recently while walking my dogs, anything they can do to help is so appreciated. And I am not someone who just walks across the street expecting the car to stop; a woman stopped at the bottom of Van Vleck and Valley did not even bother to look at the three of us ALREADY IN THE CROSSWALK when she gunned that engine and missed hitting one of my dogs by millimeters. I was so shocked and upset that when other drivers asked me if I was ok I could not even speak!!