On Jan. 15 a pedestrian was struck by an automobile on one of the quietest, least-trafficked streets in town, dying on the way to the hospital. Some months before, another pedestrian meant the same fate on Grove Street, one of our busiest. All our major arteries: Grove, Valley, Upper Mountain, have become speedways, and the town and its police force seem to be doing little about it.
I don’t know when I last saw a police officer ticketing a driver or one with a radar gun checking for speeders. If this impression is incorrect I would like to know about it. Yet there is considerable emphasis on ticketing illegal parking (and, yes, I know this is not primarily the responsibility of the police, but of parking enforcement, and they are very good at it, and they are everywhere with their sweeps, targeting major shopping areas like Valley Road between Loraine and Bellevue, each little bit of paper under a windshield wiper bearing a swinging fine).
Something should be done to redirect the attention of the town authorities and the police to traffic safety and the danger from speeders and reckless drivers, serious moving violations. After all, I know of no instance yet where a parked car as opposed to one in motion has actually killed anyone.
George Bretherton
Montclair
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