(The following was sent to TLS by Police Chief Rob Lawson) On April 1st the new law requiring motorists to stop for pedestrians crossing the roadway at an intersection took effect ( please see the statute below). Since this date we have seen numerous drivers going around other vehicles who have stopped to let pedestrians cross the street. This is unlawful and extremely dangerous, as the pedestrian believing that traffic has stopped, now proceeds to cross the street only to find that he/she is in jeopardy of being struck by a vehicle coming around the lawfully stopped one.
Initially, we will be giving out warnings for these violations until the public has been educated about the change in the law, but by May 1st, officers will be issuing summonses to motorists who violate this law since this is a potentially very hazardous violation. Motorists must pay extra attention, especially in the downtown area and any other location in town where there is a high level of pedestrian activity. At an intersection, always be alert and be ready to stop for pedestrians – it’s the law.
Pedestrian Safety
Beginning April 1, 2010, motorists who see pedestrian(s) in a crosswalk MUST:
MOTORISTS in New Jersey MUST stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk. Failure to observe the law may subject you to one or more of the following:
2 POINTS
$200 FINE (plus court costs)
15 DAYS COMMUNITY SERVICE
INSURANCE SURCHARGES
NEW JERSEY STATUTE 39:4-36
Driver to stop for pedestrian:
exceptions, violations. penalties.
A. The driver of a vehicle must stop and stay stopped for a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, except at crosswalks when the movement of traffic is being regulated by police officers or traffic control signals, or where otherwise prohibited by municipal, county, or State regulation, and except where a pedestrian tunnel or overhead pedestrian crossing has been provided, but no pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close that it is impossible for the driver to yield. Nothing contained herein shall relieve a pedestrian from using due care for his safety.
Whenever any vehicle is stopped to permit a pedestrian to cross the roadway, the driver of any other vehicle approaching from the rear shall not overtake and pass such stopped vehicle.
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.
B. A person violating this section shall, upon conviction thereof, pay a fine to be imposed by the court in the amount of $200. The court may also impose a term of community service not to exceed 15 days.
C. Of each fine imposed and collected pursuant to subsection B. of the section, $100 shall be forwarded to the State Treasurer who shall annually deposit the moneys into the “Pedestrian Safety Enforcement and Education Fund” created by section 1 of PL 2005, c 84 (C.39:4-36.2)
PEDESTRIANS MUST obey pedestrian signals and use crosswalks at signalized intersections. Both carry a $54.00 fine for failure to observe the law.
Attorney General Dow’s Remarks at a Press conference on 3/31/10
We’re here because too many pedestrians die in traffic accidents in New Jersey.
We are announcing changes to New Jersey’s laws that will make pedestrians safer and, we hope, reduce the number of people who die crossing our streets and highways.
Since 2004, the number of pedestrians killed each year in traffic accidents in New Jersey has averaged about 150.
Roughly 6,000 pedestrians have been injured each year on average in our state. Those figures are too high.
When you look at pedestrian deaths as a percentage of traffic fatalities as a whole, 20 to 25 percent of those who die annually in traffic accidents in New Jersey are pedestrians.
That is double the national rate of 11 to 13 percent of overall traffic fatalities.
There is an urgent need for change to make our roadways safer for pedestrians.
We are here to announce significant changes to our law regarding pedestrians.
These changes take effect today.
By amending the state’s more than 50-year-old pedestrian safety statute, we are clearly outlining for motorists and pedestrians their duties and responsibilities for sharing the road.
No longer will motorists and pedestrians have to play a game of chicken when it comes to maneuvering on our roadways.
By changing the language in our law from “Yield” to “Stop,” we are making it clear to drivers that w hen they approach a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk – OR an unmarked crosswalk that is at an intersection – they must stop and REMAIN STOPPED to allow the pedestrian to cross safely.
It is not enough to slow down.
The motorist cannot drive around a pedestrian, or hope the pedestrian stops for his or her vehicle.
Stop means STOP.
If the pedestrian is crossing a roadway with multiple lanes in each direction, the motorist must stop if the pedestrian is on the same half of the roadway or within one lane of that half of the roadway.
The statute also makes it unlawful for a vehicle to overtake or pass another vehicle that is stopped to allow a pedestrian to cross.
And the law establishes an inference that when there is a collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian in a crosswalk, the motorist is at fault.
Pedestrians, however, must also do their part under the amended law.
It is a pedestrian’s responsibility to exercise DUE CARE when crossing a roadway.
That means that a pedestrian should never suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the roadway, where it is impossible for a motorist to stop.
Additionally, a pedestrian must obey all traffic control signals and instructions by police who may be regulating traffic flow.
And most importantly, if a pedestrian enters the roadway at any point other than within a marked crosswalk or at an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, that pedestrian must yield the right-of-way to all motor vehicles.
While we will allow time for people to become familiar with the new law, let me be clear that police will enforce it.
Violation of the law by a driver carries a $200 fine – an increase of $100 – and 2 motor vehicle points.
Additionally, the motorist may be required to perform 15 days of community service and pay insurance surcharges.
Pedestrians who fail to obey traffic signs and signals, or who fail to yield the right of way to motor vehicles when they are not crossing the roadway in a crosswalk or at an intersection, are subject to a $54 fine.
The law enforcement community has made pedestrian safety a top priority.
Several years ago, the Division of Highway Traffic Safety, in partnership with the New Jersey Police Traffic Officers Association, the New Jersey Department of Transportation, and the Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University, began training local and state police officers in identifying and addressing high pedestrian crash locations through the deployment of the Pedestrian Decoy Program.
The program uses engineering, education and enforcement to identify and address pedestrian safety.
A key element of the program is the placement of undercover police officers, acting as pedestrians, in crosswalks to address the unsafe and unlawful behavior of motorists and pedestrians.
Under the program, motorists who have not obeyed the law with respect to the undercover officer crossing the street, have been stopped and either warned or ticketed by uniformed officers a short distance away.
Additionally, police officers have stopped and warned or cited pedestrians who failed to obey pedestrian signals or use crosswalks at signalized intersections.
With this change in the state’s pedestrian safety law, police officers will step up their motorist and pedestrian contacts to ensure that all roadway users understand their duties and responsibilities.
An oversized warning card, similar in size to a traffic ticket, has been developed by the Division of Highway Traffic Safety for use by police officers when speaking with motorists and pedestrians.
The card provides clear information about the new law.
For too long, New Jersey’s pedestrian fatality rate has exceeded the rates in many other states.
We are committed to changing the statistics and making New Jersey a leader in pedestrian safety.
Working together, we can ensure that all citizens, whether driving or on foot, have safe passage on our roadways.
I especially want to thank Joel and Diane Feldman, who have worked tirelessly on the issue of pedestrian safety in honor of their daughter, Casey, who was killed when she was struck in a crosswalk in Ocean City last summer.
Your advocacy and your public education campaign in the name of your daughter, Casey Feldman, are helping to make a real difference (www.caseyfeldman.com).
Your work will ensure that your daughter’s name and her life will have lasting meaning, by protecting countless other lives.
Chief Robert C. Lawson
Chief of PoliceLakewood Police Dept.
This is to hard! When driving we’r used to check the roadways for pedestrians or cars now we have to watch the sidewalks too 🙁
“Additionally, a pedestrian must obey all traffic control signals and instructions by police who may be regulating traffic flow.”
That’s the key right there. A pedestrian at a controlled intersection must still obey the “don’t walk” signal, despite what certain politically aspirant downtown merchants would have us believe.
No thank you to herskowtiz for buying those pedestrian crossing things on clifton? Or how about thanking singer for all he did for this law to get passed.
I don’t understand what we’re supposed to due if we’re running late for second seder and some cheder kids are trying to cross the street – who has kadimah??
Soon they will have “yield signs” in the co-op for the long lines Thursday afternoon and evening. Maybe they should ticket any ladies found in the co-op after 10:30 pm….
well slow down and leave plenty of time for your trips from home to BMG and vice versa. remember driving is a priviledge from the MVC, not a given right. Drive like its your children trying to walk and cross and have the same compassion to others as you would want others to have for you and your family.
driving down a lakewood road yesterday, i saw a teenager heading into a crosswalk, so i stopped. The van behind me, who was tailgating me the entire time, slammed into the back of my car. Luckily no injuries to either of us, but much car damage. The driver walked out, still holding the cell phone he was talking on while driving.
some people think “b’shvili nivra haOlam” and that laws do not pertain to them, such as talking on cell phones while driving, or yielding to pedestrians. Some people will just never learn.