Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato today announced the results of his Safety/Enforcement Initiative to raise awareness and foster responsible driving behavior along the length of Route 539 in Ocean County.

From the July 20th start of the enforcement program, which included two days of saturation enforcement by the participating departments, the 539 detail produced a total of 109 summons issued with 268 vehicles stopped. Speeding violations topped the detail list with 31 summons issued and commercial vehicles were cited for 15 violations. There were two arrests for drug possession. The participating departments were happy to observe that the majority of motorists were choosing to drive responsibly. There were no fatalities or accidents involving serious injury during the period.

Prosecutor Coronato stated, “The initiative raised significant awareness among the motoring public regarding the safety issues along CR539, but more important it has coordinated efforts by Ocean County Law Enforcement, Engineering and Road Departments to take important steps toward making commuting along CR539 safer”.

The safety/enforcement initiative on CR 539 between Tuckerton and Plumsted Borough encompassed seven municipal jurisdictions traversing 38 miles of roadway in Ocean County from Milepost 0 – 38. The road crosses through the towns of Little Egg Harbor, Stafford, Barnegat, Lacey, Manchester, Plumsted and Jackson. This two-lane highway runs southeast to northwest through Ocean County and is frequently used by local seniors, commuters traveling to the Trenton area, tourists looking to vacation along the Jersey Shore and a large amount of commercial trucks.

The enforcement element of the initiative ran from July 20th to August 6th, bringing vigilant and aggressive enforcement of all those motor vehicle moving and equipment violations that are major contributory causes to the crashes. These causes include, but are not limited to, Improper Passing, Excessive Speed, Driving While Under the Influence, Aggressive Driving, Improper Turning, Failing to Yield, Inattentive Driving, Disregard of Traffic Signal, Following Too Close and various commercial carrier violations such as overweight, equipment maintenance and brake pressure.

The partnership is the result of extensive meetings called for by Prosecutor Coronato with local police chiefs, county officers/officials, NJ State Police and the Ocean County Road/Engineering Departments to address CR539 safety issues. Beyond the enforcement element, the initiative includes Engineering and Education elements that will continue into the future. The crafted initiative is a coordinated multi-jurisdictional/agency effort supported by the Chiefs of Police and Department Heads from the following jurisdictions/agencies:

 Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office
 Ocean County Sheriff’s Department
 NJ State Police Troop “C” – Red Lion and Tuckerton Stations
 NJ State Police Troop “C” – Tactical Patrol Unit
 NJ State Police – Transportation Safety Bureau
 Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders
 Ocean County Road Department
 Ocean County Engineering Department
 Barnegat Police Department
 Jackson Police Department
 Lacey Police Department
 Little Egg Harbor Police Department
 Manchester Police Department
 Plumsted Police Department
 Stafford Police Department
 Tuckerton Police Department
 Office of Highway Traffic Safety

The enforcement element of the initiative sought to bring vigilant and aggressive enforcement of all those motor vehicle moving and equipment violations that are major contributory causes to crashes. These causes include, but are not limited to, Improper Passing, Excessive Speed, Driving While Under the Influence, Aggressive Driving, Improper Turning, Failing to Yield, Inattentive Driving, Disregard of Traffic Signal, Following Too Close and various commercial carrier violations such as overweight, equipment maintenance and brake pressure.

The education element will continue to include signage, media postings, radio public service announcements, awareness posters and coordinated social media postings by all the partnering agencies. Prosecutor Coronato has directed all participating Chiefs to continue to be proactive in keeping media informed of crash stats and initiative developments.

The coordinated enforcement element has concluded, but policing agencies along CR539 will continue to make CR539 patrols a priority. Now that the partnership logistics and plans have been worked out, the coordinated enforcement element can be quickly reinstituted in the event of increased reports of accidents or dangerous driving behaviors.