For West Windsor resident Barbara Wethe, having to have a cell phone ready in case she has to dial 9-1-1, as well as a pencil and paper in her pocket to jot down license plate numbers, is an unfortunate reality.
Wethe, who is one of four crossing guards in West Windsor during the school year, has seen many close calls. She once saw a woman almost drive through a group of students crossing Route 571 toward High School South as she was making a right from Clarksville Road.
“Her excuse was that she didn’t see them and didn’t see me,” said Wethe. All crossing guards agree that Route 571 and Clarksville may be the busiest and most dangerous intersection in the morning for students to cross, but it is not the only safety concern they have.
The West Windsor Police Department is equally concerned and hopes drivers will be more alert and pay closer attention as the new school year approaches.
According to West Windsor Sergeant William Bastedo, the biggest problem is that drivers are distracted and are not paying attention. “People are doing other things while they’re driving,” he said. “That’s when they won’t see a crossing guard.”
From putting on makeup, to talking or texting on a cell phone, and even to eating their breakfast, there are a variety of reasons why drivers have created a number of close calls witnessed by crossing guards throughout the school year.
“It’s really just about paying attention,” said Bastedo. “Even people dropping their kids off at school should be aware of that.”
Aside from paying attention, drivers should familiarize themselves with the traffic laws pertaining to pedestrian crossings. In April, the state amended the law to ensure drivers come to a full stop when a pedestrian is crossing in the intersection.
“The driver of a vehicle shall stop and remain stopped to allow a pedestrian to cross the roadway within a marked crosswalk, when the pedestrian is upon, or within one lane of, the half of the roadway, upon which the vehicle is traveling or onto which it is turning,” the law states.
This means that a driver cannot slowly roll through the crosswalk when the pedestrian is still in the street — even if the pedestrian has cleared the path of the car, Bastedo explains. The driver must stop completely.
Breaking these laws come with fines — $200 as well as a penalty of community service up to 15 days. If a person is found breaking these laws and it actually results in an injury, the fines range between $100 and $500 and can include a prison sentence up to 25 days, a license suspension up to six months, or both.
If a collision between a pedestrian and vehicle occurs, “there shall be a permissive inference that the driver did not exercise due care for the safety of the pedestrian.”
But the law does include some rules for pedestrians, too. It prohibits pedestrians from walking or running into the path of an oncoming car when it is so close it is impossible for the driver to yield or stop. The law also states that “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.”
Crossing guards won’t step off the curb to cross a student until cars have come to a complete stop, but some of the problems include those with drivers who do not wait until the pedestrian has completely crossed the street, both Bastedo and Wethe explained.
Another problem is with drivers who blatantly disobey the flashing signals, the crossing guards, and the speed limits.
Bastedo points out that drivers need to pay attention to crossing guards, who are given the power to stop traffic. They also can serve as witnesses against those who break the law and are served traffic tickets. If a crossing guard reports a driver who has broken the law, he or she can be subpoenaed to testify against the driver.
This is especially important since the police department cannot always place a uniformed police officer at important intersections in the morning or afternoon, although it does have some uniformed officers out there.
“The crossing guards are our eyes out there,” Bastedo said.
