Time to respond to Parkway fatalities
The string of tragic auto accidents involving young people in Monmouth and Ocean counties continued with the deaths of Melissa Farber, 23, and Erica Lopez-Mulligan, 22. Farmer's car veered off the Garden State Parkway in Wall early Sunday morning, striking a tree and bursting into flames.
The fatalities were the 14th and 15 on the Monmouth and Ocean County stretches of the Parkway since the first of the year. Most of them involved drivers and/or passengers in their 20s or teens.
Last year, 19 people died on the Monmouth-Ocean portion of the Parkway; in 2005, 17 people died. That's 51 deaths in 21/2 years on about 60 miles of roadway.
Considering there has been an average of 35 deaths on the Parkway a year for the past five, and about half of them have been on about one third of the 173-mile length of the Parkway, you would think state highway officials and the State Police would have identified a trend by now - one warranting extra measures. Two steps should be implemented immediately - dramatically stepped up enforcement and the installation of more guardrails, particularly along the two stretches that have accounted for the most deaths, mile markers 90 to 97 (14 fatalities in past 30 months) and 112 to 120 (9 fatalities).
The fatalities were the 14th and 15 on the Monmouth and Ocean County stretches of the Parkway since the first of the year. Most of them involved drivers and/or passengers in their 20s or teens.
Last year, 19 people died on the Monmouth-Ocean portion of the Parkway; in 2005, 17 people died. That's 51 deaths in 21/2 years on about 60 miles of roadway.
Considering there has been an average of 35 deaths on the Parkway a year for the past five, and about half of them have been on about one third of the 173-mile length of the Parkway, you would think state highway officials and the State Police would have identified a trend by now - one warranting extra measures. Two steps should be implemented immediately - dramatically stepped up enforcement and the installation of more guardrails, particularly along the two stretches that have accounted for the most deaths, mile markers 90 to 97 (14 fatalities in past 30 months) and 112 to 120 (9 fatalities).
posted by Randy Bergmann at 2:29 PM
2 Comments:
Nice job, Randy.
When you consider that this doesn't even include the non-fatal accidents that seem to be happening on an almost-daily basis (especially during rush hour), it's clear we're reaching epidemic proportions.
In the meantime, everyone please be careful out there. All our time and safety are depending on you. Even if you don't cause a death or injury, the seemingly daily rush hour accidents are eating hours upon hours of hundreds of people's lives.
Carelessness, especially where we know there's a traffic problem, is not fair to your fellow commuters.
My friend just had an accident on Route 166 in Toms River. The traffic there is intense.
It seems that people are terribly preoccupied with all the "errands" or things they must fit into the day. People talk on the phone, and other multitasking things while driving a 2000 lb (or larger) vehicle.
And driver's tempers are short.
There are many deer in the area, especially lining the parkway,I sometimes wonder if the unknown causes of some fatalities are because of them darting onto the road.
Margaret
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