Somerville launches campaign to increase safety for pedestrians

On Thursday, June 1, the Borough of Somerville kicked off its Street Smart New Jersey pedestrian safety campaign with a press conference outside Borough Hall.  Somerville Borough is the third municipality in Somerset County to organize an official Street Smart campaign, which aims to reduce pedestrian-vehicle crashes.

Street Smart is a statewide public awareness campaign that promotes safe travel behavior through education and enforcement of pedestrian and motor vehicle laws.  The campaign was developed by the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA), the metropolitan planning organization for northern and central New Jersey.

Police officers will work in collaboration with RideWise, the transportation management association for Somerset County, to encourage five key behaviors to improve and promote traffic and pedestrian safety in Somerville:

1. “Heads Up; Phones Down”
2. “Use Crosswalks”
3. “Wait for the Walk”
4. “Obey Speed Limits”
5. “Stop for Pedestrians”

Businesses, organizations and individuals interested in promoting the Street Smart NJ message in Somerville should contact Kristen Harding at 908-704-1011 or kristen@ridewise.org. To learn more about the campaign, visit bestreetsmartnj.org, find on Facebook (StreetSmartNJ) or Twitter (@njstreetsmart).