What Happened To Traffic Enforcement In Maplewood?

Noticing over the last several weeks that South Orange PD seem to be making traffic stops again after years of inactivity. I don't see the same from Maplewood. I actually called the Maplewood PD a few months back to ask them when they would resume enforcement after seeing more than my fair share of close calls with a-hole drivers vs. little kids on their way to school. The rather surly woman who answered the call insisted that nothing has changed and enforcement has remained the same in Maplewood. Not what I'm seeing.   

I saw three instances of traffic enforcement on Prospect - I believe it was about two weeks ago. I was surprised to see it. Then I read that the sale at Dunks was over.

In the politics section we have a thread asking what is the purpose of the police…

There is no visible enforcement in Maplewood.

there needs to be some at least occasional presence on Maplewood Ave. Especially in the morning, the speeding between Durand and Jefferson is off the charts. People going easily 40-45 MPH.  And a lot of them in enormous SUVs that can't exactly stop on a dime.

ml1 said:

there needs to be some at least occasional presence on Maplewood Ave. Especially in the morning, the speeding between Durand and Jefferson is off the charts. People going easily 40-45 MPH.  And a lot of them in enormous SUVs that can't exactly stop on a dime.

Agree. However, some of the police are assigned right around the schools, likely to protect the children among the chaos of kids walking and/or being driven to school. Living on a corner near to Clinton I can tell time by the speeding cars going their drop off and coming back.

Is it against the law to not clear your car/SUV of snow? I thought it was. I saw so many people this morning driving in mostly SUVS and minivans covered in snow except for where the windshield wiper cleared. I wouldn't want to be driving behind somebody and have a sheet of snow/ice come flying off the top of their SUV/minivan towards me. 

jfinnegan said:

Is it against the law to not clear your car/SUV of snow? I thought it was. I saw so many people this morning driving in mostly SUVS and minivans covered in snow except for where the windshield wiper cleared. I wouldn't want to be driving behind somebody and have a sheet of snow/ice come flying off the top of their SUV/minivan towards me. 

Yes, it is against the law not to clean snow/ice off of your vehicle. 

https://www.nj.gov/oag/hts/downloads/Ice-Snow_Palm_Card_Web.pdf

jfinnegan said:

Is it against the law to not clear your car/SUV of snow? I thought it was. I saw so many people this morning driving in mostly SUVS and minivans covered in snow except for where the windshield wiper cleared. I wouldn't want to be driving behind somebody and have a sheet of snow/ice come flying off the top of their SUV/minivan towards me. 

This is a problem on highways. Not M/So where a sheet of ice off your car that is going 30 mph will land on the road.

But yes, you are right. The car should be clean of snow.

the law was passed in response to ice, falling off of tractor trailer roofs and damaging cars behind the trucks. This happened on N.J. highways.

Formerlyjerseyjack said:

jfinnegan said:

Is it against the law to not clear your car/SUV of snow? I thought it was. I saw so many people this morning driving in mostly SUVS and minivans covered in snow except for where the windshield wiper cleared. I wouldn't want to be driving behind somebody and have a sheet of snow/ice come flying off the top of their SUV/minivan towards me. 

This is a problem on highways. Not M/So where a sheet of ice off your car that is going 30 mph will land on the road.

But yes, you are right. The car should be clean of snow.

the law was passed in response to ice, falling off of tractor trailer roofs and damaging cars behind the trucks. This happened on N.J. highways.

On 78 this morning, the message board reminded drivers about this law. 

Formerlyjerseyjack said:

jfinnegan said:

Is it against the law to not clear your car/SUV of snow? I thought it was. I saw so many people this morning driving in mostly SUVS and minivans covered in snow except for where the windshield wiper cleared. I wouldn't want to be driving behind somebody and have a sheet of snow/ice come flying off the top of their SUV/minivan towards me. 

This is a problem on highways. Not M/So where a sheet of ice off your car that is going 30 mph will land on the road.

But yes, you are right. The car should be clean of snow.

the law was passed in response to ice, falling off of tractor trailer roofs and damaging cars behind the trucks. This happened on N.J. highways.

one of the dudes driving really fast on Maplewood Ave this morning also hadn't cleaned the snow off his car. 

Daily double!

All these damn New York drivers moving to jersey….

In particular, Brooklyn.... I blames it on BROOKLYN !

Is it a personnel issue?  I would TOTALLY volunteer to hand out tickets if deputized to do so.  A radar gun and a ticket book on my street alone would remove any township deficits.

bak said:

Is it a personnel issue?  I would TOTALLY volunteer to hand out tickets if deputized to do so.  A radar gun and a ticket book on my street alone would remove any township deficits.

just stand on Valley in sunglasses, crouch down and point a blow dryer at cars. That might get some of them to slow down. To your point, there have been many occasions where I'm stopped at Baker and Valley and a car goes right on red. I wish I could turn my sirens on and pull them over. 

There was a guy in maplewood years ago who used to threaten to throw rotten bananas at speeding cars on his street…he was on MOL… fun times 

Heads up: Florham Park. My uncle attended a senior citizens meeting in F.P. They had an accident on one of the streets - one person died. 

Police presented at the senior citizens club and announced strict enforcement of speed limits. "No tolerance."

Do we support strict enforcement in Mpl? 30 and under in the 25's?  What are your thoughts?

Formerlyjerseyjack said:

Heads up: Florham Park. My uncle attended a senior citizens meeting in F.P. They had an accident on one of the streets - one person died. 

Police presented at the senior citizens club and announced strict enforcement of speed limits. "No tolerance."

Do we support strict enforcement in Mpl? 30 and under in the 25's?  What are your thoughts?

I don't think Maplewood Police have the resources to enforce a "no tolerance" policy.  They would need to be more strategic about how resources are deployed to increase any kind of enforcement.

I was glad to see a police car on Springfield Avenue yesterday parked up. 

I have noticed more police cars out and about. That’s a good sign, I just wish one was on valley today around 1:30 , the lunatic behind me was honking his horn because I was driving at 30 mph, went around me as I was getting to park rd…then had to slam on his brakes at the red light. This was heading north.

I think the practice of parking cop cars at strategic locations is a good idea. Several towns do this.

The sight of a cop car causes slow-down for a block or two.