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Minutes of the General Membership Meeting
November 20, 2001, 10:00 a.m.
Vineland Training Academy
Teresa Thomas, SJTSA Program Coordinator opened the meeting with the flag salute at 10:20 a.m.
Minutes
Ms. Thomas directed everyone to their packets, pointing out the Executive Board Meeting Minutes (draft) of October 2 and General Membership Meeting Minutes of August 21. The August 21st meeting minutes were approved.
Ms. Thomas then introduced Sgt MacKafee, NJSP, for an update of the Aggressive Driver Campaign. The last Detail was August 31st. Detail totals were 28 units, 140 hours, 151 summons, 94 other contacts and 4 arrests. Totals to date are: 172 units, 1072 hours, 1021 summons, 724 other contacts and 27 arrests.
Teresa then got up and spoke about the CPS Inspection Campaign for 2001. There were a total of 11 events, inspecting 264 seats. Of them only 35 were installed correctly (13%). That equals 77% incorrectly which is slightly lower than the national average of 80%.
The General Membership approved the 2002 CPS Inspection Campaign. The Alliance will again provide supplies and seats to hosting agencies and help staff the event. The Alliance has also applied for a 2002 Grant to reimburse departments with only one or two technicians who participate in the Campaign. The only requirement will be to display the Alliances Banner.
Concentrating on education for 2002, the Alliance will also provide a Dial-A-Belt and other demonstration equipment for educations presentations. Technicians will be able to borrow the equipment.
Ms. Thomas held up Back to School Safety posters printed by the Alliance. One is for the younger school kids depicting the correct, seated and belted position in a school bus versus the incorrect standing and unbelted position. The other, DRIVERS BEWARE, is for the high schools (new drivers) and public places. Members were asked to take one of the "Drivers Beware" posters and display it at their offices. She went on the talk about the Saved By The Seat Belt Program to be started in January. Applications and Nominations will be accepted by the Alliance. Those people having avoided serious injury or even death because they had their seat belt on will be assembled at a press conference to promote seat belt usage. A PSA will be done along with posters to promote the program.
New Business
Members discussed the possibility of a Safety Bowl program to get the schools involved. Teresa showed a video of a driver simulation program called "Profiler". Law enforcement members had some concerns so a committee will be formed to review the possibility of using it and the associated costs.
Purchasing items were discussed but none were approved. They included DRIVE FRIENDLY and BUCKLE UP vinyl static stickers, a palm card for the HERO Campaign and Johns Law, posters for bicycle and pedestrian safety, and palm card for the new CPS law. Since NJDHTS and AAA both have palm cards for the new law, it was agreed that the Alliance would not produce its own.
Ms. Thomas said she is working with CN8 and hopes to do a series of PSAs. Including, following too close, CPS, stop for pedestrians in crosswalks, wear your bicycle helmet and the saved by the seat belt program.
Presentations
Bill Garrison, Program Director
Cumberland County Traffic Safety Program
Mr. Garrison explained how the program was formed and how it is currently set up, with committees. He went on to talk about what each committee has done and hopes to do in the future.
School Bus Safety Committee determined that passing school buses was a problem. They distributed survey forms to bus drivers to determine how many times they were passed and where the problem areas were. The survey was done with 36 buses and they were passed 95 times.
The committee then designed and Cumberland County Planning and Engineering produced and erected 25 signs reminding drivers not to pass a school bus when the flashing red lights are on. Mr. Garisson displayed one of the signs and the accompanying posters and showed a TV 40 news clip featuring the signs.
Following up, the committee has designed and distributed a post card for school bus drivers. When someone passes them they can fill in the license number and mail it to the Sheriffs office. A friendly reminder will be mailed to that person and all correspondence tracked.
Driver Education Committee set up tables and booths at various events to distribute pamphlets. Some events included: 101 Days of Summer Kick Off at the Cumberland Mall, Ames Department Store Hometown Fair, and Sportsman Jamboree.
The committee also worked with the Cumberland County Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Department to identify problem locations and target education. The GIS Department has gathered all police/accident reports for the County and entered them into the GIS system. They can sort by location or type of accident and produce a map of the county with the information.
Drunk Driving Committee This committee is in the process of creating a SLAM (Students Learning About Mortality) program for Cumberland County. The Delaware creators gave a presentation to the full Task Force and Mr. Garrison recommended anyone interested in the program should contact them for a presentation.
Motorcycle and Bicycle Safety Committee has not gotten off the ground. Mr. Garrison talked about working with the Lafferty Brothers (motorcycle racers from Cumberland) to use their images on posters etc. He said he is currently looking for a Chair person for this committee so if there was anyone present who was interested they should talk with him. For the upcoming year he hopes to reach out to the motorcycle and bicycle store owners for participation and support.
Child Passenger Seat Safety Committee This committee created a palm card with a listing of technicians. It can be inserted into the pamphlet produced by the NJDHTS.
Having a Diversity Grant, the Sheriffs Office has given out hundreds of seats in the County. There were inspection and give away events held at all the Rescue Squads throughout the County. Appointments were scheduled on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Sheriffs Office.
Mike Reeves, Manager of Regional Planning, SJTPO
Crash Data Slide Presentation
Mr. Reeves opened by talking about the crash data that was now available on-line at the NJDOTs website and how it might be used. A print out of the slide presentation is available upon request. Contact Teresa at 856-794-1941.
Legislation
Ms. Thomas read an article in that days issue of the Press of Atlantic City. It said that Senator Adler, District 6, had introduced a bill to reduce the new 8 year old requirement for a child passenger seat to 5 years old. The Alliance voted to oppose any bill that would significantly change the new law to go into effect December 1, 2001 and authorized Teresa to send a letter Senator Adler and copy our legislators.
She then read an excerpt from a neighboring article that said the Transportation Committee had approved digital licenses.
FYI
Year 2002 CPS and Highway Safety Grant Applications submitted.
CPS Refresher Course, February 6, 2002 - Canale Training Center
New Video - STONED COLD
Work Zone Safety - Flagging Train the Trainer - March 11 and 12 - Canale
Flagging - March 12 at 12:30 - Canale
Police Work Zone Safety May 6, 13 and 20 and June 3 - AAA Vorhees
Meeting adjourned at 12:30 PM
General Membership Meeting Minutes
August 21, 2001, 10:00 a.m.
Holly Beach Fire Company, Wildwood
Patrolman Rich Adair, Wildwood Police Dept, opening the meeting with the flag salute at 10:10 a.m.
He went on to explain that he first attended an Alliance meeting exactly one year ago and the benefits the Alliance has afforded his organization and the residents of his wildwood. Specifically, starting a traffic safety unit, instituting the fatal vision program, and receiving grants. He went on to say the contact he has made with other departments and the Division of Highway Traffic Safety are invaluable.
Ptl Adair turned the meeting over to Teresa Thomas. She thanked Ptl Adair for hosting the meeting and for validating the Alliances work. She reminded everyone that the Alliance is about interagency cooperation and coordination and is only as successful as its members.
Ms. Thomas introduced Mary Padden, RNC, from Salem Hospital, as the newest Executive Board Member. She was appointed to replace Debbie Wittaker, who resigned, as point person.
Minutes
Ms. Thomas directed everyone to their packets, pointing out the Executive Board Meeting Minutes (draft) of July 24 and General Membership Meeting Minutes of May 15.
Ongoing Business
Update on Child Passenger Safety Seat Inspection Campaign Pilot Program
Teresa M. Thomas, SJTSA Program Coordinator
Ms. Thomas said the Campaign was going very well. There are five more inspection events scheduled through September 30.
In addition, the Alliance hosted four one day seminars, two for school bus drivers and two for nurses. They were all well attended and full of information. Teresa said she attended one of each and that she herself learned a lot about seat belt usage that she can use personally. For example, that the head rest is not for comfort but safety. It is the only protection your head has in a crash and it should be adjusted each time you get into a car. She went on to say that the seat belt should not be twisted, its effectiveness decreases by 40% after the third twist.
Ms. Thomas notified everyone that the CPS Technician Update Seminar scheduled for Thursday, September 20 was changed to Friday, September 21st.
Review of Awards Luncheon
Ms. Thomas directed everyone to the front table where copies of the Awards Luncheon Program and extra pens were available.
Ms. Thomas then presented Lt Mario Terruso, NJ State Police, with an Appreciation Award, in recognition of his work with the Aggressive Driver Campaign. Lt Terruso was not present however, and Sgt C. MacKafee, accepted the award on his behalf. Teresa informed everyone that Lt Terruso was promoted to Deputy Troop Commander and would no longer be the Traffic Officer. Replacing him is Lt Cajetan (Tom) DeFeo.
2001 Aggressive Driver Countermeasure Campaign
Sgt MacKafee, NJSP,
May 25 Totals: 61 units, 429.5 hours, 341 summons, 385 other contacts and 11 arrests.
July 3 Totals: 66 units, 397.5 hours, 452 summons, 162 other contacts and 11 arrests.
The next detail is Friday, August 31st before the Labor Day Weekend.
Review of Police Work Zone Safety Seminar
Officer Michael Bernard, Lower Alloway Creek Twp Police Dept
Officer Bernard attended the May 2001 program. He said it was a worthwhile program and highly recommends people attend if they will consistently use it. There is a lot of information and if not used tends to be forgotten.
Ms. Thomas said that the class was in conjunction with Rutgers University and will be offered again next year. Because attendance from the region was low, Teresa asked if April would be a better time and the crowd said yes.
New Business
Fall Activity - Back to School and Seat Belt Safety
Teresa M. Thomas, Program Coordinator
Ms. Thomas explained that after tossing around different ideas and reviewing the budget, the Executive Board approved a poster and bumper sticker campaign for 2002. There will be two different kinds of posters, one for the schools reminding children to buckle up, stay seated and not to disturb the bus driver. The other will be for public places, like libraries and police stations, reminding drivers not to pass school buses with flashing lights on. The bumper stickers, which will be the vinyl static stickers, will remind drivers that school is open, driver safely. Notices will go out when the items are available.
Ms. Thomas then introduced Officer Jim Dietterich from Lower Township Police Dept. Officer Dietterich is the School Resource Officer and run several bus safety programs.
Presentations
SCHOOL BUS SAFETY
Officer James Dieterrich, Lower Township School Resource Officer
Officer Dieterrich said that they have a bus seat that they take to every school every year. Two classrooms at a time come to the auditorium for a safety presentation. Each student is required to sit in the seat and show they can buckle up. The seat is tilted to show they how the seat belt actually works. After every classroom has attended the presentation, the seat in left in the school for two weeks and the teachers include a small lesson plan on school bus safety and take the class to the seat to review procedures.
As a incentive, the schools and Burger King have come together in a program called School/Business Partnerships. Each month a class is chosen, by the bus drivers, to be the "Best Bus Bunch" for the month. They are then taken to Burger King for a free lunch.
The school district also instituted video cameras for various reasons. One is discipline. Since installing them discipline in the elementary school dropped 80% the first year. All we needed was that first incident where we showed the student the video and the word got around. Every once and a while someone acts up and we bring them in and the problem is resolved.
The other benefit of video cameras is in the case of an accident. The camera video tapes the drivers actions, turn signals and functioning lights, etc. In the case of a rear end accident, the actual impact is recorded. It assists us when vehicle drivers say the lights were not flashing and we can play back the video and agree or disagree. It also records student activity so we know where they were sitting at the time of the incident.
Another thing along that line that helps is a seating chart. The Lower Twp PD has a seating chart for every bus so in the case of an accident the officer does not have to ask each student where they were they can review the chart and ask about discrepancies.
Only by accident, Officer Dieterrich stumbled on the idea of enacting crashes, specifically a bus rollover. Its has become an annual event which we change a little every year and even learn something new. It gives EMTs and Firemen the chance to practice their skills and the kids love to watch it and learn what to do.
The first time we did the roll over, after 40 minutes, using the jaws of life, the fireman were still not into the roof of the bus. We learned that a $100.00 saw zaw will cut right through the bus roof. Now each Rescue Vehicle in Lower Twp has at least 2 on board.
Most recently the enactment was about a highjacking with the swat team. The bus was filled with paper figures representing students. The idea was to learn how bullets react when shot through a school bus window. What they learned was that softer bullets are more direct then the heavier bullets. The heavier bullets ricochet and could go through several objects before stopping.
Other programs include evacuating the bus. Published procedures tells you to sit down on the back of the bus and scoot off but realistically you want to jump, so they practice that.
The newest training includes trains and enact a train hitting the bus sitting on the tracks.
They also hold bus driver training seminars every month. They are 2 hours long.
Officer Dieterrich is available to discuss any of these programs and will help anyone get started. He can be reached at 609-898-9493.
55 DRIVE ALIVE
Mrs. Bernice Burnson, AARP
Mrs. Brunson is out of the Cape May Court House chapter. They are getting ready to begin their fall schedule. The class is 2 days, 4 hours a day, and costs $10.00. However, you will get at least 5% discount on the auto insurance. Some even go to 10% and 15%. Thankfully, the age requirement of 55 has been deleted and anyone can participate.
In addition to classroom work, eleven chapters including aggressive driving and road rage, alcohol, reaction time and the aging process and its affect on driving abilities; there is a road test portion.
Mrs. Brunson tole a story about her road test and how it got her involved. With the instructor in the passenger seat, she approached an intersection to make a left hand turn. As usual she pulled up into the intersection. The instructor pointed out to her that if a car were to hit her from behind she would be pushed right into the oncoming traffic. It is a habit we have all gotten into and there are many more that are addressed in the course.
Go to our website for the fall schedule. sjtsa.org.
HERO CAMPAIGN
Mr. Bill Elliott
The Hero Campaign is a designated driver program, designed to remind people of the dangers of drinking and driving and to offer an alternative. Tavern and restaurant owners are asked to display a 12X24 poster advertising that they participate in the program. Participating means that give will give a designated driver and pin to wear and then they are served alcoholic free beverages for free.
Mr. Elliott explained that the program is in memory of his son, John Elliott, who was killed by a drunk driver who had earlier been picked up by police and released to a friend. He then showed two videos, an anniversary segment done by TV40 and a collage of pictures put to music for teenagers. He then gave the Alliance one copy of each for their video library. Anyone interested in borrowing them may contact Teresa at 856-794-1941.
The Alliance has also agreed to act as a resource center for Hero Campaign items. Those interested in posters and/or pins may also contact Teresa.
Cape May County Pedestrian Safety Pilot Program
Dale Foster, Cape May County Engineer
Mr. Foster explained that Cape May County has made pedestrian safety a priority issue and has sought out funding to address pedestrian safety with the emphasis on low cost readily implementible improvements, such as, signs, pavement markings, traffic signal timing changes or the installation of WALK/DONT WALK displays. On behalf of Cape May County, the South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization was able to secure federal funding for such a pedestrian safety study. The project focused on Sea Isle City, Avalon, Stone Harbor, Ocean City, Strathmere, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, North Wildwood and Diamond Beach area of Lower Township.
Mr. Foster went on to explain the work done, recommendations submitted, and follow up.
The consultant was Orth-Rodgers and Associates. They had originally estimated studying 150 intersections but ended up doing 170. They conducted traffic counts, met with local personnel and school officials, performed site visits and extensive research regarding current practices and standards related to pedestrian safety.
The final report was submitted in June 25, 2001 and makes numerous recommendations for county, municipal, and state roads in the project area. Mr. Foster identified some specific locations for each of the techniques below, but they are not included here.
Continental Crosswalks, designed to identify heavy pedestrian usage, are pavement markings that are 12 to 24 inches in width at 24 inch centers by a minimum of six feet in length.
Standards Crosswalks, designed for light pedestrian use, consist of two parallel 6 inch wide lines located a minimum of six feet apart.
Yield to Pedestrian Signs - Improving pedestrian safety takes more than just installing pavement markings. It is a matter of educating the motorists of their responsibilities and state laws. In New Jersey, drivers are required to yield to pedestrians at crosswalks (Title 39:4-36). Therefore "Yield to Pedestrian" signs have been recommended for use at the first location motorists encounter pedestrian activity upon entering a community.
Another portion of the study was to review school crossings. Although no outstanding issues were identified by school representatives, the report does recommend replacing existing school crossing signs with fluorescent yellow-green colored signs. These signs are more visible than standard yellow signs and can be used with fluorescent pole attachments.
Cape May County is in the process of disseminating the recommendations to the state and individual municipalities for their use and implementation. The County is reviewing the recommendations for County roads to determine the work effort and associated costs.
Using the recommendations of the Pedestrian Safety Program, Cape May County is submitting an application for two therm plastic applicators and materials, used to install the crosswalks mentioned above.
Cape May County Pedestrian Engineering Grant
Al Tindall, NJDHTS
Mr. Tindall explained the process and showed pictures of different crosswalks installed using the process.
Sgt Barry Wythe, Atlantic County Prosecutors Office and SJTSA Executive Board member asked about slipping and safety when the thermoplatic gets wet. Mr. Tindall said he did not know of any safety problems associated with the product.
Chief Muller, Sea Isle City, asked how municipalities and locations would be determined.
Mr. Foster, Cape May County Engineer, said that letters will go out to each Mayor and Police Chief explaining the program and offering them the ability to participate by submitting locations they would like to do.
Legislation
Supported Assembly Bill No. 89 and Senate Bill No. 24 - Urging completion of Route 55 and its inclusion as a major item in highway funding project list.
The Executive Board recommended the Alliance support these bills because this is a safety issue. Rt 47 is an old stage coach road that was not designed for the amount of traffic it now has or the speeds they travel.
Opposed Assembly Bill No. 3592 - Requiring surcharge for passenger restraint violation; establisheds Child Safety Seat Distribution Program Fund.
*This bill was never present to the Executive Board for review.
Alliance members said that the only reason the bill was ever signed into law was because there were no surcharges associated with it. It is strictly a fine and should remain that way.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:40 pm
Minutes of the General Membership Meeting
May 15, 2001
Canale Training Center
Teresa Thomas opened the meeting at 10:10 a.m.
Rick Mulvihill, Director of the Atlantic County Department of Public Safety lead the flag salute
Minutes
Teresa explained that the Executive Board had decided to meet separately from the General Membership meetings and had met on Tuesday, April 3rd. Minutes were in the packet, along with minutes of the February 20th Executive Board and General Membership meetings.
Reorganization
Approval of By-Laws - Teresa explained that the Executive Board had reviewed the By-Laws at its February meeting and made some changes but that the General Membership never voted on them. Revised By-Laws were included in packet with changes in italic. They included language in Article VI, Sections 1 & 5. Section I includes language allowing the Executive Board to make recommendations to the General Membership if there are vacant seats, while Section 5 clarifies who resigning board members must notify. All present were in favor.
Approval of new Executive Board Members - Teresa announced that the Executive Board was recommending Sgt Richard Washart and Liberty Harshaw to fill the Cape May County vacant seats.
Sgt Washart is the Supervisor of the Traffic Safety Unit for Ocean City Police Department and Ms Harshaw is a Driver Education Instructor for Wildwood High School.
All present were in favor.
Ongoing Business
Update on Child Passenger Safety Seat Inspection Campaign Pilot Program
Teresa M. Thomas, SJTSA Program Coordinator
The Alliance hosted another Certification Course April 16th at the 911 Center in Rosenhayn. Below are our new certified technicians. The associated event started off slow but we had some very unusual installations. For example there was a custom van and old chevy that proved you cant teach everything.
Russell Bongiovanni, Hamilton Twp PD, Ptl M. Hughes, Egg Harbor Twp PD, Ptl William Bowen and Ptl Paul Ferry, Margate City PD, Michael Cohen, CMC Prosecutors Office, Sgt Tim Moore and Ptl Burgess Hamer, Middle Twp PD, Tpr .J. Grusemeyer, NJSP-Buena, Tpr D. Timko, NJSP-Bridgeton, Tpr J. Chain and Tpr Rich Gabor, NJSP-Woodbine, Tpr Michael Valiante, NJSP-Port Norris, Mary Smith and Lillian Ernst, Millville Rescue, Officer Jahaira Roman and Officer Noberto Torres, Bridgeton PD, Renee Garrison, Salem County Hospital, Sheriffs Officer Robert Hans, Salem Sheriffs Office, Sheriffs Officers Ernie Escabar, and Evelyn Navarro, Cumberland County Sheriffs Office, and Edison Taylor, SJ Hospital System-Bridgeton.
The Alliance also hosted an Inspection Event at Elmer Hospital Day, Saturday, May 12th. Technicians inspected 17 seats and only one was installed correctly.
2001 Aggressive Driver Countermeasure Campaign
Sgt MacKaFee, NJSP, talked about the.
Read the list of participants with 16 Alliance members participating.
First he pointed out that National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has various program packages available with boiler plate press releases, fact sheets, boiler plate articles for editorials, and CD's for Public Service Announcements. He highly recommends the Professional Aggressive Driver Campaign package. If you are not currently using it you should look into it, it will make your traffic officers jobs a lot easier.
He went on to talk about his conversation with Col Peter O'Hagan, Director of Highway Safety at the State. After four years the Col is still excited and supportive about the program and happy with the Alliances participation. They talked about expanding the program to include the Traffic Bureau Chief, Commercial Carrier Unit, Bus Units, and Weigh Details for specialized enforcement. This has come about because the program was not looking at buses and the newspapers came out with their own radar units and identified a problem with bus drivers.
Next he talked about the plea bargaining issue and will be reaching out to the Alliance for support. We need to take a look at how to identify persistent offenders and what we should do to curtail it. Currently, Trial Attorneys are not supposed to plea bargain anything down to anything that is not a related matter. After the 3rd conviction the judge may or may not assess motor vehicle points.
New Video
Teresa M. Thomas, SJTSA Program Coordinator
Teresa showed a small section of the Millennium Edition of the MUTCD Video Conference. The Alliance has two copies for use by anyone interested.
Presentations
Detective Herbert James, Atlantic City Police Department
DRY2K Program - 30 minutes
DRY2K is an exciting new multimedia project that targets junior and senior high school students. It was developed by the Fontana California Police Department and with permission was edited by the Atlantic City Police Department for use in New Jersey. However, there are some sections that cannot be removed and have to be a part of the presentation. The Alliance members were showed the 30 minute version, but there is a 45 minute version that includes a criminal section.
DRY2K explains the perils of drinking and driving to high school students. It is a three part program that covers education of New Jersey laws concerning drinking, drinking and driving and the sale or purchase of alcohol to minors. It also demonstrates the levels of impairment caused by alcohol usage by the use of "Fatal Vision Goggles" and graphically shows the consequences of drunk driving.
MADD and SADD support this program. MADD is providing histories and background of accidents in our region to be used in the program.
Ms. Mary Padden, RNC, Memorial Hospital of Salem
Tri-State Passenger Seat Inspection Campaign Committee, Fishkill New York, March 13-14-15
Mary said the event was very well attended and supported by New Jersey. 450 attendees from New Jersey.
She went over some of the different seminars she attended and had copies available.
Dial-A-Belt - An Automotive Safety Belt Training Station. www.sciproducts.com
This is an actual car seat with every kind of car seat belt system. It is used for educational demonstrations.
Tethers - A tether is a strap, used in addition to a safety belt, to anchor a child restraint firmly in place. One end of the strap is attached to the top of the restraint. The other end is anchored to the vehicles metal structure. The use of the tether improves the performances of a child restraint by securing the top of the seat and further restricting forward and side-to-side movement.
Innovative Programs
Babies-R-Us - BRU wants to partner with child safety seat technicians to offer them the opportunity to target their guests. They do this by offering, Baby Fest Weekends, Expectant Parents Seminars, Hosting or sponsoring CPS Check Up Events, and distributing brochures etc in the stores.
All BRU are looking for someone to host and event with them September 26th thru 30th. Is the Alliance interested?
Safetybeltsafe USA - Child Passenger Safety Technical Material
Tools available: CPS Reference Manual, Color Pictorial Guide, 2000 Supplement Child Restraint Manufacturers Instructions, Technical Encyclopedia Of CPS, List of Recalls and Replacement Parts for Child Restraints, Automatic Update Service.
IM SAFE! - Incentive & Education Program for Booster-Age Children -
A family who fully participates in the program recieves a booster seat, storybook and activity book, fact sheet and poster, video and demonstration, safe ride news. Www.imsafe.com
SAFE KIDS Coalition - Each state has its own coalition, and individual counties can have their own chapter. They have a van with tents, signage, and all the supplies. And if you do an event at a dealership, you get $500.00 to buy car seats.
Mary and Teresa will look into making the Alliance a chapter so we can have our own van in South Jersey and not have to travel to Monmouth.
Question by Sharane Orendas. Is it true that hospitals are sending new mothers home without a car seat?
Mary said that there is no law against it but that they do educate the parents on the importance. Sometimes its a choice between a car seat and food.
Sharane volunteered to work with Mary on a diversity grant for Salem County.
Cape May County Pedestrian Safety Project Results
Timothy G. Chelius, SJTPO Executive Director
Tabled
New Business
Spring Activity - Kids on Wheels
Teresa reminded everyone that last years Spring Activity was bicycle safety.
This year she would like organizations to broaden the program to include scooters, roller blades and skateboards. The Needs Assessments identified these items as problems. To aide departments, the Alliance has ordered Helmet ID Systems, similar to the Emergency ID Stickers. She did however, ask everyone to make sure the kids filled in the form and attached it before being permitted to participate in any activities such as obstacle courses.
Grant Forms and Money Available through the Alliance
Teresa explained two programs she is currently working on with NJDHS personnel.
She and Ed OConnor are working on a CPS Grant for the Alliance. It will allow the Alliance to reimburse technicians for working Check Up Events and doing educational programs. It will also allow the Alliance to purchase seats and supplies.
The second programs is a Pedestrian Engineering Grant to provide a machine and materials for crosswalk striping. Teresa is focusing on Cape May County because the SJTPO is doing the CMC Pedestrian Study which will identify locations that may benefit from low cost pedestrian safety measure such as signs and crosswalks etc.
* When submitting the Item Request Form, please be detailed. A new sheet should be used for each program because multi items may be need but the audience is the same and will determine the quantity.
It they are not completed correctly they will be returned.
Legislation
Supported Assembly Bill No. 539 - Concerns us of child passenger restraint systems, booster seats and seat belts. Teresa did say she had invited Assemblyman LeFevre and Blee to address the Alliance on this issue but they had a scheduling conflict.
Supported Assembly Bill No. 3271 - supplemental appropriation of $1 million to DLSP for child car safety public education campaign.
Supported Assembly Bill No. 3273 - supplemental appropriation of $250,000 to DLSP for child safety seat grant program.
Supported Assembly Bill No. 3223 - established driving while fatigued as recklessness under vehicular homicide statute.
FYI - Upcoming Events
CPS Inspection Events
Saturday, May 19th, Cape May County Zoo
Sunday, June 3rd, Consumer Square, Hamilton Twp
CPS Seminar for nurses, Friday, June 1st, Salem Hospital
CPS Seminars for school bus drivers, Tuesday, July 24 and 26th.
The meeting was adjourned at 12 Noon.
Minutes of the General Membership Meeting
February 20, 2001, 10:30 a.m.
FOP Lodge, Rt 49, Pennsville
Teresa Thomas opened the meeting at 10:45 a.m.
Minutes
Teresa referenced the minutes of the November 14th Executive Board and General Membership meetings.
Ongoing Business
Teresa spoke about the Child Passenger Safety Seat Inspection Campaign and went over the details of the Kick-Off event, Friday January 19th and the Ocean City event Friday, February 16th. Specifically, the January event checked 34 seats, 28 were installed incorrectly, 5 installed correctly, 1 new installation and 1 worn seat handed in for disposal. The February event inspected 29 seats, 4 of which were installed correctly.
The next event is Saturday, March 17th at the Carneys Point Firehouse, 1-4 pm. Teresa asked for volunteers from other counties to assist since Salem County only has 4 technicians.
Tim Chelius spoke about the Safety Needs Assessment Results and how they were included in the South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization's Regional Transportation Plan Update, now out in draft form. The Plan recommends certain priority highway corridors for further study and development. To review the draft form go to http://www.njchoices.com/sjtpo/index.html.
Lt Mario Terruso, NJSP, talked about the 2001 Aggressive Driver Countermeasure Campaign.
First he pointed out that National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has various program packages available with boiler plate press releases, fact sheets, boiler plate articles for editorials, and CD's for Public Service Announcements. He highly recommends the Professional Aggressive Driver Campaign package. If you are not currently using it you should look into it, it will make your traffic officers jobs a lot easier.
He went on to talk about his conversation with Col Peter O'Hagan, Director of Highway Safety at the State. After four years the Col is still excited and supportive about the program and happy with the Alliances participation. They talked about expanding the program to include the Traffic Bureau Chief, Commercial Carrier Unit, Bus Units, and Weigh Details for specialized enforcement. This has come about because the program was not looking at buses and the newspapers came out with their own radar units and identified a problem with bus drivers.
Next he talked about the plea bargaining issue and will be reaching out to the Alliance for support. We need to take a look at how to identify persistent offenders and what we should do to curtail it. Currently, Trial Attorneys are not supposed to plea bargain anything down to anything that is not a related matter. After the 3rd conviction the judge may or may not assess motor vehicle points.
The Campaign was approved for 2001 and will begin Memorial Weekend.
Presentations
National Child Passenger Safety Seat Week and
New Programs
Ms. Ann Burton, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
First Ms Burton introduced herself and told us a little about her past. She has been with NHTSA for about 3 ½ months. She came from New York State where she worked with injury prevention, mostly traffic safety related for about 12 years. She ran a lot of programs including Kids Coalition, Head Start, coordinated the Statewide SAFE KIDS program and involved with spinal cord injury prevention program.
At NHTSA, Ms Burton will be working in the area of child passenger, injury prevention, safe communities and diversity, occupant protection with NY, NJ, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
National Child Passenger Safety Seat Week was February 11-17. We have taken a lot of steps forward in the past five years and have brought awareness of the child safety seats to the forefront. We are fine tuning the process and the big push is on booster seats. Less than 10% of children that need to be in booster seats are currently using them.
The other big issue during CPS week was the National Safe Kids Campaign ratings. New Jersey was at the bottom but Ms Burton congratulated us for taking a positive approach to the results by moving legislation that addressed the problem. She went on to say that she was a little disappointed about how the ratings were conducted and that copies of those procedures are available.
NHTSA has contracted with a national social marketing firm, Academy for Educational Development to do a long term marketing plan for child passenger safety and seat belt use. There was a 10 question survey sent to the NHTSA offices in each region who in turn sent them to key organizations within their state. This input is the first level of research. Eventually materials and Public Service Announcements will be disseminated revolving around a common theme.
NHTSA is also working on a Child Restraint System Plan. The draft is a 26 page document currently available on the internet, www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/childps/. Some of the issues they are planning to work on include booster seat effectiveness and developing new crash test dummies.
Of particular concern right now are children under 1 year of age but over 20 lbs. For example, parents are asking pediatricians if they can turn around their 9 month old who is 25-26-27 lbs and being told yes. This is in direct conflict with what we teach technicians. The problem is there are no crash dummies of that weight that can be used for testing.
Liability has always been an issue. There is now insurance for technicians available from AAA ($55.00 year) and the Center for Injury Prevention ($250.00 year). Ms Burton believes that the perception is worse than the reality. She has only heard of problems when the children were discharged from hospital and the nurse was the last person who worked on the seat. When you think of all the car seats that have been checked to date, liability issues have been minimal.
For more information on the AAA insurance contact Bill Wen (407) 444-7960 or e-mail him at
NHTSA has just released curriculum for working with children with special needs. The curriculum will only be available to technicians taking the class. There are only three classes being offered this year, Hartford Connecticut, Davis California and Indianapolis. There will be more in the future.
NHTSA is working on curriculum for child care providers, which should be done in the Spring. It is a 1 ½ day training with a self training module for those who cannot attend the class.
New CD for manufacturers instruction book. All technicians should be receiving a copy in the mail, NHTSA just got theirs last week.
Tri-State Child Passenger Safety Conference March 13-14-15, Fishskill, NY. Participating states include New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. There will be experts on various aspects of child passenger safety including, diversity, tethering and special needs. They are anticipating about 300 people. This is the first of an annual and each state will take their turn hosting the event. Contact Ann Marie Harper at 845-225-0350 for more information.
5th Annual National Child Passenger Safety Conference, June 2-6. There were over 1,000 people last year. Information can be obtained at www.cipsafe.org.
FYI - The Center for Injury Prevention has opened an International Injury Prevention Center in Texas. It is a state of the art teaching facility for teaching the standardized class and advanced level classes.
NHTSA created a Blue Ribbon Panel to provide recommendations to increase seat belt use by African Americans. Studies show that Latinos, African Americans and Native Americans have a lower usage of seat belts and of car seats than other people. There will be more focus working with these populations in the next couple of years. In fact, there are two new diversity projects in New Jersey, Camden and Cumberland County. Ms. Burton turned to floor over the Sharane Orendas, NJ Division of Highway Safety for more information.
Ms Orendas explained how the programs came about. Representatives from the NHTSA, who are responsible for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, approached the NJDHS about hosting a conference on diversity, seat belts and car seats. NJDHS suggested that the money could better be served in communities with high minority concentrations. After doing some demographics, they chose Camden and Cumberland County. These two communities will receive funding for car seats to be distributed to families that cannot afford to purchase them.
Ms. Burton closed by pointing out that these are all special projects that are building on the solid foundation we have created over the past 3 or 4 years. We have over 10,000 technicians in the county which is phenomenal when you think about where we were five year ago. We have made great strides with an important safety program.
Question - What is a fitting station?
A Fitting Station is a permanent place that is fully equipped to perform child safety seat inspection and staffed by certified technicians. The important point is that people know where it is and when it is open. The long term goal is to get child passenger safety checks integrated into the community on a regular basis. The random Check Up Events are great but they are really it or miss for many parents.
Fatal Vision Goggles Program
Officer Matt Rabbai, Millville PD and
Officer Bill Rehmann, Cumberland County Sheriff's Dep
Officer Rehmann said the fatal vision program is an alcohol awareness program designed for young adults who are driving age or close to it. It is a ½ to 1 hour long educational program that includes videos and fatal vision goggles. The purpose of the goggles is not to make you feel drunk but to help you perceive how someone who has been drinking may see the road.
Discussion and Presentation
- define impairment, how it dulls the senses, decreases reaction time, hampers judgement, vision and alertness
- review the law, that anyone over the age of 21 with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08 or greater can be convicted of Driving Under the Influence (DUI)
- explain penalties, 1st offense can add up to $4,000 plus surcharges on your insurance
- explain penalties for refusing to take the BAC test
- go over stats and facts
- every 15 minute someone dies from an alcohol related crash, that equals 90 people a day
- every 2 minutes someone gets injured from an alcohol related crash, that equals 300,000 people a yr
- 2 our of every 5 accidents is alcohol related
- 1 out of 5 arrested for DUI have been in an alcohol related crash
- It takes a 120 lb female 5.3 hrs to sober up after 2 drinks
- It takes a 160 lb male 3.2 hrs to sober up after 2 drinks
- show videos
The officers set up a course and Tim Chelius, SJTPO Executive Director, Jodilyn Tofts, AAA South Jersey representative and Liberty Harshaw, Wildwood High School, volunteered to participate. They had to walk a straight line, throw a beach ball to an officer and ride a bike through cones wearing the fatal vision goggles.
New Business
Teresa talked about the new process and procedures for requesting items purchased by the Alliance. In the past items were directly given to the county point person for distribution to each department. Now those interested in using the items for a program must submit a form identifying the item and quantity requested, as well as the program they are to be used with. Forms may be faxed to Teresa at 856-794-2549. A letter along with a list of items will be disseminated to all Chiefs of Police and Sheriff's.
Legislation
Teresa directed everyone to the NJ Motor Vehicle Advisory No 2 - New Tow Truck Requirements in case they had not gotten a copy. She went on to inform the membership that the Legislative Committee met, minutes in the packet, and made the below recommendations which the Executive Board and General Membership supported.
Supported Assembly Bill No. 2923 - Extends time to file complaint for drunk driving from 30 days to six months. Depending on the work load, a laboratory can take more than 30 days to process blood tests. Once that 30th day passes, even if the results come back positive that driver cannot be arrested. In addition, the blood results may be negative for alcohol and only then can tests for other drugs be performed, taking the process past the 30 days currently available.
Supported, with clarification, Assembly Bill No. 2755 - Requires responsibility warnings to persons assuming custody of individuals charged with DUI; authorizes impounding of vehicles operated by persons charged with DUI. (Identical Bill S1672)
A) Commercial DWI - a subsection of 450 - is it included? Commercial DWI is a lower threshold, .04%. Are departments to impound the rigs? If they are, there are liability issues especially if there are perishable goods on board.
B) Authorization to release vs release of impounded vehicle
The committee is concerned about the time limits placed on the impounded vehicle. They way the bills currently reads the "arresting law enforcement agency shall have the vehicle ... impounded for a period of ..." Not all departments have the facilities to hold impounded vehicles on their premises. The departments that call on towing agencies to tow and store may not be able to release that vehicle within the specified time restraints. The bill should specify that the law enforcement agencies "issue an authorization to release" within specific times therefore placing the burden on the person responsible for the vehicle not the department. Departments can then institute their own procedures for issuing the authorization to release to the responsible parties and the storing agency and the responsible people remain liable for storing costs. Departments can issue the authorization to release 24 hrs a day but the towing and storing agencies are usually only open normal business hours.
Opposed Senate Bill No. 1673 - Requires persons arrested of DUI be held in protective custody for 12 hours. Law enforcement agencies do not have the facilities or the man power to hold people in protective custody. County jails are not designed to hold prisoners for short periods of time so they are not an option. Officers being used to "babysit" someone in custody are officers not out patrolling our roads.
Opposed Senate No.1863 - Prohibits persons arrested for DUI from driving for 24 hours after their arrest; provides for enhanced penalties. There are enforcement issues and burden of proof issues. Currently our system does not afford law enforcement agencies the ability to track people picked up or pulled over for any reason. How will a Cumberland County agency know that this person was picked up 10 hours ago by an Atlantic County agency?
In addition, what happens to the person picked up for DUI at 1:00 am with a BAC of .10% who goes home and sleeps it off. Why cant he get in his car 10 hours later and go to work? Now he is sober and not guilty of any crime.
Supported Assembly Bill No. 3182 - Prohibits use of cell phone while driving school bus. The NJDHS requested that the Alliance review this bill.
FYI - Upcoming Events
The Millennium MUTCD Video conference scheduled for Tuesday, March 20 has been moved to Atlantic-Cape Community College on the Black Horse Pike in Mays Landing. Those interested in attending should contact Dr Knezek at 732-445-7937.
The Police Work Zone Safety Seminars are scheduled for Thursdays, May 10, 17, 24 & 31 at the Canale Training Center, Egg Harbor Twp and Tuesdays, May 8, 15, 22, & 29, AAA Facility, Vorhees.
The next Child Passenger Safety Seat Training is April 16-20 at the 911 Communication & Training Center, Rosenhayn.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:45 p.m.
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