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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
The meeting was adjourned and lunch served at 12:30 PM
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SJTSA
