Police Use New Technology, Tactics To Make Route 130 Safer in Burlington County
By Cleve Bryan
DELRAN, N.J., (CBS) - Pedestrians who don't use crosswalks and drivers who don't brake for those who do are more likely than ever to get a ticket in Burlington County.
Since May, the Burlington County Sheriff's Office has been managing Operation 130 Safe Passage.
It's an 18-month, $225,000 project funded by the Division of Highway Traffic Safety providing over-time to officers to crack down on traffic violations along the Route 130 corridor.
In recent years there have been more than a dozen pedestrian deaths along Route 130, including a 20-year-old killed in March hit near Holy Cross High School.
Police are trying a new tactic in Burlington County to improve pedestrian safety.
Using plain-clothes officers as decoys, several departments have been working together to catch drivers who don't brake at marked crosswalks.
"This is a novel approach, this is the first time in our county and I believe statewide that we've had this many agencies working together," says Burlington County Sheriff Jean Stanfield.
Officers are also cracking down on those who illegally walk across Route 130.
"A lot of people jump the barrier and nobody really realizes how dangerous that actually is because you're standing there and a car hits you at 50, 60 or 70 miles an hour, it can be fatal," says sheriff's officer Bryan Norcross.
He says at least 20 pedestrians were issued either tickets or warnings since May.
