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75 Martine Avenue, Fanwood, NJ 07023 - 908/322-7773 FAX - 908-322-2200 or 908-889-6359 Safety Wings | Tony Parenti , Editor MEETING NOTICES: Next Regular Business Meeting: WEDNESDAY, January 3, 2007, 10:00 AM, at the Somerville Elks Club, Route 28 (Union Avenue) Bridgewater, NJ. Board Of Directors: The next meeting is at the call of the President.  PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE: I would like to thank NJHTS Director Roberto Rodriguez for hosting our December 2006 meeting and all the members and guests who attended. The latest word is that Roberto will retire on December 31, 2006. We wish him good fortune with whatever he decides for his future and appreciate all he has done for traffic safety and the NJPTOA during his tenure. With the new year upon us, now would be a good time to evaluate our priorities in traffic safety and develop programs to help reduce roadway crashes and deaths. As traffic officers, it’s our responsibility to help make our communities safe. Unlike murder and other violent crimes where police have little or no control, there is much that can be done in the area of crash prevention. For starters, you can research prior crashes and fatalities to determine if there may be a need for a traffic control device or making any other improvements to prevent future crashes. By using initiatives such as this and employing the three “E’s,” you can make a difference. Along this regard, I salute the NJ Division of Highway Traffic Safety, NHTSA, and all the other participating agencies for putting together the Safe Passage on Our Roads Symposium. They did an excellent job, good speakers, great stuff, and very well attended. One of my goals for 2007 is to bring in courses in crash prevention to assist you in developing sound policies, and implementing roadway and traffic environment conditions to help make our communities safer. Stay Safe - Bill DWI CASE DISMISSED BECAUSE OF 60-DAY RULE: A Municipal Court Judge in Hoboken dismissed a DWI case after one of the three police officers was absent at the trial, due to an illness, and the case had reached its 60th day before the court. The decision caused quite a roar in the police community. Bob Pinizzotto, President of the NJ State Municipal Prosecutors' Association and Stephen Monson, Coordinator of Municipal Prosecutor Supervision, Prosecutors Supervision Bureau, Div. NJ Criminal Justice were quick to suggest not to “jump to conclusions on this one.” They say the Judge misread a NJ Supreme Court administrative guideline, Supreme Court Directive #1-84, that "suggests" cases be disposed of in 60 days. They claim the guideline is not a Court Rule and should not have been acted upon as if it were mandatory or subject to strict enforcement. Even though the Directive has never been a Court Rule, it is generally adhered to by Municipal Courts as a management tool, but is not an absolute requirement.  PARKING METERS THAT THINK: In Pacific Grove, California parking meters don't give those few minutes left on the meter when a motorist pulls away. Thanks to “parking technology” when a vehicle pulls away from a space, the meter automatically resets to zero. The meters are triggered by remote sensors, customers pay for street time by cell phone and solar-powered vending machines create customized parking plans for the motorist. Technology also found a way to beat the guy who rubs the traffic officer's chalk mark off tires on streets with time restrictions but no meters. In Monterey, Calif., & Chicago, parking officials drive mini-carts outfitted with GPS-enabled cameras that scan license plates and know how long a car has occupied the given space. Now they even have meters that increase parking fees over time, so that quick errands remain relatively inexpensive but long stays become more costly. A wire grid under the pavement triggers a sensor whenever a car pulls in. The information can be sent wirelessly via radio signals to traffic enforcers so they'd know when time runs out on any parking spot in town. The meter resets itself as soon as the car pulls away, so the next car has to pay the full fee. As of Week 51 there were 716 fatalities recorded on NJ roads compared to 686 during the same period in 2005, AN INCREASE OF 30 BODIES.
There were 344 Driver deaths, 137 Passengers, 153 Pedestrians, 66 Motorcycle Drivers, 5 Motorcycle Passengers, and 11Pedacyclists. There were 716 fatalities in 663 cashes. 
MVC ACCEPTS CHANGES IN INSPECTION SYSTEM ADVISORY NOTICE: MVC proposed changing the auto inspection standards at inspection facilities to eliminate problems not considered linked to safety. Things like inoperable horn, cracked windshield, license plate light out, having only one plate, broken or missing mirror, bumper with excessive rust, missing or misaligned gear-shift indicator, inoperable door or window, etc. Inspectors will advise motorists of the items needing repair and their responsibility to make the repairs, but will not fail the vehicle. The NJPTOA was opposed to some of the “advisories” because they posed a threat to officer’s safety and met with Chief Administrator Sharon Harrington. She readily accepted our suggestions and they are now moving forward with the implementation process. Police stopping vehicles with an advisory repair notice can summon drivers who fail to make the repair(s). STUDY SAYS USING CELL PHONE WON’T CAUSE CANCER -- BUT: A recent study finds long-term cell phone users are not at risk for developing cancer by using the phone. A Danish study found no evidence that cell phone users are at greater risk of cancer, not even among those who used cell phones as long as 21 years. More than 420,000 people in the study received their first cell phone between 1982 and 1995 with most having service for 8.5 years. Researchers tracked cancers among the cell phone users from the start in 1982 through 2002. They found the group's rate of cancer was actually slightly lower than Denmark's expected cancer rate for the general population. Researchers did not know why the cancer rate registered lower, but surmised that cell phone users might lead healthier lifestyles. BUT, people that use cell phones to do “up-skirting” and “down-blousing” might run the risk of unhealthy lifestyles by getting a black eye if caught in the process! (Foregoing sentence was not in the Danish study). 
HORSE PUNCHER: A football player for Ohio University got himself into a bar brawl. When police responded, one of them on horseback, the big football player decided to use the heel of his hand to punch the horse between the eyes. Although the punch was very obvious to onlookers and didn’t seem to phase the horse, the football player claimed he had his hand up and the horse ran into it. Police charged him with assaulting a police animal. He was fined $100 and had to perform 20 hours of community service. Seems like cleaning the muck in horse stalls would have been an appropriate community service but this wasn’t the case. “JACK” HAMMILL OBITUARY: We mourn the loss of John J. "Jack" Hammill, 59, a former member of the NJPTOA who died Wednesday (Dec. 6, 2006) at University Hospital, Newark. He served as a police officer with the Highland Park Police Department until 1977 when he was appointed as a detective with the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office investigating fatal crashes. 
ALWAYS WEAR YOUR SAFETY BELT AND BULLETPROOF VEST SUPPORT OUR TROOPS IN THE ARMED SERVICES Next Meeting January 3 – Somerville Elks Club |