“Joan went to work on Monday, and just for going to work, she died.”
Perhaps nothing sums up the tragic death of 54-year-old Joan Eschen of Delaware Township as well as the words of Lambertville Mayor David Del Vecchio. Those words were spoken to TV crews and newspaper reporters at the emotional scene of the accident May 12 and repeated at a City Council meeting the following Monday.
Two people have lost their lives in less than a year. A truck driver died in a fiery crash in August just two miles south — in West Amwell Township — of the accident at the Lambertville Video store two weeks ago.
A State Police preliminary report tells us that brake failure was, in part, due to blame for the accident in Lambertville May 12. But we can’t help but wonder what the driver was doing in town when he was supposed to be hauling trash from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania.
Why wasn’t he using the toll bridge that has no weight limit for big trucks? That bridge is accessible form Route 202; there was no need to bring a big rig into the densely populated city.
And his rig was over the limit — 102 inches in width — imposed by the state last year for roads not on the National Highway Network. But even then, no tickets have been written by State Police since that ban went into effect, and local cops can’t pull them over for that violation unless the driver is violating some other law.
Part of the problem is that police are confused over the law. They need to be educated.
But more needs to be done. Trucks have no business in a small town like Lambertville except for local deliveries. Certainly, there is no sense to having these big rigs using our narrow streets as a bypass to major highways.
Route 29 passes by our elementary school, and these semis endanger our children who walk to school in this 1.1-square-mile city.
City residents know how hard it is to get the state to listen to their pleas. The fight to ban these large trucks from the city actually began 30 years ago.
Few people living in town, whether they’re natives or relative newcomers to the area, haven’t heard about the tragic gas explosions of 1970 and 1971 that killed eight people and leveled homes on York and Church streets. Way back then, vibrations caused by heavy trucks was thought to be the final straw for deteriorated gas lines.
Whatever happens on major highways outside the city may help — lowering the limit to 96 inches, etc.
But Lambertville is unique and, as such, needs stricter regulations. Trucks should not be on Route 29 at all — except for local deliveries — near the elementary school or at least during school hours.
The idea of a Lambertville bypass needs to be resurrected. Police have to be given the power to enforce the existing bans. And the state needs to listen and follow through on residents’ demands.
We know truckers are important to our everyday lives. We’re not prepared to drive to major cities to get our supplies for businesses, schools and homes ourselves. We need trucks to deliver our goods.
But we’re also not prepared to sacrifice any of our residents when common sense could prevail to ensure their safety.
