Officials want 96-inch rigs added to law
By:John Tredrea
In the wake of the recent death of a Lambertville video store clerk who succumbed to injuries suffered when a tractor trailer on an interstate run crashed into the store and the recent disclosure that the New Jersey State Police have issued no summonses to rigs in violation of the interstate truck ban, the Hopewell Township Committee has called on the state to enforce the ban, to give local police the power to enforce it as well, and to expand to ban to include 96-inch wide rigs.
“Although we knew we weren’t getting a great deal of cooperation (from the state), we weren’t aware that the ban wasn’t being enforced at all,” said Jon Edwards, township deputy mayor and director of public safety, during the committee’s May 18 meeting.
“The audacity of the State Police to not enforce a law that has been on the books since last July is mind-boggling,” Mr. Edwards said. “We have to get these trucks on the proper roads to do what they have to do.”
“How many horrific facts will we have to deal with before the state does something about interstate truck traffic?” added township Committeewoman Kathy Bird-Maurice. “I think one of the main jobs of government is public safety. On this issue, the state is not doing its job.”
In response to widespread public outcry that already had lasted several years, Gov. Christe Whitman announced in Hopewell Borough last July an emergency ban of all 102-inch wide trucks on interstate runs from state Routes 31, 29, county Route 518 and similar roads.
Under the ban, which a few months later became law, trucks on interstate runs are confined to the New Jersey Turnpike, interstate highways, the Atlantic City Expressway and a few other roads. Four months ago, the legislature passed a law under which truckers would pay stiff fines and face jail time for violating the ban.
At the May 18 Township Committee meeting, Mr. Edwards, Mayor Marylou Ferrara, Ms. Bird-Maurice and Committeeman Robert Higgins voted in favor of a resolution, written by Mr. Edwards, calling on the state to enforce the ban and expand its scope.
Committeeman John Hart abstained, saying “I don’t want our local police” pulling over trucks to see if they are in violation of the ban. Mr. Hart said such pull-overs would be ill-advised, because there are no safe places in the township in which they could be done.
Mr. Edwards replied that the state DOT (Department of Transportation) has said it is willing to set up a pull-off site on state Route 29 “within a month,” in front of the county correction center. The state also is continuing to confer with the township on a pull-off site off the northern side of state Route 31. The site could be located near Denow Road or Woosamonsa Road, Mr. Edwards said.
Mr. Edwards said the manifest of the driver of the truck in the Lambertville accident “clearly showed he was in violation” of the interstate ban. The 102-inch wide truck was hauling 80 tons of garbage from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania “and had no stops in New Jersey,” he said.
In the May 18 resolution, the committee once again called on the state to expand the ban to include 96-inch wide trucks, another standard size to which many rigs conform. It also repeated township requests that the state “vigorously enforce” the ban and “grant local municipalities the right to enforce such trucking legislation.”
“In our view,” Mr. Edwards said, “the state has the right to ban all trucks (from Routes 29, 31 and similar roads) except those making local deliveries.”
Under New Jersey law, only State Police have the right to pull over trucks to see if they are violating the interstate ban. Local police can only pull over trucks if they believe they are committing a motor vehicle or equipment violation, such as speeding or driving with improper lighting. If, during such a motor vehicle stop, a local officer finds a truck in violation of the interstate ban, he can issue driver a summons to that effect.
During the May 18 committee meeting, township resident Joseph Kowalski, like Mr. Edwards a member of the Mayors Task Force on Trucks and Traffic, said “we have to move forward and get on the steps of the state capitol and get these trucks off roads they don’t belong on.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more,” Mayor Ferrara replied.
Mr. Kowalski pointed out that, had the accident not occurred on day in which there was half a day of school of Lambertville, it could have been much worse. The accident occurred shortly after 3 p.m. On normal-length school days, Mr. Kowalski said, students often stop off at the video store on their way home.
“The store could have been filled with children when this happened,” Mr. Kowalski said.