By dave goldberg
Staff Writer
FARRAH MAFFAI Bill Yersevich of Huff Road in North Brunswick shows off the remaining sign of several purchased by residents to ask drivers to slow down when traveling through the area.
NORTH BRUNSWICK — Bill Yersevich, a 16-year township resident, has been trying to make Huff Road a safer area for children.
"During last March, April and May there were children born on this street," Yersevich said. "Local residents speed too often on this street. We put up silhouettes of children asking drivers to slow down. We purchased five of them for our neighbors."
Unfortunately, only a few months after the signs were installed, they were stolen, according to Yersevich.
"Three of them were stolen on the morning of Aug. 16 and another one was stolen the same afternoon between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. on the same day," Yersevich said. "These signs were only put up for the safety of the children. They were working well. We noticed many cars slowing down when they noticed the signs. They were effective because you can’t be everywhere all of the time. This was our way to deal with the situation."
Yersevich said even though the signs were costly, that was not his main concern.
"The signs’ total cost was more than $200, but it’s not the money that is most important. They were there to protect the children." Yersevich said. "We have already ordered replacements for the signs. I am not that concerned about the costs, because the safety of the children outweighs the money it will cost. This was an early Christmas gift to our neighbors. We did it for the families."
The signs were installed well, Yersevich said, which means that the perpetrators would have had to plan ahead and work hard to remove the signs.
"They had to be flat-out taken," Yersevich said. "They were weighted down with water and sand. We are going to use cement or chain down the new signs that come in. The stolen signs had to weigh at least 25 pounds. They were big and bulky and most likely were put into a pickup truck or something of similar size. We are not sure as to who the perpetrator is. I wanted to sit outside all night after the incident happened and watch the neighborhood. We are going to keep our eyes on anyone walking by."
Yersevich also said that there are other precautions being taken to monitor the speeding problem.
"When we suspect that a car is speeding, we can take down a license number and contact the police," Yersevich said. "The police will then contact the driver and issue a warning. Speeding has been a problem in this area for a couple of years. The speeding is an occasional situation. We are trying to do a mock speed run to see how many miles per hour would be a violation."
During the mock speed run, a neighbor will drive their car at 25 mph, so that the neighbors are aware of how the proper speed should look, according to Yersevich.
There are precautions that need to be taken to ensure safety, according to Yersevich.
"Something has to be done," Yersevich said. "I want the area to be safer for the kids. We will continue to have neighborhood committee meeting to discuss way to control the problem. This is a very cooperative neighborhood that is concerned about the safety of their children."
Traffic Safety Officer Michael Grasso said Wednesday that he was unaware of any problems on Huff Road.
"I don’t know anything about the situation," Grasso said. "I have not heard anything about it."