A dangerous commuter route on Route 206 between Princeton and Montgomery
By: Katie Wagner
It’s not uncommon to see bicyclists flying down Witherspoon Street, not the most bicycle-friendly road, but less dangerous for riders than Route 206, Princeton authorities said.
"Witherspoon’s a typical urban street and when people are biking on an urban street, they generally are more aware that cars might be pulling out of a driveway and of the vehicles on the road," said Kim Hodges, traffic safety officer for the Princeton Township Police Department. "A lot of times you have problems away from the city center, where vehicles are traveling at higher speeds, like on 206. Almost anything is safer than 206."
Police are particularly concerned about those who ride Route 206 at night and are in the process of soliciting bicycle light donations from local businesses to distribute to resident bicyclists that commute to work on Route 206 during nighttime hours.
Officer Christopher King said the efforts are part of one of the department’s community project-oriented policies. He added that officers initiate such policies annually to address problems within the community and that this is the first year the department has tried to distribute bicycle lights.
Officer King said Officer Geoff Maurer came up with the idea, received an initial donation from one company and has been trying to get more bicycle lights donated.
"Right now, we’re looking to see how to disseminate the ones that have been given out," Officer King said.
The dangers of riding a bicycle on Route 206 have been proven annually by the regular occurrences of accidents on the part of this road that runs from Princeton Township to Montgomery. Most recently, on the night of July 28 a bicyclist traveling on Route 206 was struck by a motorist in a hit-and-run incident, according to police.
Maria Juega of the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund said, several of the bicycle commuters using Route 206 are Spanish-speaking immigrants living in Princeton. She added, some of them work in businesses located on Route 206 in Montgomery Township, including ShopRite, the Tiger’s Tale and Major Car Wash. Providing lights to these bicycle commuters would be an excellent idea, especially because of the recent accident, she said.
"This brings up the urgency of really trying out more outreach to the community," Ms. Juega said. "It’s part of an overall bigger problem the lack of options immigrants have in terms of transportation. They come home at late hours, when there’s no bus transportation. They have no access to driver’s licenses, because of their immigrant status."
Another way police have been working to encourage safer bicycle use is through stopping riders that are not following the state bicycle laws and letting them know what they should be doing.
"Our main concern lately has been visibility," Officer King said.
He added, a few summonses have been issued to bicyclists over the past two years for various offenses, including failure to wear a helmet only for riders under the age of 17 and improper lights at night.
"Generally, we try to be as proactive as we can regarding bike safety," Officer Hodges said. "We’ve done bike safety programs primarily for kids, but I think with people becoming more aware of the benefits of biking and walking for health and environmental reasons that we are being proactive in anticipating more bicyclists. If we can’t stop everything from happening, we are making our best effort to keep accidents to an absolute minimum."
For more information on the bicycle light program, call Officer Maurer at the Princeton Township Police Department, 609-921-2100.

