By Audrey Levine Staff Writer
Police report a 6 percent drop in motor vehicle accidents this year and they are attributing some of that success to aggressive driving programs aimed at catching those who commit motor vehicle violations.
These statistics are based on a combined average of 95 accidents reported from January to August in 2005, 2006 and 2007, as opposed to 89 reported during those same months in 2008.
”We believe these programs create awareness,” Hillsborough police Sgt. Darren Powell, head of the department’s Traffic Safety Bureau, said. “We are continuing the struggle to keep the roads as safe as possible.”
The first program, Sgt. Powell said, was held from Oct. 15, 2007, through the end of April 2008, and focused specifically on discouraging aggressive driving, particularly in accident-prone areas of Hillsborough. He said this was the first time the Police Department had participated in this specific program.
”As grants become available, we look at them to determine which we could use to improve traffic safety,” he said. Sgt. Powell said this grant came from the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety. “We thought this would fit our needs.”
The department received $24,995 in the grant, of which $15,000 went to pay for personnel to conduct checks at Amwell Road west of Route 206 to River Road; River Road from Studdiford Drive to the Raritan Borough border; New Centre Road from Roycefield Road south to Auten Road; Triangle Road; Auten Road; and Dukes Parkway West, he said.
The remaining money paid for an automated speed display trailer to monitor vehicle speeds, which was placed throughout the target areas.
In looking for aggressive driving at the locations, the police issued 866 motor vehicle summonses for violations. Among those issued were 372 summonses for speeding; 51 for traffic signal violations; 54 for careless driving; 14 for driving while impaired; 143 for other moving violations; and 195 for nonmoving violations.
The second program the department held was the Over the Limit, Under Arrest Impaired Driving Enforcement Campaign,” which Sgt. Powell said the township participates in at the end of summer and during the winter holidays each year.
As in past years, the department received $5,000 from the Division of Highway Traffic Safety to pay for additional officers on the roads almost every night between Aug. 15 and Sept. 1.
During this year’s enforcement, the department made nine arrests for driving while impaired; seven arrests for controlled dangerous substances offenses; took seven fugitives into custody; and issued 263 motor vehicle summonses.
The final program was held on Sept. 16 and was a Motor Vehicle Inspection Checkpoint on Route 206 near Camplain Road. This program, sponsored by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission yielded 40 motor vehicle summonses and the arrest of one fugitive.
This was the first time the department has run this program this year, Sgt. Powell said, but it has been held in the past. He said the state’s Mobile Inspection Team assists in the checkpoint, and, when officers identify vehicles with expired inspection stickers or other equipment violations, the drivers are issued summonses, then sent to the team for an inspection.
In total, Sgt. Powell said, the numbers of those arrested and receiving summonses during these programs is usually pretty similar each year, with small changes based on certain factors.
”The numbers can fluctuate based on how many officers are out, and how much time we are at the checkpoints,” he said.
Still, he said, these are important programs as the roads continue getting more crowded over the years.
”The number of vehicles on the road has been steadily increasing,” he said. “But having these programs gets drivers to see what is going on. The more the people see the police, the more they will (know) we are paying attention to the road.”

