By Victoria Hurley-Schubert, Staff Writer
A traffic safety education campaign will be launched this spring in Princeton, where the streets are shared by drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists who sometimes seem to be in competition, or oblivious, of each other.
The Safe Princeton initiative, designed by the Traffic and Transportation Committee of Princeton Borough, will launch on April 2.
There are three parts to the program. The first is educational with a video that talks about dangerous behaviors of pedestrians, drivers and bicyclists. The second is a contest for schoolchildren that asks them to name six cartoon characters that personify the craziest and most dangerous traffic behaviors. The third is the continued experimentation with random foot patrols in the downtown area to work with people to educate them about unsafe behaviors.
Between 2008 and 2001, there were 114 pedestrians injured in the borough because of careless driving, walking or biking, said Anton Lahnston, chair of the borough Traffic and Transportation Committee.
”I don’t think we think of that often, but that’s part of our community,” he said. “We have a lot of misbehaviors going on in the community, including text messaging while driving and talking on phones while walking across the street.”
Nassau Street between Witherspoon Street and Washington Road, with 20 accidents, and in front of the Princeton Shopping Center, have been identified as the most hazardous areas.
A video tailored to various groups, such as high school and middle school students, will be distributed around the community, said Ralph Widner, committee member. A public service announcement will show on TV30 and in the Garden Theater.
Besides bicyclists, drivers and walkers being distracted, another reason for accidents is poor lighting, especially at the intersection of Nassau Street, Washington Road and Vandeventer Avenue.
Princeton University will fund the installation of automatic illuminated crosswalks across Nassau Street, which was one of the elements of the Memorandum of Understanding, said Kristin Appelget, director of Community and Regional Affairs at the university.
”The University agreed to contribute up to $150,000 each for three new illuminated crosswalks across Nassau Street at Palmer Square, Tulane and in the vicinity of 185 Nassau Street,” she said. “One crosswalk was to be installed per year over a three-year period.”
Firm costs, timelines or maintenance agreements have not been worked out yet, she said.

