Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato and Brick Police Chief Jim Riccio and other officers, announcing the start of an enforcement sweep of county road 528. (Photo: OCPO)
Citing a steady increase in fatalities, intoxicated driving arrests and serious accidents, police from Brick and neighboring communities will focus efforts on traffic enforcement along a county road that officials say has become more dangerous in recent years.
Brick’s portion of Route 528 encompasses Mantoloking Road and Cedar Bridge Avenue. Both have had an increasing number of motor vehicle crashes in recent years, prompting the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office to partner with local police in Brick – as well as police in Lakewood, Jackson and Plumsted townships, where the road continues – to begin “vigilant and aggressive enforcement” of moving and equipment violations which contribute to accidents, an announcement on the program said.
The stepped-up enforcement will take place between June 17 and June 30. Police will specifically be looking to crack down on improper passing, excessive speed, drunk driving, aggressive driving, improper turning, failing to yield, inattentive driving, disregarding of traffic signals, following too close and various commercial carrier violations such as overweight, equipment maintenance and brake pressure issues.
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The enhanced focus on the roadway will also include a partnership with the Ocean County engineering department. That aspect of the initiative will include a review of the accidents and specific roadway dynamics to determine if ‘rumble strips’ or other possible safety improvements may be appropriate for portions of the roadway.
An education element will include signage, media postings, radio public service announcements, awareness posters and coordinated social media postings by all the partnering agencies. As evident by recent localized media releases on enforcement, Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato has directed all participating police chiefs to be “proactive in keeping media informed of enforcement efforts, crash stats and initiative developments.”
The data, indeed, shows a high number of accidents.
[box type=”shadow” align=”” class=”” width=””]Accidents on Mantoloking Road, Cedar Bridge Avenue
2012
- Cedar Bridge Avenue (Brick): 32
- Cedar Bridge Avenue (Lakewood): 30
- Mantoloking Road: No Data
2013
- Cedar Bridge Avenue (Brick): 55
- Cedar Bridge Avenue (Lakewood): 32
- Mantoloking Road: No Data
2014
- Cedar Bridge Avenue (Brick): 44
- Cedar Bridge Avenue (Lakewood): 36
- Mantoloking Road: 5
2015 (To Date)
- Cedar Bridge Avenue (Brick): 8
- Cedar Bridge Avenue (Lakewood): 44
- Mantoloking Road: 9 [/box]
“I have called upon all departments having jurisdiction in the area to do their part in alleviating these concerns and resolving potential safety issues,” Coronato said in a prepared statement on the enforcement sweep, which is based on a similar focus on Route 539 in western Ocean County last year.
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