New Haven Independent

Posted by: David Streever | August 8, 2008 7:07 PM

Thanks Lt Witkowski & the new chief for all their work on reducing dangerous driving: I agree 100% with you on the behavioral angle, and thank you for attending our meetings & helping support us!

Posted by: Cyclicly Impaired | August 8, 2008 10:02 PM

Terminology problem here... Allan, what does it mean to be in charge of cycles?

Posted by: DingDong | August 8, 2008 11:01 PM

I think everyone really should appreciate the great job Lt. Witkowski is doing. It's a hard job but he seems to be really committed to doing it well!

Posted by: Alex | August 8, 2008 11:21 PM

Please! Why not direct all this effort to get the guns out of teenagers hands and stop the violence! We have so many bigger and more critical problems in our city! Were there unmarked cars at the Gospel Fest looking for gun toting kids? Stop trafficing in guns first then get to the drag racing and cell phones. Come on!

Posted by: anon | August 9, 2008 12:20 PM

I disagree, Alex. Streets and sidewalks make a city and if you can't enjoy them because thousands of people are being injured by illegal driving behavior, the city's economy, health and quality of life is destroyed as a result. That's what we're seeing in our city because of a failure to take urgent action on the problem. Pedestrian-friendly environments are booming but New Haven is not seeing the benefits as much as it should. Lt. Witkowski is excellent, but he has almost no resources to address the issues that have been rasied here.

Yes, there are significant violence within some communities and other problems that the other 400 police officers are working to address, but the traffic is far more life-threatening to an average citizen and is far more widespread - just stand at the corner of any street in New Haven for a few minutes and witness the outrageous levels of danger and lawlessness. There are currently only 5 or 10 cops working on that in the entire city, and only for 8 hours a day, which is not nearly enough to put a dent in the problem.

Also, cracking down on illegal behavior sends a strong message that more serious behavior, like shooting someone, will not be tolerated. It also helps catch other problems, like people trafficking drugs and guns in their unregistered, unlicensed or stolen vehicles. The new chief was recently telling a story about how he cracked down on traffic and ended up catching 200 illegal, unregistered vehicles in one day. All of them were towed to the pound.

Posted by: bandito | August 10, 2008 11:49 AM

Alex,
Give me a break...this was a gospel fest not the freddie fixer parade. I'm tired of working hard to support a family and having to support everyone else's family. This city, state and country needs MANDATORY BIRTH CONTROL. Generations and generations of people too lazy to get an education, too lazy to work with too much time to procreate. No conjugal visits in prison and both men and women on welfare (particulary those who are 4th and 5th generation welfare recipients) a birth control shot, norplant or whatever. Much of the problem lies in kids having kids and not having a structured enought life to even take care of themselves. All these outreach programs, yada, yada, yada. You don't see these programs outside of large cities because couples (together or apart) take care of their own! Other countries do it, and do it successfully (even to people who are gainfully employed and educated). I'm tired of seeing 17 year olds pushing strollers while we must take care of that child. I know I got off this subject but you need to take off your rose colored glasses and wake up!

Posted by: John | August 10, 2008 4:56 PM

I lived in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and California before moving to Connecticut, and I've never seen anything like the way people in New Haven run red lights. I've been here seven years and it still makes my jaw drop. It's as if the city motto is "New Haven--Where red lights are for suckers." I'm happy that Chief Lewis and Lt. Witkowski have made changing this a priority. I think a little enforcement will go a long way.

Posted by: Anon in Fair Haven | August 10, 2008 5:05 PM

Though I agree cell phone drivers are a problem, I think it is EXTREMELY hypocritical for the NHPD to enforce a law that they themselves consistently break. Officers are not above the law and hopefully Lt. Witkowski recognizes this as a problem as well.

Posted by: David Streever | August 12, 2008 11:44 AM

Alex.

I appreciate that you have a lot of passion about this.

I encourage you to look into the statistics: find out how many citizens are impacted by traffic accidents vs gun crimes. Look into how many people die or are seriously injured per year, look into the number 1 cause of death in our nation, and then come back and tell us that preventing traffic accidents is somehow not important.

Posted by: East Rockette | August 12, 2008 12:14 PM

"next to speeding, of course, which is the killer, I'd say the most dangerous behavior is running red lights and stop signs."

Oh, the irony. After attending a meeting about traffic calming on Sunday afternoon, my kids and I, on bikes, were crossing Whitney Ave at the pedestrian crossing outside the Peabody, with the all-direction "walk signal" illuminated. Suddenly a cop car (number plate 113) ploughed straight through the FULLY red light on Whitney.

No flashing lights, no siren, no honking the horn, no warning of any kind. Luckily we'd hesitated before stepping out. The police car stopped behind traffic at the next red light at Humphrey and waited for the green, so was clearly not in a hurry to get to an emergency.

I do hope Lt Witkowski has some remedial sessions with his own officers, so they can set an example for other drivers!