Hundreds Of Magnets A Key To Pedestrian Safety Plan

Officials and concerned residents are hoping a coordinated attack will mitigate some of Ridgewood's well-publicized issues with pedestrian safety.

After months of discussion at Home and School Association meetings, in council chambers and among parents at soccer practice, the Federated HSA has teamed up with the village to launch a new initiative.

"Stop, Look, Wave: Be Safe, Be Seen," an effort to promote better safety awareness and habits will launch in mid-April, according to organizers. It's a necessary step, according to organizers and officials. A at night last spring. Then, in the fall, with a landscaping truck riding his bike to .

"It's sort of been an evolutionary process," said Lori Weil, an organizer. "We got together and said safety is a real issue in the village as a whole but what we can do is address safety around our school."

In initial discussions, structural changes around the schools proved to be too difficult to implement for logistical reasons. But educating the students was a tangible impact where dividends could be realized, according to Weil.

"If we have this campaign in the schools where we teach kids that the responsibility is on them before they step into the crosswalk – they've got to make eye contact with the driver, not assume the driver is necessarily going to stop – then this is really the first step in keeping our kids safe," she said.

"If we really get the word out, it can be a campaign that could help all pedestrians in the village."

The plan calls for a series of targeted collection of initiatives at all the school levels, focused most intensely at the elementary school levels.

Along with assemblies in school, Jeanne Johnson, a safety advocate and grant writer in town, will be working on a presentation with Meliam Gonzales, a trauma prevention coordinator for Hackensack University Medical Center.

The students will receive magnets and they'll be given a pamphlet detailing what was discussed and some basic reminders on the do's and dont's around the school they attend, according to Weil.

Middle schoolers will hear announcements on the PA system in the morning and they too will receive the magnets and pamphlets. High school students can buy the magnets at the school store for a small fee.

"We want to blanket the town with 5,000 magnets," Weil remarked. The mom expressed hope that kids would help alter their parents' driving and walking habits. Instead of jaywalking from the to the , perhaps they'd be "shamed" into using the crosswalk down the street, Weil said.

Further, "If everyone is a little more vigilant driving down Ridgewood Avenue then hopefully we will have made a difference," she added.

Mayor Keith Killion, who chairs the Citizens Safety Committee, has already given the initiative a good start by digging into his own pocket and lending his expertise as a retired police officer.

"I have donated $200 to buy 100 of those magnets for the safety committee," the mayor said. "This is important because this is the first initiative where everybody is on the same page and everyone is going to use the same slogan, which makes it easier to accept."

Killion will be placing the magnets on the Village of Ridgewood vehicles and he'll also be offering them up to residents.

The Ridgewood Police Department is also participating in the initiative.

The force will offer a "Bike Safety Day" to Ridgewood youth on Saturday, April 28, 2012 from 9:00 to 12:30 pm in the Graydon Pool parking lot, providing bike and helmet inspections, education rules and tips on safe riding habits.