Safe Streets Traffic Initiative

April 18, 2022

Over the last year the East Hartford Police Department has realized a noticeable increase in serious and fatal motor vehicle accidents, and an increase in aggressive and reckless drivers on our roadways. These increases have also been realized by our citizens as we continue to field concerns about speeding, stop sign violations and reckless driving.

“In reality, reckless driving and speeding is not just an East Hartford’s problem, it is a state and nationwide problem,” said Mayor Michael P. Walsh. “And while we cannot fix the entire state, we are aggressively addressing these concerns within our community.”

In 2021, there were 1,214 accidents reported in our community. Of these accidents, 200 were reported with injuries. The average number of accidents in our community over the last 5 years was 989. Additionally, our community saw a marked increase in traffic related fatalities in 2021 with 7 incidents resulting in 8 fatalities.

Unfortunately, our community is not alone. Just this week, the Nation Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that while Americans drove less in 2020 due to the pandemic, estimates show that 38,680 people died that year in motor vehicles traffic crashes. This marked the largest number of fatalities since 2007, and an increase of fatalities of 21%, even as total crashes decreased. NHTSA reported that the operators in almost half of these fatal crashes were speeding, operating under the influence or not wearing a seatbelt. This data suggests that fatal motor vehicle incidents are on the rise and it is clear that more needs to be done to make our roadways safe.

“The East Hartford Police Department is committed to making our community a safe place to live and work, and it is important to take stock of the health and welfare of everyone in our community,” said East Hartford Police Chief Scott Sansom. “Promoting health equity involves providing every person, regardless of location, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender identity, the same opportunity to travel safely on our roadways and reach their intended destinations.  Combining traffic enforcement with public education and informational campaigns will help us reach our ultimate goal of changing driving behavior and making our streets safer for all while ensuring our enforcement efforts are conducted in a fair and equitable manner,” Sansom added.

To help achieve the goal of the Safe Streets Traffic Initiative, the East Hartford Police Department will combine intensive enforcement of specific traffic safety laws at locations that have seen a marked increase in accidents as well as areas identified most by our community.  This effort will be coupled with extensive public communication, education, and outreach to keep our community informed. The overall goals of this endeavor will be:

  • Increase awareness of the importance of following traffic laws and using seatbelts.
  • Reduce the number of aggressive and reckless drivers on our roadways.
  • Reduce the number of distracted and impaired drivers on our roadways.
  • Reduce the number of motor vehicle accidents and accident fatalities.
  • Enhance overall safety on our roadways.

ENFORCEMENT
While high-visibility traffic enforcement is a proven traffic safety approach designed to create deterrence and change unlawful traffic behaviors, it takes a combination of enforcement, visibility elements, and publicity strategies to educate the public and promote voluntary compliance with the law. Through spring and into summer, the East Hartford Police Department will employ the following strategies:

  • Public service campaigns through social media platforms to bring awareness to, and help deter speeding, reckless driving and driving while distracted.
  • Utilize Town message boards to inform motorists of traffic enforcement efforts.
  • Utilize electronic speed/message boards to advise motorist of their speed and provide alerts.
  • Direct officers to remain highly visible when conducting traffic enforcement.
  • Utilize a combination of directed patrols, safety and spot checks and traffic checkpoints.
  • Staff additional officers that will focus on enforcement measures and traffic related outreach at specific hours and locations based on traffic and accident data.

Efforts will not focus primarily on the number of tickets issued, but instead will focus on changing behavior and making our roadways safer.