March 2026 | The New Jersey Police Chief Magazine 15
MAKING OUR STREETS SAFER: HOW YOUR AGENCY CAN LEAD WITH STREET
SMART NJ
Chief Michael Morris( Ret), DHTS Law Enforcement Liaison & William Yarzab, Street Smart NJ Coordinator
Pedestrian safety has become one of New Jersey’ s most urgent traffic concerns. With serious injuries and fatalities on the rise in many communities, local police departments are using datadriven, community-centered strategies to focus enforcement and outreach on pedestrian safety risks within their communities. For law enforcement, pedestrian crashes represent incidents that are highly visible, resource-intensive, and often preventable through targeted enforcement and education. One of the most effective tools available is Street Smart NJ, a statewide pedestrian safety campaign created by the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority( NJTPA) that blends education, high-visibility enforcement, and proven public messaging to change behaviors and save lives. Street Smart NJ is structured to help police departments apply consistent enforcement principles while clearly communicating expectations to drivers and pedestrians.“ Street Smart NJ is a common-sense, proven campaign that addresses the behaviors most often responsible for fatal and serious injury crashes,” said Middlesex County Commissioner Charles Kenny, Chair of the NJTPA Board of Trustees.“ I strongly encourage police departments, local officials, and community partners across New Jersey to take part. When we align enforcement, education, and public messaging, we can prevent crashes before they happen and save lives on our streets.”
Street Smart NJ is simple, adaptable, and built around the realities that police departments face every day. It reinforces the fundamentals: drivers must stop for pedestrians in crosswalks, obey speed limits, move over for vulnerable road users, and avoid distractions; pedestrians must cross safely, remain alert, and follow traffic signals. What distinguishes Street Smart NJ is its ability to support law enforcement by aligning local government, businesses, and residents around a single, coordinated safety message. This alignment reduces confusion, reinforces the legitimacy of enforcement actions, and helps officers explain the purpose of pedestrian safety in a consistent way. The campaign also reinforces New Jersey’ s Safe Passing Law using the clear message“ We Move Over for Safety, Four Feet, It’ s the Law,” giving officers a concise, enforceable way to address unsafe passing behavior.
For police departments, the program fits naturally into annual traffic safety planning. By reviewing five-year pedestrian crash trends, identifying high-risk intersections, and deploying short, high-visibility enforcement operations, agencies can directly target behaviors most closely associated with pedestrian crashes and serious injuries. These operations can be coordinated with school zones, downtown business districts, transit corridors, and seasonal events, wherever pedestrian activity is highest and allows agencies to deploy enforcement strategically rather than reactively. These efforts can be scaled to match agency size and staffing, relying on existing patrol and traffic resources.
Equally important is the community education component. Street Smart NJ provides free posters, tip cards, social graphics, and outreach materials that officers can use during‘ Coffee with a Cop’ events, school engagements, senior center visits, and neighborhood safety meetings. For officers, consistent education supports voluntary compliance and reduces repeated violations at known pedestrian conflict locations. When residents see officers enforcing the law and sharing consistent safety messages, enforcement activity is more clearly understood as a public safety function rather than a punitive one. The NJTPA can also help police departments customize materials for their campaigns, such as creating digital billboard or kiosk art, assisting with press releases, and adding police department or municipal logos to digital materials.