Any information on the child hit on the way to school this AM?

First off, are they ok? Secondly, anyone know what happened? FB seems up in the air

Ugh! How terrible. A parent's worse nightmare when the kids are walking-to-school age. Please keep us informed. Thank you.

Is that what happened near Prospect Street south of Springfield Avenue this morning? Drove past lots of emergency vehicles and a crowd of spectators this morning, but couldn't tell what had happened.

On Facebook it has been reported that he was just shook up. Taken to hospital for precautionary x-rays but nothing so far.

At approximately 0834 hrs at Lexington Ave and Prospect St a 7yoa was stuck by a motor vehicle. He sustained non-life threating injuries (bruises). The accident is currently being investigated by the Maplewood Police Department.

Just saw that. Thanks.

Hilton neighborhood Eddie Bennet was a witness to the accident. Read his account here:

https://www.tapinto.net/towns/south-orange-slash-maplewood/categories/letters-to-the-editor/articles/slow-down-soma

From the letter: "I hold you all personally responsible for what has happened today! I have emails dating back to 2008, asking for the township to do something about the speeding between Concord and Springfield."

From the article: "...an initial investigation determined that speed was not a factor in the collision."

jed said:
Hilton neighborhood Eddie Bennet was a witness to the accident. Read his account here:


https://www.tapinto.net/towns/south-orange-slash-maplewood/categories/letters-to-the-editor/articles/slow-down-soma

Okay so I have read his letter twice and find nothing like an account of the accident. It's all about his efforts to have something done about speeding in his neighborhood, that nothing of substance was done, and it's all our fault.

What I read of the accident does not sound like an indictment of speed enforcement in the town. There may well be an enforcement issue in general, but the article says that the driver stopped at the stop sign and then proceeded. So it's pretty hard to imagine that they were speeding in this particular case.

There definitely is an enforcement issue, especially on that stretch of Prospect (between Springfield and Concord). Drivers treat Stop signs as a mere suggestion; in fact, I've been nearly mowed down many times on my walk home from the Jitney down Prospect. The Speed Limit is 25 but it might as well be the Garden State Parkway for all the enforcement that goes on. Every few months there's an accident on that stretch of roadway and yet the town hasn't made any serious attempt at enforcing traffic laws and protecting the families who live in the Hilton neighborhood.

The accident that sparked Bennet's letter may or may not have been caused by driver recklessness or negligence; but it does draw attention to the very dangerous traffic situation on Prospect.

jed said:
There definitely is an enforcement issue, especially on that stretch of Prospect (between Springfield and Concord). Drivers treat Stop signs as a mere suggestion; in fact, I've been nearly mowed down many times on my walk home from the Jitney down Prospect. The Speed Limit is 25 but it might as well be the Garden State Parkway for all the enforcement that goes on. Every few months there's an accident on that stretch of roadway and yet the town hasn't made any serious attempt at enforcing traffic laws and protecting the families who live in the Hilton neighborhood.
The accident that sparked Bennet's letter may or may not have been caused by driver recklessness or negligence; but it does draw attention to the very dangerous traffic situation on Prospect.

Hear, hear!

I live literally around the corner from the accident site, and I can certainly confirm that there are traffic issues -- people use our neighborhood as their backdoor to get to 78E. In the morning, with everyone scampering to get to work, things are much worse. Typically, though, in addition to speeding, the big problem is people trying to roll (or ignore) the stop signs on the side streets in order to turn onto or cross Prospect. Does anyone know if the car in this incident was on Prospect or on a side street?

Also, if speed truly wasn't a factor, my guess is always texting behind the wheel, which traffic calming won't fix. But is there a need for traffic calming in this area? Absolutely.

val said:
I live literally around the corner from the accident site, and I can certainly confirm that there are traffic issues -- people use our neighborhood as their backdoor to get to 78E. In the morning, with everyone scampering to get to work, things are much worse. Typically, though, in addition to speeding, the big problem is people trying to roll (or ignore) the stop signs on the side streets in order to turn onto or cross Prospect. Does anyone know if the car in this incident was on Prospect or on a side street?
Also, if speed truly wasn't a factor, my guess is always texting behind the wheel, which traffic calming won't fix. But is there a need for traffic calming in this area? Absolutely.

So I'm guessing the speed table at Prospect and Hilton does nothing to slow traffic as it heads towards Concord. I haven't seen any reference to which direction the car was headed, does anyone know?

The disregard of drivers for legally crossing pedestrians is endemic. Maybe it's time to suspend licenses pending successful completion of a course on the rules of the road.

Last year when South Orange was cracking down on this issue people here were screaming bloody murder about entrapment, etc . I'd like to see more enforcement and more tickets.

sac said:
What I read of the accident does not sound like an indictment of speed enforcement in the town. There may well be an enforcement issue in general, but the article says that the driver stopped at the stop sign and then proceeded. So it's pretty hard to imagine that they were speeding in this particular case.

VG is reaching out to MPD to get more details. Speed was not a factor here in any case, I agree, but I'm ok if this is used to address that major issueas a side effect anyway.

"Speed table" hahahhaa

Not so much, no. As someone who drives up & down that intersection regularly, I can tell you: It's a joke.

Here's what:

1) Speed bumps.

2) Straight-up entrapment. Put a squad car at Concord & Prospect and Franklin & Prospect. Sit back and collect the revenue from drivers who speed and ignore stop signs.

My impression is that when the speed limit on Valley was lowered to 25 mph, traffic increased on Prospect. There are fewer lights between Springfield and SO Avenue if you are on Prospect than on Valley and I think a number of drivers have switched to it. I drive it several mornings a week to take our grandchild to OLS and it has been noticeably heavier in the past year or two than it had been before that.

More traffic, traffic moving much faster (forget the poor pedestrians trying to cross or traffic trying to turn in from a cross street). I agree that more enforcement and more of a police presence from time to time would help things a lot.

cody said:
My impression is that when the speed limit on Valley was lowered to 25 mph, traffic increased on Prospect. There are fewer lights between Springfield and SO Avenue if you are on Prospect than on Valley and I think a number of drivers have switched to it. I drive it several mornings a week to take our grandchild to OLS and it has been noticeably heavier in the past year or two than it had been before that.
More traffic, traffic moving much faster (forget the poor pedestrians trying to cross or traffic trying to turn in from a cross street). I agree that more enforcement and more of a police presence from time to time would help things a lot.

Although this is the stretch of Prospect south of Springfield, so that may not apply here. But we've been here 11 years and this has always been people's back route to the highway. The speeding around here is pretty ridiculous.

And the rule for morning rush is: being late to work is not a free pass to drive however you'd like. Speeding is not any more of an option at 8:35 AM than at any other time of day. Get up earlier.

Prospect? That ain't nuthin'. Ya wanna see speeding? Check out Irvington Avenue from Ward to Walgreens.

This is awful!! Poor baby! I'm glad he is all right