ECC Traffic Enforcement Subcommittee ECC-NHPD Partnership & Bicycle Liaison Meeting Agenda and Minutes 03/10/08 7:15pm ATTENDANCE ECC: Rob R, Hunter S, David S, Grace J, Adrienne W, Bill K, Mark A New Haven Police Department: Lt. Witkowsky (Traffic), Capt. Kearney (Patrol) AGENDA AND DISCUSSION (a-z) The Agenda was emailed to all attendees prior to the meeting. ----- A. Who is ECC and what we do: 1) Why New Haven and other cities want to encourage cycling. 2) Our interactions with the Mayor and Mike Piscitelli, NHPS, other city agencies. a. Like the City, NHPD supports ECC's goals and sees their relationship with us as a "Partnership" to accomplish common goals. ----- B. Why traffic enforcement is a concern: 1) Safety is a major issue not just for people who currently cycle, but for those who would if the streets were not as dangerous. a. NHPD strongly agrees that traffic enforcement is a major quality of life issue affecting the entire city. For example, recent years have seen thousands of traffic accidents within the city. b. This problem must be addressed systematically across all levels of government. 2) Survey results a. 190 cyclists and local residents were surveyed to help determine the chief concerns within the community. 3) Enforcement needs to go hand-in-hand with engineering. a. Enforcement can help inform engineering changes. b. Engineering changes can eventually affect traffic speeds and violations, thereby freeing up police resources for more pressing needs within the community. ---- C. Wish-list for bicycle liaison 1) Gather and report, via the ElmCityCycling e-mail list, among other venues, statistics on reported cyclist/pedestrian crashes and enforcement actions at quarterly intervals. a. NHPD: CT DOT collects information using the PR-1 forms. There may be a timelag. NHPD reports to CT Motor Vehicle Program. b. NHPD: Tickets are issued only if person at fault is documented. c. ECC: Statistics should be reported by intersection to better understand problem. Statistics on crashes as well as statistics on enforcement actions are needed in order to address the problem in the long term. 2) Take input from cyclists about dangerous intersections and other matters of concern, primarily by attending Share-the-Streets Committee meetings (quarterly) a. NHPD: Officers will attend ECC Traffic Enforcement Subcommittee on a regular basis. b. During meetings, ECC can report specific problems to NHPD and begin to strategize on how to improve bicycling safety at particular intersections. c. ECC can collect community input through anonymous reports, emails, and notes from community meetings across the city. This will help NHPD. d. NHPD: ECC can call Lt. Witkowski (liaison) about intersections that are seen as a major problem, and NHPD will attempt to respond systematically. NHPD does not recommend focusing on one intersection all the time, because enforcement needs to be more systematic. e. NHPD: Violations including cell phone use and going through crosswalks when pedestrians are present will be addressed. ECC can assist NHPD in determining enforcement priorities. f. Immediate problems may be reported to Lt. Witkowski or Capt. Kearney immediately. Contact info is 946.6966 for Captain Kearney. 3) Keep records of 1) and 2) above; discuss at regular intervals with Dept. of Transportation, Traffic and Parking and other officers at NHPD how to increase safety at dangerous intersections, deciding whether better enforcement or intersection redesign or both are in order. a. NHPD: Liaison will gather location, # of accidents at intersection, time of accidents, and enforcement actions taken for all intersections. Schedule for gathering these statistics needs to be clarified. b. NHPD: Copies of reports will also be given to Capt. Kearney, who will pass them along to Lt. Witkowski. c. Through working with subcommittee and broader ECC membership, problem areas within the city will be identified and prioritized as being in need of improvement. NHPD & ECC will work with other city departments to determine how to do this. 4) Lead roll-call training sessions for the NHPD regarding legal issues important to cyclists and bicycle safety. As a possible longer-term goal, consider this San Francisco Police Department training video: http://www.sfbike.org/?bikelaw_sfpd_video a. NHPD can conduct roll call training of all cops during regular required re-certification/service training. The schedule and frequency for these will need to be clarified. b. NHPD will plan to include comprehensive bicycle safety training in Police Academy curriculum going forward. c. NHPD: Teachers must be certified and authoritative, meaning NHPD might be conducting the workshops, backed up with relevant laws. If someone else conducts workshops, they need to be authoritative. This is TBD. d. NHPD will review San Francisco training video. 5) Field questions about local ordinances and state laws relating to bicycles (is biking on the sidewalk allowed, etc?.) a. NHPD is always happy to answer and clarify community questions on the law. 6) Be in charge of any bicycle educational programs carried out by the police, such as bicycle rodeos at local schools (if any) a. ECC: Will work with NHPD to clarify what educational and safety programs are currently in place, decide what will be most effective, and work with NHPD to assist with them where possible. b. NHPD should be contacted, through Lt. Witkowski (police bicycle liaison), to set up such programs. Advance notice should be given. c. NHPD is happy to participate in all community education programs, whenever possible. 7) Communicate, as necessary, bicycle-related policies and other issues with Southern Connecticut State University Police Department and Yale Police Department. a. Interface with other police forces was not addressed, but will be as meetings go forward. 8) Is "proactive enforcement" possible? This involves not tickets, but friendly notifications to people who are observed by other citizens violating the law (a program used in other cities). a. NHPD: There was a program like this 7-9 years ago. NHPD will investigate the program and see what materials are available on it. b. NHPD: There should be a system to report violations and issue letters of warning/awareness to the owners of vehicles that have been seen violating the law. c. NHPD: Officers can pull cars over if repeat offenders are catalogued, and issue verbal warnings (potentially tickets, if enough evidence is available). d. NHPD: Program can include notifications for those seen violating the crosswalk law or talking on their cell phones, in addition to other more serious violations. e. ECC: Will work with NHPD to determine how this program can be implemented and how potential repeat offenders can tracked. 9) In the eyes of the NHPD, what other things can cyclists do to help? a. PSA campaigns can be effective in raising awareness. Is airtime available on WTNH? b. Legislative campaigns. Fines should be raised when violations affect a cyclists. Cyclists should lobby for new state laws proactively and urgently. c. Education and "Self Enforcement": ECC can target intersections and hand out fliers to cyclists and drivers. Notify NHPD beforehand so that they are aware that this is going on. d. Awareness: ECC should write letters or encourage news stories about accidents, particularly when any serious ones occur. This can raise awareness among anyone watching TV or reading the newspapers. ---- D. Next Steps for ECC-NHPD Partnership 1. Review minutes with the NHPD officers, and ask how we can help accomplish each item on the list. Determine the exact level of what is feasible. 2. Underscore that our efforts with them will be a "partnership". 3. Upcoming meetings may convene 15 minutes before the police arrive, so that we can address other traffic issues and review what will be discussed with the officers.