July 23, 2022
Cars pass by in the front of Stamford High School along Strawberry Hill Avenue on July 13. Among Stamford schools, Stamford High School has the highest rate of traffic accidents and traffic stops over the last three years. In 2016, 18-year-old Karina Tinajero-Arreguin was killed when she was hit by a van while crossing Strawberry Hill Avenue to get to the school.
Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media
STAMFORD — The most common complaint Jonathan Jacobson hears from his constituents in Strawberry Hill is speeding cars that zip up and down the neighborhood’s main avenue.
“Here in Stamford, for lack of a better term, there’s a culture of poor driving,” said Jacobson, during a meeting of the Stamford Board of Representatives this month.
Jacobson, a member of the board, decided to do something about it. He wrote a resolution, which was co-sponsored by 21 other representatives, that calls for speed cameras to be installed at Stamford schools. Along Strawberry Hill Avenue, which abuts the 12th district that Jacobson represents, sit two schools: Strawberry Hill School and Stamford High School.
At the most recent board meeting, the resolution passed easily by a vote of 27-7 with two abstentions.
But there’s a catch.
In order to be implemented, state lawmakers would have to approve legislation that allows for the use of speed cameras in the state, or gives local municipalities the power to come up with their own regulations.
Efforts to get legislatures to allow speed camera usage have failed in the past. In 2018, a bill was introduced to begin a pilot program for speeding cameras, but it didn’t get much traction.
At the time, the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut and the NAACP testified against it, arguing that the cameras pose privacy risks and could disproportionately affect people of color.
Another concern is that the cameras identify cars by license plate, not by the driver. Which means residents who allow others to drive their car could get a speeding ticket for an infraction they didn’t commit.
Jacobson said he is hopeful this time will be different.
For starters, the state is trying out a speed camera pilot program this year on highwaysin order to protect highway workers.
“To the extent that it’s appropriate to protect our highways workers, we should similarly be looking to protect our teachers and children,” Jacobson said at the board meeting.
The resolution also has the support of Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons.
“Our city has had tragic pedestrian fatalities around our schools and we need to make sure we protect public safety and enhance pedestrian safety and walkability throughout our community,” Simmons said, in an emailed statement.
Fatal traffic accidents have risen by 31 percent in the past three years in Connecticut, according to data presented by Luke Buttenwieser of the Stamford traffic department during a meeting of the Board of Representatives’ State and Commerce Committee last month.
He described the growing number of fatal car crashes as a “pandemic.”
“We are going down a bad road in terms of roadway safety in America,” Buttenwiser said.
Up until recently, car crashes were the leading cause of death among children until it was
eclipsed by gun-related deaths in 2020, according to data provided by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In Stamford, some schools have experienced more traffic related incidents than others.
When looking at the total number of traffic stops and car accidents near schools since 2019, Stamford High School outpaced any other school in the city by a wide margin. According to one graphic presented by Buttenwiser, the school was the site of about 38 crashes in the past three years or so. Rippowam Middle School was second on the list, with about 18 such incidents.
The data did not specify if any of the crashes were due to speeding.
The Strawberry Hill corridor, where Stamford High is located, is one of the city’s most problematic areas which traffic officials say they are hoping to fix. It was site of a fatal crash in 2016, when an 18-year-old student was struck and killed by a van trying to cross Strawberry Hill Avenue.
In 2021, there were 10 incidents involving pedestrians struck by vehicles near school zones, according to Buttenwieser’s presentation, but those numbers also did not specify if speeding was involved in any case, nor when the incidents occurred.
Five of the 10 took place near Hart Magnet Elementary School in the West Side, three occurred at K.T. Murphy Elementary School in the Cove neighborhood and there was one each at Springdale Elementary School on Hope Street and Stamford High School on Strawberry Hill Avenue.
In the lead-up to the vote on the speed camera resolution, Stamford High Principal Matthew Forker penned a letter in support. The high school leader wrote that he has seen a number of accidents on roads near the school in the 25 years he has been employed there.
“I am, and always will be, in favor of safety measures that protect all citizens of Stamford, especially the students that attend SHS,” he wrote.
During his presentation to a board subcommittee last month, Buttenwieser said studies have found that cameras do contribute to lowered speeds.
The National Transportation Safety Board found that speed cameras have reduced crashes between 8 and 49 percent, depending on where they are installed.
Not everyone on the Board of Representatives was in favor of the measure, however.
Rep. Nina Sherwood, D-8, had a number of concerns.
Chiefly, she was opposed to the idea of giving an electronic device the power to issue tickets.
“I don’t think we should be heading in a direction where artificial intelligence is fining residents,” she said.
Rep. Lindsey Miller, D-7, countered that argument by saying that such instances already exist, such as automated tolls that send bills to drivers.
Sherwood and others argued that having police officers stationed at schools would be more effective in cutting down on speeding.
But other representatives responded that manpower at Stamford Police Department is currently depleted, and having officers regularly standing outside of schools to regulate car speed would be a poor use of resources.
“I think it’s impractical for taxpayers to pay for local police to stand in front of schools with a speeding device,” Jacobson responded.
For now, Stamford officials will play the waiting game, seeing if state legislators decide to tackle the speed camera issue once again.
“Moving forward, it’s in the hands of the General Assembly,” Jacobson said. “This is an issue that the people in the city want to have addressed ... We are calling upon our delegation and all lawmakers in Hartford to allow us to police our hometowns.”
July 23, 2022
Ignacio Laguarda
REPORTER
Ignacio Laguarda is a reporter who covers education and more for the Stamford Advocate.
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