Cambridge road rage and traffic rules aren’t expected to get the promotional campaign some hoped for from $65,000 in state funds accepted Monday by the City Council, but planning for one could be added to an already growing to-do list for the transportation committee next year.
The grant is aimed at adding targeted police patrols or public reminders about obeying traffic laws. It’s been awarded for three consecutive years and is intended to supplement existing traffic enforcement. The 12 campaigns this year have addressed issues such as crosswalk violations, stop sign and red light violations, blocking bike lanes, distracted driving, impaired driving and speeding, with officers deployed based on crash data or community complaints, police said.
The money means “our night guys can come in and do [extra enforcement] when the day shift is working, and they can cover structure fires while the night guys focus on whatever the campaign is,” lieutenant Philip McDavitt said. “It allows the traffic unit to focus without being called for services, and it also doesn’t pull officers off the street.”
The appropriation was supported by councillors who noted that residents frequently raise concerns about lax rule-following and spotty enforcement on city streets.
The expectation from reading the agenda item from city staff, though, was that the money meant there would be an outreach campaign to stop problems before they happened.
“I thought it was a PR campaign,” councillor Cathie Zusy said.
“A lack of rule-following and a lack of enforcement has been the comment I’ve heard the most all over the city” during two campaigns for public office, Zusy said. “There’s no point in having rules unless you’re going to enforce the rules … everybody will feel more safe.”
Vice mayor Marc McGovern also said the city should consider a public education campaign aimed at discouraging reckless driving and tension on the roads – and proposed it for the Transportation & Public Utility Committee next year. Such a campaign would help people better understand safe driving behavior and hopefully reduce conflicts.
McGovern described an incident in which an angry driver, stuck in traffic behind him, “banged my window, kicked my car, scared my kids.” He said the moment underscored the broader behavior challenges on city streets.
“Some of this is about people’s behavior,” McGovern said. “You can’t enforce everything, because you just can’t be everywhere.”
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Don’t we have an entire police department that could be doing this 24/7?
Sure, “You can’t enforce everything…”. I get it. But we are so far from that, it’s ridiculous. Could we at least start ticketing the third driver through the red light? E-bikers doing 30 on the sidewalk? Peds in all black marching into traffic while on the phone? I know that libs don’t naturally lean towards “law and order”, I get that too. But jeepers, this is too much.