Slow Down in Our Town

Click here to view weekly statistics for the "Slow Down in Our Town" Program

The South River Police Department's “Slow Down in Our Town” program is aimed at getting motorists to slow down throughout the borough. The program fosters a partnership between police and residents, working collaboratively to place high visibility lawn signs and a vehicle speed display trailer on borough streets, followed up with targeted speeding enforcement by police officers.

The signs, designed to catch the attention of drivers, feature silhouettes of families and children walking and at play on a yellow background.

Studies have shown that when signs are left in one place too long, drivers eventually begin to ignore them. For this reason, the signs are moved to a new location after being in place for approximately one week. Police officers then conduct targeted speeding enforcement on the street after the removal of the signs.

“If you drive the same route on a routine basis and something changes, you’ll notice it. That’s the goal of these signs - to catch the driver’s attention and have them realize they may be going too fast.”, Police Chief Mark Tinitigan said.

He adds that although officers conduct enforcement for speeding and traffic violations daily, there is a need for innovative traffic safety programs.

“A lot of the complaints we receive from our residents are for speeding in residential areas.”, he says. “Every day, officers patrol our streets and stop as many speeding drivers as they can, but there’s only so much we can do ourselves. That’s where the community/police partnership plays a role with participating residents allowing us to place the signs on their lawns."

The schedule of locations for the "Slow Down in Our Town" program has been compiled based on streets that the South River Police Department has identified as areas of high speeding through the number of summonses previously issued and concerns voiced by residents. After this list is completed, the program is planned to continue with future schedules of additional streets.

Education Dates

12/19/2022 until 12/25/2022 – Johnson Place (between Willett and David)
1/3/2023 until 1/8/2023 - Caroline Drive
1/9/2023 until 1/15/2023 - George Street (between Reid and Thomas)
1/16/2023 until 1/22/2023 - Virginia Street
1/23/2023 until 1/29/2023 - Devoe Street
1/30/2023 until 2/5/2023 - Willett Avenue (between Division and Kamm)
2/6/2023 until 2/12/2023 - Prentice Avenue
2/13/2023 until 2/19/2023 - Main Street
2/20/2023 until 2/26/2023 - Southside Avenue
2/27/2023 until 3/5/2023 - Hillside Avenue

Targeted Enforcement Dates

12/26/2022 until 1/8/2023 – Johnson Place (between Willett and David)
1/9/2023 until 1/15/2023 - Caroline Drive
1/16/2023 until 1/22/2023 - George Street (between Reid and Thomas)
1/23/2023 until 1/29/2023 - Virginia Street
1/30/2023 until 2/5/2023 - Devoe Street
2/6/2023 until 2/12/2023 - Willett Avenue (between Division and Kamm)
2/13/2023 until 2/19/2023 - Prentice Avenue
2/20/2023 until 2/26/2023 - Main Street
2/27/2023 until 3/5/2023 - Southside Avenue
3/6/2023 until 3/12/2023 - Hillside Avenue

If you reside on one of these streets and would like to be involved in the “Slow Down in Our Town” program through the placement of a lawn sign in front of your residence, please complete and submit the online form.