The task force will target a range of motor vehicle hazards including speeding, unsafe lane changes, aggressive driving and intoxicated motoring. Police will also be looking for unfastened operators and passengers.

Goldstein said PCADTF personnel requests have gone out to area police commanders.
The coordinator said the upcoming crackdown will be covered at this month’s Passaic County Police Chiefs Association meeting. The PCOHTS head said he and Robert Gaydosh, a state Division of Highway Traffic Safety official, will discuss the campaign.

Goldstein said, so far, no new jurisdictions have expressed interest in joining the PCADTF. He said that status may change as deployment day nears.

The coordinator also said he helps individual agencies get task force involvement grants, when possible. He said, failing handouts, police chiefs do their part by providing staff through strategic shift changes.

Looking ahead, the coordinator said the PCOHTS is aiming for a youth driver offender clampdown. He said he wants to spearhead such a peak driving season event.

Goldstein said that each year, 6,000 teens die in traffic accidents across the county, the leading cause of death for this age group. In addition, some 300,000 are injured in collisions.

He noted that the problem has gotten attention from Trenton. He said Gov. Corzine has impaneled the Teen Driver Study Commission, which made 47 recommendations regarding addressing unsafe adolescent operator habits.

Goldstein said, commission findings aside, one improvement would be having sufficiently staffed police agencies, thereby boosting road patrols. He said, these days, hardly any law enforcement organization has enough resources for accomplishing their missions.

“You’ll hear that in every department you speak too.”
He added lining up troops for extra PCOHTS crusades is a challenge.
“It’s tough getting manpower, especially in the middle of the summer.”