On Aug. 29, the Passaic County Aggressive Driver Task Force (PCADTF) mobilized for its 29th campaign in nine years. A total of 79 officers from 26 jurisdictions issued 853 summonses; 106 of which on seat belt violations. The unit also made 12 arrests and impounded nine vehicles on various transgressions, according to Les Goldstein, Passaic County Officer of Highway Traffic Safety (PCOHTS) coordinator.
The PCADTF, since its September 1999 inception, has produced more than 25,000 citations and 230 apprehensions.
According to Goldstein, the task force fanned out on highways in Passaic County and parts of Bergen, Essex, and Morris Counties. The squad swept Routes 3, 21, 23, 46, and 208, and Interstates 80, 280, and 287, in addition to other roads. The Wayne, Little Falls, Totowa, and West Paterson police were among the departments turning out.
Goldstein said PCADTF had two principal objectives: reducing crashes by targeting motor vehicle and promoting passenger/driver safety by enforcing the seat belt law. Goldstein said he felt the task force has been making much headway towards the latter goal.
"The one good thing is that the number of seat belt summonses are going down. We used to have hundreds of seat belt summonses," he said.
The coordinator said the PCADTF’s effect on other traffic offenses is less clear. He said the latest task force wrote fewer summonses, but had fewer troops, than last year’s pre-Labor Day weekend operation.
"The numbers were a bit lower, but altogether, I think everything is the same," he said. "It’s hard to tell what the numbers really mean."
A number of factors affect that tally, he said, such as PCADTF personnel, weather conditions, and specific coverage areas. He said the third boils down to which jurisdictions participate in any given task force.
Goldstein said the Aug. 29 deployment coincided with the national Over The Limit, Under Arrest anti-drunk driving crusade. He said the PCOHTS, due to resource constraints, did not field a contingent for that initiative. The coordinator said municipal police departments got involved with Over The Limit, if staffing allowed.
