Police Averaging 31 Traffic Tickets Per Day So Far in 2012

Trustee Dennis Donnelly, a member of the Public Information Committee of the Garden City board of trustees, shared the following information with Patch via email Wednesday:

In response to recent letters regarding traffic enforcement in Garden City and on Rockaway Avenue in particular the Public Information Committee of the Garden City board of trustees would like to point out the following facts:

• In 2011 the Garden City Police Department issued 9,193 traffic tickets. Those tickets were issued for various offenses - speeding, improper lane changes, registration issues, lack of insurance, seat belt violations etc.
• In 2012, in the first eight months of this year, the police department has issued 7,600 traffic tickets. That represents a 25 percent increase over the same period last year. We are averaging 950 tickets a month or about 31 a day.
• In addition, the police department has issued more than 500 tickets on Rockaway Avenue, including more than 300 in the last three months.
• Police Commissioner Kenneth Jackson has stressed the importance of traffic enforcement as one of his priorities. During the remainder of 2012 the police department will continue to actively pursue traffic violators throughout the village.

Longtime Rockaway Avenue resident Michael Pisani addressed the board in July about the already hazardous conditions that exist near his home at the intersection of Merillon and Rockaway avenues. He said those conditions were exacerbated by the new construction of a music hall addition at Garden City High School.

In June, Pisani sent a letter to Nassau County and Village of Garden City officials, along with a petition in which 28 Rockaway Avenue residents signed, stating that traffic moves in excess of the posted school zone speed limit and often times in excess of the village speed limit.

A 2012 Patch poll asked readers which street is most dangerous in Garden City and how could it be made safer? Poll participants voted Clinton Road "most dangerous" with 47 percent of the vote. Stewart Avenue garnered 15 percent of the vote while Franklin Avenue captured 12 percent.

(Editor's Note: The Public Information Committee of the board of trustees is comprised of trustees Dennis Donnelly, John DeMaro and Andrew Cavanaugh.)