To the Editor:

I am a 32-year resident of Shadybrook Lane, a residential road with mostly families with young children.

Over the past several years, speeding cars, pickup trucks, landscaper trucks, and construction trucks have been speeding well above the speed limit. Some of the speeders seem to be young drivers.

Shadybrook Lane becomes Overbrook Drive, forming a shortcut to go from Route 27 to Snowden Lane. The road was resurfaced, perhaps eight or ten years ago, and it is very nice and smooth, with minimal potholes.

It is increasingly dangerous to cross the street or walk one’s dog. It is also hazardous to check my mailbox mainly (I live on a portion of the road that curves), and ride a bike. 

Several years ago, a group of residents on my block signed a petition to increase speed checks. I made several calls to the then-township police, to no avail, as the police at the time indicated they were not staffed sufficiently.

Inasmuch as the government is responsible for posting and determining speed limits for the safety of the public, I like to think it is also responsible for enforcing the speed limits. Once exceeding speed limits becomes routine, the habit becomes ingrained, and I fear that someday someone (or someone’s dog) will become a casualty.

I understand policing traffic may not be an everyday option, and perhaps similarly for periodic policing. A deterrent such as a check-speed flashing lamp, or a radar device flashing one’s speed limit would be prudent.

Clayton E. Leopold, MD

Shadybrook Lane