The morning commute just got a whole lot BETTER!

Since 1986, I have been commuting by car every morning into the sun (toward NYC) and again into the sun going home at the end of the working day.  If I had a nickel for each driver I’ve seen sitting in the left lane without sunglasses or a sun visor in the “down” position, who was driving at 15 miles per hour, squinting furiously and causing huge traffic jams, I’d be a very rich man.  Well, my long strange trip has ended!  On Monday, we completed our office relocation from Northvale (NJ) to Denville (NJ), and now my drive is due west in the morning and due east coming home.  No more sun glare!  No more traffic jams!  No more idiots hovering in the left lane!  (Well, all of these things actually still exist, but there are so few of them that they can be safely ignored.)  Life, at least for this week, has definitely improved.

Cell phone use while driving is dangerous, folks

One of the key issues in my recent campaign for town council — and one entirely ignored, honestly, by just about everyone — concerned the use of hand-held cell phone use while driving.  A recent article in the NY Times detailed this issue even further, arguing that the use of a cell phone at all (whether hand-held or hands-free) is dangerous and needs further quantitative research.  See here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/technology/21distracted.html?_r=1

Your comments are welcome, as always!

Speed bumps, humps and tables — what’s the difference?

There are a few engineering solutions that attempt to address speeding problems.  Some of these are commonly known as speed bumps, speed humps and speed tables, and you will find them scattered in various communities in our area, including a few here in Verona.  (Although Wikipedia is not the final authority on anything, you will find fairly comprehensive and understandable definitions on them here, here and here.)  In fact, I do not believe that these solutions are right for our community — they have been found to create excessive noise, may damage cars (yes, even when cars are traveling at or under the speed limit), delay the arrival of emergency vehicles such as ambulances, and may need to be repaired frequently due to damage from snow plows and other street equipment.  I support enforcement as the primary means to slow traffic, along with educational efforts to raise everyone’s consciousness about the very real dangers of speeding in town.  It’s a complex issue that will require creative solutions, and simply installing a few speed bumps will not solve the problem, as people will either choose a different street to travel on and speed there, or they will slow down over the speed device and then accelerate at higher speeds once they get past it.  I feel strongly that once Verona gets the reputation for being tough on speeders (think about Essex Fells) the incidents of speeding will drop dramatically over time, and I’m ready to work with the police department and the town manager to put this type of program together.  If you have any ideas or suggestions, I’d like very much to hear from you so that we can create a program that is balanced, effective and has the support of the community at large.

Welcome again!

Ready to work for you

Now that the deadline has come and gone, the final slate of candidates for the open seats on the Verona Township Council is complete.  In the coming weeks you will learn more about me — my positions, my ideas and my willingness to work on behalf of everyone in Verona to make this town the best it can be.  I promise you that I will be open and responsive not only during the campaign but all throughout my term as councilman, should I be fortunate enough to be elected, and this commitment has already started.  Elsewhere on this website you will find my contact information — my e-mail address and my cell phone number — and if you have ANY comments, suggestions, questions or concerns, please let me know and I will get back to you.  You can also contact any member of my campaign team (Catherine Tamasik, Ralph Smillie, Jane Eliasof, Maria Force and Karen Blasi-Blinder) and they will forward your comments to me.  I encourage everyone to get involved, to ask questions, to send ideas, to volunteer, to contribute any way you can, and together we will make this great town even better!  Ben Blinder — A New Perspective For Verona.