Introduction
The New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety (NJDHTS), one of nine divisions in the Department of Law & Public Safety, utilizes federal funding for traffic safety programs focused on education, enforcement, and engineering. The prime mission of the NJDHTS is to reduce fatalities, injuries and property damage on the roads of New Jersey resulting from traffic crashes.

 

Pam Fischer was appointed NJDHTS Director by Governor Jon S. Corzine in February 2007. Previously, Ms. Fischer worked as Vice President of Public Affairs for the AAA New Jersey Automobile Club and has a long record of working as an advocate on traffic safety issues. Ms. Fischer has served since 2003 as a member of the NJ Motor Vehicle Commission board; she is a long-time member of the NJ Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Council and, more recently, has served on the NJ Walks and Bikes newsletter editorial board.

 

Question 1:
Your one-year anniversary as Director of NJDHTS has recently passed, congratulations Pam. Tell us, how important are pedestrian and bicycle safety issues to you as division director, to Attorney General Anne Milgram and to Governor Corzine?

 

Response: 

While “highway” is in our name, the

division is about more than motorists. And we recognize that whether you drive or use mass transit to traverse the state, at some point during the course of the day, you travel on foot – so everyone is a pedestrian.  That’s why pedestrian and bicycle safety are key elements of our 2008 Highway Safety Plan, which includes approximately $1 million in funding for education and enforcement initiatives. In addition, pedestrian and bicycle safety programs are also funded through police traffic services and community traffic safety program grants, which account for approximately $2.1 million more.

 

This directly supports the governor’s five-year, $78 million pedestrian safety program, which has the full support of the attorney general, the Department of Law and Public Safety and the division. It is the largest state initiative of its kind in the nation and to which all of the partners are committed.

 

Question 2:
What are some of the challenges you have faced as Director with regard to the Division’s bicycle and pedestrian work thus far and how have you worked to surmount those challenges? 

 

Response:

I always look at the glass as half full, so I don’t see challenges, I see opportunities. Having the support of