RVC’s most unsafe roads

When Nassau County first announced that it would be installing speed cameras in every school district, it cited safety as the reason that tickets would start being issued. But there are many intersections in Rockville Centre that aren’t near schools that are far more dangerous.

It was announced in early October that the speed camera in Rockville Centre would be set up in front of the Jennie E. Hewitt School, at the corner of DeMott and Hempstead avenues. The decision was made with some input from the village Police Department, but none from the school district, school officials said. And the decision was a surprising one, even for the Police Department, which expected the camera to be installed outside the Floyd B. Watson School, where Lakeview Avenue crosses both North Centre and North Village avenues.

“I wanted [it] on Lakeview Avenue, by Watson School,” said Police Commissioner Charles Gennario. “I feel that’s the most dangerous area we have by schools. That’s why I have two crossing guards there.”

There is data to back up Gennario’s claim: From Jan. 1 through the end of November, according to RVCPD statistics, there were four traffic accidents at the intersections near Hewitt, and five near Watson.

“All sites were determined based on speed studies and in consultation with stakeholders,” said Judge John Marks, the executive director of the Nassau County Traffic and Parking Violations Agency. He did not offer more specifics on why Hewitt was chosen over other possible sites.

But the roads near schools are not the most dangerous ones in the village, by far. There were 818 accidents reported for the year as of Nov. 21, and the Police Department said the village averages about 1,000 per year. Most are on major roads. Sunrise Highway, not surprisingly, has had the most accidents this year, 115 — 14 percent of the total — followed by Merrick Road, with 93.