Legislator Peter Schmitt, chairman of the Public Safety Committee of the Nassau Legislature, announced recently that the committee will be holding a public hearing on high accident frequency areas in the county, including Broadway and North Broadway between Sunrise Highway and Boundary Avenue.

The hearing will be held on Friday, Nov. 20 at 1 p.m. in the hearing room of the Ralph G. Caso County Executive and Legislative Building. The Public Safety Committee will also be looking at high accident areas and intersections in Westbury, Uniondale, Plainview and Jericho.

"As part of the County Legislature's ongoing efforts to improve quality of life, as well as streamline and maximize the operations of county departments, I have requested the police department to prioritize several high accident areas and intersections within the county," said Schmitt.

According to the legislator, representatives from the police precincts which cover the targeted areas, as well as the Nassau County Traffic Safety Board, and the county Department of Public Works Traffic Engineering Division will be attending the hearing to discuss the traffic problems.

"We're going to be hearing from them as to exactly what the scope of the problem is and from that we will then be able to have them go back and identify potential solutions to the problem," he said.

Sgt. Kevin Smith, of the public information office for the Nassau County Police Department, said the police precincts will also be presenting statistics on auto accidents including, the number of injuries, the time of day and the days of the week the accidents occur.

Schmitt said that this first hearing will also give the committee an opportunity to find out what the problems are, what types of traffic and law enforcement initiatives are currently in place and what factors might be causing such a large volume of accidents.

The legislator said that it is important that the committee understand the problem and hear the experts' analysis of statistics. Statistics can be misleading, he added.

"If I have two accidents on a stretch of roadway every place in the county but there is one road that has three accidents, it fits as a high accident area, but it's really not," said Schmitt.

Once identified, the problems may be addressed by a wide range of solutions, according to Schmitt. Solutions may involve changing road widths, adjusting parking, enforcing speed limits or recalibrating traffic signals. He said the county has also been considering the creation of another wing to the police department which would deal directly with the targeted area's traffic problems.

"It would be able to go out into a problem area and react pro-actively rather than waiting for statistics to pile up," Schmitt said, adding that he has been working with the police department on this for months. "We're looking for some concrete permanent results, not a flash in the pan."

"Once a professional review of the situation has been completed, the committee will be recommending action which will be implemented by the police and other county agencies," added Schmitt.

Meanwhile, Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto said things have already improved on Broadway and North Broadway since the town kicked off its speed crackdown last month.

According to Venditto, the number of tickets issued in the area over the last 30 days was 561, up from approximately 100 tickets given in the same number of days prior to the crackdown.

"I just can not stress enough how cooperative and how effective the Nassau County Police have been through this whole operation," he said, adding the town has received tremendous support from both the 7th and 8th precincts.

Venditto said that there has been a change for the better in traffic conditions along the 3.2 mile stretch of road and that drivers have slowed down considerably. According to town officials, drivers have a tendency to speed down the busy road and they suspect the speeding problem has been a major cause of accidents in the area.

The supervisor said Massapequa and North Massapequa residents have been reporting to him just how great the change is but added that the town's efforts to improve the road's traffic conditions won't end there. Within the next month, he said he expects to get a report analyzing traffic conditions from the town's resident traffic experts.

"We are looking at long-term solutions," Venditto said. "That study will be the first step of phase two."

As for the county's efforts to address traffic problems in the area, Venditto said, "Anybody that acts in the interest of helping to alleviate the traffic problems on Broadway is welcome."

In the meantime, the supervisor said there is "no let-up in sight" as far as the added enforcement along Broadway and North Broadway and that police will continue to monitor the area just as heavily. In fact, he said he's hoping to purchase the town's own Smart Device, a portable sign which monitors speed and instantly displays to drivers how fast they are traveling. This is all part of increasing residents' awareness of driving safely, he said.

Venditto added that residents input has been very helpful in focusing on small adjustments made to improve the roadway including putting up new signs and establishing parking patrols.

"It's been a real community wide effort and this is right up there with one of the nicest exercises in town government and residents getting together and doing the right thing," he said.