Speeding kills, but please don't disturb the editors

NJ Transit's electric-powered Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, seen here in Jersey City, will be extended to Englewood, but the Neanderthals who rule the wealthy borough of Tenafly have rejected the service, citing their heavy investment in SUVs and luxury vehicles that run on fossil fuel. Stephen A. Borg, publisher of The Record and a Tenafly resident, has lent editorial support to that short-sighted decision.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

With nearly a day to work on a crash that killed a Waldwick cop who was lying in wait to catch speeders, The Record's inept newsroom staff is unable to report today whether the tractor-trailer driver charged in the death was himself speeding.

Today's front-page photo -- showing the demolished police cruiser and the jackknifed truck on the edge of Route 17 -- is worth a thousand words, especially in view of how those words, with details of what caused the accident, are missing (A-1).

Why was the photo supplied by "NBC New York" and not the Woodland Park daily's own staff?

Unanswered questions

To hit Waldwick Police Officer Christopher Goodell's cruiser on the side of Route 17 south and propel the vehicle into a retaining wall, couldn't the paper say with certainty the truck was out of control?

And couldn't anyone find a source in Bergen County's fatal accident unit for an educated guess on how fast trucker Ryon Cumberbatch of Brooklyn was driving before he lost control or fell asleep?

If Goodell was using radar to catch speeders, did the truck's speed register on the device or was it destroyed?

Instead, the paper today runs separate stories about the cop and Iraq war veteran, and the immigrant charged with second-degree vehicular homicide, referring inappropriately to the trucker as "Ryon" at one point.

Speed-camera shy

To rub salt in readers' wounds, Road Warrior John Cichowski rouses himself from his usual stupor to declare in a column on the Local front Goodell "was using radar equipment to control chronic speeding" on Route 17 (L-1).

In more than a decade of writing the so-called commuting column, Cichowski has completely ignored a rise in speeding and aggressive driving amid what many believe is declining enforcement.

Governor Christie has contributed to the problem by not replacing hundreds of state troopers who have retired, leading to fewer anti-speeding patrols on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway.

Speed still kills

More than 13,000 people die every year in crashes involving speed, according to the National Safety Council.

Cichowski also has written a number of shrill columns demonizing red-light cameras, which catch speeders and cut down fatal intersection collisions.

Today's column on speeding cameras quotes the "chief opponent" of red-light cameras, the idiotic National Motorists Association, which argues driving is a right, not a privilege.

Members likely are speed-addicted lead-foots who assert their right to terrorize other drivers by speeding, tailgating and other aggressive behavior.

Did cop die in vain?

Let's hope Goodell didn't die in vain, and New Jersey's fractious law enforcers can get their act together and demand more red-light cameras and the installation of speeding cameras everywhere.

The extra revenue will be welcome, given the mess Christie has made of the New Jersey economy.

And why are a number of homes along Route 17 south completely exposed to traffic, unprotected by guardrails or sound walls, measures that could have protected Goodell, too?

More boring politics

The fatal collision on Page 1 today completely overshadows Christie's appearance in Iowa, in what one of The Record's columnists calls the GOP bully's "unofficial coming-out party for the 2016 presidential race" (A-1).

The Record carried a front-page story on Thursday, reporting on the supposed significance of the Iowa trip. 

Unfortunately, The New York Times story on Christie's trip to Iowa appeared on Wednesday.

How long has The Record been covering a presidential election that is still more than two years away?

Clinton v. Christie?

Former first lady and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton looks radiant in a photo on the Local front today (L-1).

I can't wait for her to declare and beat the crap out of Christie or any other GOP candidate for the White House.

More corrections

The reporting and editing staffs continue to struggle with getting things right, and they seemed to have caught a flu from Cichowski, who likely has set a record for inaccuracies by a single reporter.

Thursday's A-2 had an elaborate correction and a detailed clarification. Today's A-2 carries another correction.

Tuesday's paper had two corrections and Wednesday's single correction was even longer.

Liz Houlton, the six-figure production editor, apparently isn't doing her job. Why is she still employed there?

For carnivores

Non-meat eaters can only hope they'll find vegetarian dishes at Sapphire Thai Food Express in Teaneck (BL-14).

There is no mention of them in Elisa Ung's favorable review today, even though Thai menus usually list many salads, tofu, vegetable and other non-meat dishes.