Mayor of Parsippany wants to improve traffic safety
Pedestrian Safety in Fair Lawn
The Street Smart program seeks to ensure pedestrian safety in Fair Lawn.
Tariq Zehawi, NorthJersey.com
After four fatal car crashes in four months – the most recent of which killed an 8-year-old boy while riding his bike on Tuesday – Parsippany Mayor James Barberio is calling on state and county authorities to take action.
“Safety must not be neglected,” Barberio wrote in a public statement released on Wednesday., two days after 8-year-old Avyaan Gupta was struck by an SUV on Littleton Road. The Intervale School student was pronounced dead at the scene.
“Following recent deaths on state and county roads here in Parsippany, I am calling on the New Jersey Department of Transportation to take action to increase pedestrian safety and respond by repairing their roads,” Barberio said in his statement.
“I am asking the county for help and commitment to slow traffic and reduce the overall risk to our residents and visitors on their roads.”
“It’s hard to comprehend that a family is losing their 8-year-old son,” Barberio added. “Avyaan was smart, funny and most of all, he was very loved by his family.”
The driver of the SUV was still at the scene of the accident and is cooperating with the investigation, the Morris County District Attorney’s Office said earlier this week.
Four dead on the streets of Parsippany
The boy’s death is the first of three other traffic fatalities in Parsippany since the spring.
In the first case, 73-year-old Sonia Diaz of Bayonne was struck and killed by a Jeep Cherokee on April 8 as she attempted to cross Route 46.
On May 6, a 36-year-old female driver was killed in a two-vehicle accident in the city, according to Meghan Knab., a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office. Then, on June 6, a male pedestrian was struck and killed by a vehicle on Route 46 near Baldwin Road. The names of the victims were not immediately available.
Online fundraiser for Avyaan Gupta
An online fundraiser for the Gupta family launched on Wednesday had already exceeded its goal of $50,000 by Thursday morning, with more than 800 people pledging their donations. After the goal was reached, donations were stopped.
The boy was riding his bike with two friends from the Troy Gardens apartment complex through Littleton to another residential area, Cambridge Village, when he was hit, the fundraiser said.
Born in Ajmer, India, Avyaan first came to the United States in 2016 before immigrating permanently in 2020, according to an obituary from SJ Pirola Funeral Home. He is survived by his parents, Aakash and Reema (Jain) Gupta, his sister, Aanya, and relatives and friends in the United States and India.
The accident happened just “a few blocks from his home,” the obituary said.
Mayor promises “aggressive” traffic monitoring
The mayor said this latest tragedy has also prompted him to coordinate with Police Chief Richard Pantina “to take aggressive action to slow traffic on Parsippany streets and relentlessly enforce the laws to save lives and protect our community.”
Local police will “immediately take increased action against drivers who fail to recognise the importance of pedestrians and cyclists on our roads,” the mayor added.
Barberio also said he was directing the city’s public works department to make pedestrian safety a top priority in current and future road construction projects.
“Instead of just focusing on the condition of the roads and paving them accordingly, all rehabilitation projects must also consider safety improvements,” he said.
William Westhoven is a local reporter at DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news in your community, Please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
E-mail: wwesthoven@www.dailyrecord.com
Twitter/X: @wwesthoven
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