Officials use driver’s dash cam to raise pedestrian safety awareness

<p>A New Jersey takeout delivery driver&rsquo;s dash cam video is being used to raise awareness about pedestrian safety in Ocean County.</p>

News 12 Staff

Jan 13, 2018, 12:54 AM

Updated 2,289 days ago

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A New Jersey takeout delivery driver’s dash cam video is being used to raise awareness about pedestrian safety in Ocean County.
Wang Sushi delivery driver Paul Butow compiled video taken during his previous year as a driver. The video shows dozens of near-misses, jaywalkers, out-of-control bicyclists, distracted walkers and pedestrians in dark clothing.
Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato saw Butow’s video and wants to use it to promote pedestrian safety.
“That video in itself speaks a thousand words,” he says. “There’s other circumstances – lighting, time of day, how that person was dressed. In fact, in some instances the pedestrian was really at fault and the driver was…helpless.”
Coronato says that many of the 17 reported pedestrian deaths in the county last year could have been prevented. 
“These numbers are unacceptable. We can’t tolerate death anymore and it’s important for us to try and make a difference,” he says.
Butow says that drivers need to take responsibility as well.
“In any of those clips you guys saw in that video, if I was looking down at my cellphone or if another driver was looking down at their cellphone, those pedestrians would have been hit probably,” he says.
Coronato says that he wants to share Butow’s video with schools, police departments and safety workshops.


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