How a tragedy inspired this officer to cut traffic deaths
Program aims to raise awareness for drivers
Matthew Menosky never knew John “Jack” Misdom Jr., killed at the age of 16 by a drunk driver while he walked along Route 36 in Middletown in February 1992.
But Menosky has seen the effect that the emotional trauma of Jack’s death has had on Alex Misdom, Jack’s younger brother and Menosky’s friend.
It’s Alex Misdom’s long-held grief and that of others like him that inspired Menosky, a traffic safety officer for Holmdel Township Police Department, to think of how to make people safer.
He came up with a program called Goal: Zero, which aims to raise awareness of distracted and impaired driving through education and enforcement details to cut the traffic death toll.
“When people see the headlines of a traffic fatality, that’s all they’ll really see,” Menosky said. “No one gets to see the faces behind it and the ripple effect that these crashes have. Years later, it still rips families apart.”
On Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., a group of 14 police departments led by Holmdel were out on traffic enforcement on the 30 miles of Route 35 in Monmouth County as part of Goal: Zero.
Aberdeen, Belmar, Brielle, Eatontown, Hazlet, Holmdel, Keyport, Middletown,
Ocean, Neptune, Neptune City, Red Bank, Shrewsbury and Wall took part in the detail.
On Feb. 21, 26 police officers from seven agencies participated in a Goal: Zero traffic detail on Route 34 in Monmouth County. They stopped 221 vehicles and handed out 125 summonses, including 24 for speeding, 18 for cell phone violations, and 9 for careless driving. Departments in Aberdeen, Colts Neck, Howell, Marlboro, Matawan and Wall were on patrol with
Holmdel.
“Traffic safety culture and driving behaviors need to change in order to keep people alive on New Jersey roadways,” Menosky said.
Menosky’s logo for the program includes a bright neon green backing to signify pedestrian and traffic safety with a black bar placed across it as a symbol of mourning.