For drivers considering illegally parking their car in a bus or bike lane in Somerville, Massachusetts - think again! For months lawmakers tussled with ideas to make the streets safer. Now they might have a solution with a new device called the SafetyStick.
The devices, made in partnership with Municipal Parking Services, are part of a pilot program that's been set up in Davis Square. The sticks stand on the side of the road where they’ll snap pictures of the license plates on cars illegally parked in those spaces.
"We’re placing them in bus stops, crosswalks, anywhere where there could be a vulnerable user,” said Suzanne Rinfret, the director of traffic and parking.
Drivers will have a three-minute grace period in the space before the picture is taken and sent to the parking department. Once a parking official confirms the violation, a ticket will be sent in the mail to the driver’s residence.
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“The city council actually had to change our city laws to mail out tickets," said Somerville City Councilor Willie Burnley Jr., who advocated for the use of SafetyStick, saying navigating the roads can be tricky, “Particularly for cyclists, pedestrians who are often displaced from the road by vehicles that are either driving to aggressively or just parked where they shouldn't be. “
Most of the SafetySticks have already been set up, but they aren’t activated to ticket yet. Instead they’ve been collecting data. Over the last 67 days, the new devices tracked at least seven violations a day which has prompted lawmakers to install them throughout the city.
“Moving forward we are going implement them in high target areas where we see a lot more violations,” Burnley Jr. said.
The SafetyStick is expected to be fully operational before the end of the year.
