Dr. Francoise Jaffe is a psychotherapist, and a longtime Westporter.
Like many Westporters, she has watched with mounting concern, frustration and anger as traffic has built, and courtesy on the roads has waned. She says:
I am writing with some trepidation, anticipating the collective eye roll which will probably greet this.
I have lived in Westport for over 30 years, and spent oodles of hours driving around to meet the needs of a busy family of 5.
But it is only recently that I have felt I take my life into my hands every time I take my car out in Westport.
This past week marked a record for the number of transgressions I observed. On one outing, 3 cars ran a red light.
Of course, there has always been the “no turn on red” right turn when there was no incoming traffic (I might even have partaken once or twice). These are now par for the course, no longer even causing a raised eyebrow.
But the ante has been upped. This time, I observed the usual running of the red light to make a left turn from Charles Street onto Riverside Avenue, because who wants to wait at that short light; a couple of left turns coming south on Riverside wedging their way into the cars with the right of way making a right turn at the Cribari Bridge intersection, causing people to pump their brakes on a millisecond notice, and the crowning achievement of a car altogether ignoring the red arrow at the intersection of Compo South and the Post Road and turning left.
Riverside Avenue — from Charles Street to the Cribari Bridge, and beyond — is often the scene of crazy driving.
This was the straw breaking the camel’s back. I am still shaking my head.
I could just fantasize about the gleeful “wheee!” sound coming out of the “victorious” drivers, congratulating themselves on their daring achievement.
They did it! They got away not with a crash, but a feeling of power and freedom. Who needs rules?
And the weaklings who got a blood pressure spike? Their problem — it’s survival of the fittest. Nature doing its thing!
This is probably the most dangerous instance of what appears to be a more generalized disdain for rules — from the oft-reported rude parking decisions, to blocking traffic loading or unloading passengers in the middle of the street (I saw people taking a good 5 minutes installing kids into their car seats in the middle of Main Street not long ago), to pedestrians stepping out from the sidewalk expecting drivers to just stop.
Pedestrians and drivers must watch for each other.
And one more: Drivers unwilling to wait for a safe spot to pass a bicycle rider, swinging into my oncoming lane in a heart-stopping game of chicken.
As the French expression goes: “Once the markers are ignored, they are no longer limits.” (I know, the meaning might get lost in translation.)
We are witnessing a breakdown of civilized society, small infraction by small infraction. [Eye roll acknowledged.]
Culprits no longer admit responsibility. They cry victimization instead, or simply shrug and go on. “Try and stop me” is the message.
Will anyone, in what used to be our civilized community of Westport? Suggestions (except for loud honking and rude gestures) are welcome.
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The general driving conditions have become a hellscape around what was once a peace loving vibe. It is a reflection of a mental state. I am always amazed at feeling relief while driving in Manhattan, so calm sparse and mellow compared with Westport. Even Norwalk is mellow in comparison. What is to be done? Great question. I switched to a bicycle and have the time of my life out there, never been in better shape than my 50s. But biking is not for everyone. Tesla now offersFull Self Driving that is ten times safer than human drivers, the future cant arrive fast enough.
Right on Dr Jaffe Right On!
absolutely agree but don’t know what can be done. my son who is 18 works at Longshore and every day comes home with another story about how he almost got hit by a crazy driver in Westport. the stress on my son and on every driver on the streets has increased ten fold and I think there needs to be more police presence in these areas – Riverside and post road – Post road and imperial – Easton road and north Ave – north Ave and cross Hwy – the list goes on and on where the constant infractions are happening. if you live here long enough you just say you don’t want to leave the house anymore because of the traffic and the stress of driving around an area that honestly has too many entitled drivers now
I agree, Dr. Jaffe! I am terrified every time I drive in Westport. I, too, have seen entitled drivers run red lights, pass slower drivers in ‘no pass’ zones and ignore rules of the road in other ways. But the most terrifying of all is the intersection of Easton Road (Main St) and Weston Road. It is a game of chicken every time I enter it from my home on Bonnie Brook headed toward town. Someone is going to be hurt or killed at that intersection.
I can’t agree with you more on this. Going through Westport especially Riverside to Wilton Road intersection is horrifying. I have sent emails to town officials and the state, no one want to do anything about any of it. Put a delayed light on riverside so that at least one line of traffic can move, but then you have the post road from Norwalk to Westport where they always block the intersection. Traffic everywhere is a nightmare and there is no courtesy of the road anymore, a lot of rude and entitled drivers on the road these days. I hate driving anymore. And you’re right there no police presence anywhere to help with congestion.
Dear Doctor,
We all have our stories to share.
My own encounters include a noisy and frantic attempt by a driver to pass a stopped school bus discharging young students on Whitney.
Or the young lady who made an accelerated left turn from the lane to my right and then sped down Compo with only a passing nod to the stop sign at Bridge St.
My own reckoning with the rules of civility happened one Friday night at Mario’s in 1993.
Someone leaving with a black briefcase similar to my own caught my worried, loud and in the end unwarranted attention .“Leave the attitude on the train friend “ was the admonition.So I did and have and been the happier for it .
If people roll their eyes Doctor they are part of the problem. My advice to to all who are not quite used to our town and its historically courteous and accommodating vibe is simply this .
Ours is a very nice town .
Just try to fit in .
Frank Accardi
Police. Police. Police. Their presence is absolutely critical.
Move to Vermont. A traffic jam is two cars at a stop sign!
It has gotten so bad that I hesitate to drive and try to get everything done early in the day in one carefully planned route. Between the folks who thinki red lights and stop signs are only suggestions (often to be ignored), others who drive at 50 mph on roads other than the highway, pedestrians and bikers who are going in the wrong direction with no reflective gear and no concern for where they are on the road walking or riding two or three abreast…I consider myself lucky to get home in one piece. Quite a change from days gone by.
I think we can all agree there is a problem with bad, inconsiderate drivers in Westport. My question is, does the same problem exist Fairfield, Norwalk, Darien, New Canaan, etc?
My wife and moved to a senior community in Stratford where thankfully the traffic—not just here but in neighboring towns as well—is far less of an issue.
Having said that, we still have witnessed plenty of instances where drivers ignore “No Right on Red” signs and treat stop signs as places where one should merely slow down a bit.
And there have been drivers who fail to move once a light turns green or have been weaving as if under the influence—but in the middle of the day. I imagine both situations can be attributed to texting.
The bottom line: I don’t think the situation you are describing is peculiar to Westport.
Another big problem are the many trucks, vehicles, trailers etc. parked in bike lanes, extending into travel lanes not on an hourly basis but for weeks on end in many roads in town. Apparently parking in private driveways or on property of their customers is an inconvenience to property owners and contractors and landscapers would rather inconvenience sand endanger the entire community. A little enforcement would be welcome.
I’m a runner and I’ve unfortunately seen it all. Everyone just needs to slow down – I do wish there was more enforcement to encourage that (though with that said, I also run on Long Island when visiting my in laws, and fast, aggressive, and oblivious drivers are not just a Westport issue). I try to drive like how I would want other drivers to drive when I’m out running, and so many times I have people tailgating me for following the speed limit. It also helps to take a Zen-like approach to traffic – you’re not in traffic, you are traffic.
The scariest experience was on Father’s Day when a driver of a red Lexus IS tried to run me off the road on Compo Road by Thomas Road. I run against traffic so I saw the driver – this was not just someone looking at their phone and [negligently] drifting towards me. It was insane and left me shaken, so let’s just be nice to each other (and slow the **** down – if you’re in such a rush, leave earlier).
On April Fools’ Day two years ago, Dan posted a joke about a plan to install traffic roundabouts in Westport (https://06880danwoog.com/2022/04/01/6-roundabouts-may-ease-traffic-woes/). I was reminded of it last week when I spent several days driving in the Azores Islands, where roundabouts are everywhere. Of course they are terrifying at first, but their logic quickly makes sense: traffic slows to safe speeds, but it never stops. It just flows. I drove straight through many smallish towns passing through five, six, or more of them. Sadly, roundabouts are hard to retrofit into tight places, but I still entertain a fantasy of one day seeing a nice big one at the Easton/Weston/Main/Merritt intersection, a nonsensical confluence of traffic that my family had to deal with almost daily for 45 years.
Broken Window Theory in action. The almost complete lack of enforcement of traffic laws in Westport, as previously cited by Dave Eason, among others, creates a perception of disorder leading to even further disregard for the law and further social disorder leading to rising crime in general and, at some point, tipping over to a breakdown in society.
As suggested by others, maybe more enforcement activity will halt the slide. One of the criticisms of Broken Window policing is that it disproportionately targets the poor/POC. That, obviously, wouldn’t be a problem in Westport given the demographics.
Unfortunately, Fred is right. This situation is not confined to Westport, although some of the poorly designed and overcrowded intersections in town certainly add to the problem. I can’t even begin to cite how many times I have approached a traffic light that turns yellow and you have that split second decision of “stop or go?” and I “go” and then look in the mirror and see two or three cars behind me go through as well. Why don’t we hear more talk about red light cameras?? Even if they set them to allow passing a “pink, not quite red light”, I think they would still have an effect.
Speed limit signs on many highways are completely ignored since motorists using apps like Waze know exactly where the police are located. Police seem to have given up largely on the use of radar to control speeding motorists on our major highways.
Enforcement to prevent and hold accountable. Cameras and enforcement officers both at major problem areas and other locations so problem doesn’t just shift. Review traffic and other laws to use ones that protect against endangerment/aggression/human safety. Penalties need to be large enough for impact and should be cumulative. Public disclosure on police and court blotters might help awareness of the problem to prompt more action. Make it the big deal that it is.
From the onset of COVID I have noticed a change in driving habits, both on local streets and on highways. This seems to be a reflection of underlying nationwide frustration and anger.
I am currently speaking about these dangers to my teenage son who is in the process of getting his driver’s license. It seems like every time that we go out to practice we see examples of bad behavior and disregard for the basic rules of the road.
I agree that this is not just a Westport problem but is indeed pervasive. My hope is that discussions like these will remind us to think twice before trying to ‘beat traffic’.
What happened to the interactive town map a month or so ago? Was there a recap and action plan that came from the comments on the map?
If you have no enforcement, you will have no compliance. I don’t understand the WDP’s resistance to REAL traffic enforcement. I have been told by a high ranking officer “this isn’t your 1970’s policing Dave”….So my question is, what is it exactly?…..
Dave – it certainly isn’t your 1970’s policing. Back then, if you were speeding or ran a light or a stop sign, there was a fair chance a patrol car was around to stop you. I remember Billy Cribari – who was a very good friend of the family- stopping my mother for going through a yellow light with kids in the car. He literally yelled at her that yellow meant caution – “not hurry the hell up.” She begged him not to tell my dad. Billy was great, and when he ran rush-hour traffic at the Saugatuck bridge, heaven help anyone who did not move within a millisecond of his instruction. Oh well – maybe the ranking officer is right and you can’t go back.
No need to repeat any of litany of accurate observations. I agree with them all. We all have come to dread driving locally and adding yet another tale of our fortunate survival to the conversation.
I do my best to be the change I’d like to see on the roads by driving as courteously as possible. Pausing to let other drivers merge into traffic whenever I can, smiling or flashing a peace sign at drivers who do the same for me reminds me of my humanity. Allowing extra time to deal with traffic delays and making appointments that avoid rush hour travel reduces stress.
Nevertheless, all the best practices we employ on the road will never make up for the lack of enforcement that is as great an epidemic as road rage.
Great words, as always, from Gloria. But another bit of incivility I’ve noticed: Whenever I wave someone in to merge (for example, entering the Post Road from Compo Shopping Center, just before the Compo Road North light), more often than not they don’t acknowledge the gesture, with a thumb’s-up or even a nod. It’s simple courtesy to say “thank you”!
Taking a quick right and then a left departing Stop & Shop from the first entry way leaves me prey to the oncoming traffic. But Westport is the only place I have ever driven whereby an ongoing driver SPEEDS up when he see my left hand turn signal.
Seinfeld: “Hey buddy, where’s my thank you wave? Gimme that wave!”
A recent issue of Westchester Magazine had a cover story about walkable towns. I’m all for it. I’m also very in favor of building up multiple family housing around Saugatuck, downtown, and in between—it’s less than 2 miles from the train to downtown, walkable for so many. Functional public transportation, maybe, with remote parking lots and shuttles to them from the train station and Compo? And … how about people choosing smaller, less-polluting cars that fit well into parking spaces?
I too, have been around Westport, Weston, and Southport since the early 80’s, and I am nostalgic for the simpler times, but we’re not going backwards. So let’s move forwards—think small European cities rather than outdated American suburbs.
I completely agree. We all have numerous stories like this. Immensely frustrating. I believe part of the problem is that traffic is SO bad that people are desperate. What is the answer? To enforcement and the traffic 🙁
Riding in a taxi in Aruba (One Happy Island) I noticed there were no traffic jams despite heavy traffic. The reason? At every intersection they politely alternated so no one was blocked.
Maybe polite plus police?
As someone who regularly drives between Westport and NYC, I find it very noticeable how drivers in NYC are MUCH more respectful of red lights than drivers in Westport, presumably because red light cameras are legal, and common, in NY, but (I believe) illegal in CT. I’m not sure why this is the case, but until this is changed, drivers will continue to run red lights.
I continue to be amazed and horrified about the town’s failure to address this issue. Meanwhile there is more development and with that more traffic and even more reckless drivers. Something must done.
This blog posts something like this once a month. But no one ever takes it a step further: holding the WPD and the Tooker/Moore administration accountable for the complete and total failure to address a major quality-of-life issue. And that’s despite WPD receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars specifically for increased traffic enforcement. They seem more focused on crafting congratulatory press releases and attending events at Mitchell’s.
So I’m not rolling my eyes at the sentiment, but I am rolling my eyes at more complaining and hand-wringing that doesn’t move the ball forward.
I will say that while I have of course experienced some awful behavior on the roads here, I do think people are much more considerate of cyclists than they were ~5 years ago, and I don’t think the behavior in Westport is much worse than it is in other equally populous towns.
I think a response from the chief of police is in order here. I have experienced all of the dangerous situations mentioned: running stop signs and red lights, some at speed, and failure to signal. Signaling a turn or lane change seems to have gone by the wayside.
Knowing a ticket is likely is the only way to get any of this under control.
1. The monthly “opinion”/whining piece
2. Everyone commenting is “outraged” etc but probably is as much of the problem as anyone but cares to not be honest to themselves
3. Calls for police to enforce which could be stepped up here & there to strike some fear in some offenders but won’t guarantee true, sustainable change
4. In the end, people from all over – including Westport – look out for themselves first and easily explain away a “just this once” (although it’s likely much more often!) illegal and/or crass driving/social decision.
In the end, be nice, worry about yourself and perhaps your good behavior will be a role model for others.
On one hand you suggest people looking out for themselves to be the culprit but then suggest “worry about yourself” will influence others to change. I think you had it right the first time. And why police presence and enforcement won’t prevent all bad driving, it might reduce the rate of occurrence and prevent a few collisions and save a few lives. Why let the perfect become the enemy of the good?
Great to hear everyone also has a horror story to share.
So if you can’t put police everywhere – put speed cameras and red light cameras everywhere. Some could even be portable or fake. A couple of $50 – $100 tickets will slow everyone down. Just my humble and very cautious driving in Westport opinion.
We all pretty much realize, don’t we that Half the cars in the East/West, West/East daily stop and go traffic jams are spill over from the Merritt and I-95?
So why are state and local politicians and bureaucrats so persistently opaque?
Add more cars to Saugatuck via Summit and the Hamlet, add a truck friendly route 136 from East Ave in Norwalk, invite I-95 I95 truck traffic onto Greens Farms Road and into Saugatuck via a truck friendly Cribari Bridge replacement: all these will raise our current distress levels to psychosis alert.
If we find our little town driving stressful, one has not driven around the country or world that much. Its bucolic.
Sure there are issues that’s life … lets call it the density of the population and our type of roads … which are just fine. We do not have a grid pattern .. which is why we live here.
Other observations, drivers … esp the newer need to use their turning signals … most seem to have forgotten this tool, also at intersections .. point and waive so you know who goes next .. aka cross hwy and north ave. Lastly, pedestrians need to pay attention … the entitlement knows no bounds … no we do not need to waste our tax dollars on police minders and equipment … they have bigger issues to deal with in town.
I live on South Compo and last night while walking the pups someone was doing like 100 down the street. 10pm, deer and dog walkers and this yo yo is doing a 100 down Compo!
I don’t track local population stats, but with all the residential construction that’s underway, the population must be growing rapidly. More people means more cars, and therein would seem to lie the problem. Our roads simply weren’t designed to carry the traffic load they now have, and drivers are getting frustrated and erratic.
Unfortunately, the situation is likely to get worse going forward, since the construction boom seems to be accelerating. I too would favor more vigorous policing, but we should be under no illusion this is going to solve the problem. It might actually make things worse until somebody figures out how to manage development in a more responsible way.
For Mark, and Tony below: Westport population in 2010: 26,391. In 2023: 27,064. (Google is your friend.) Some boom.
It would help if the timing of the traffic lights were adjusted to reflect the increased population in Westport. For example, the left turn arrow on Riverside Avenue should allow more than 3 cars to turn onto Bridge Street.
And if you think that traffic is bad now, just wait until the new Norwalk Residential units are built just a mile over the Westport/Norwalk border on the Post Road.
As someone who moved from Wepo to one town East 7 years ago (after a collective 35 years in the 06880) I can tell you that Westport drivers are more aggressive.
You see the anger on Dan’s blog, not sure why you wouldn’t experience it on your roads.
It’s demonstrably worse since COVID when the population boomed again, maybe that’s a bunch of NYC’ers who never drove much before?
I keep waiting for someone to blame this on Jen Tooker and her support of Trump so we can unload on recent political developments, impressed we’ve made it two weeks….
Statistics throughout the State show spikes in the number of accidents from 4/21 to 4/24 with close to 800K reported vehicle mishaps with 332,744 deaths. My belief is that we need traffic lights instead of the many traffic signs which are ignored. Further, my sources tell me that the revenue from speeding tickets go to the State and thus, not much incentive for the police. Yet, I have lived here since 1952 and there were crazy, often drunk, drivers back then. Now, we just have more and more and more cars.
Mr. Swanson the money has always gone back to the State. The point is that the patrolman as part of their duties need to enforce the existing mv laws. If you have looked at thee weekly totals provided to this blog by the PD, you will see it’s a joke.
You speak from first hand experience and my experience growing up in Westport was that if you did the crime you did the time. I would suspect that currently when you answer to a chief that is working for a first selectperson who is more concerned about photo ops, popularity contests and political posturing in foreign wars that you are not going to be too highly motivated to write speeding tickets because tickets may save lives but they don’t win popularity contests.
Hardly a joke in my mind. Sad. But you will find in many affluent areas, the police care more about protecting a resident’s property than the residents themselves. At night, they go bonkers about “dumping” and the poor guy driving home on the Post Road in a beat up car. They hang out behind Willowbrook Cemetery in the day and at Exxon @ North Maple at night. Once again, my cry for a professional city manager falls on deaf ears but somebody needs to crack the whip.
You don’t have to be a city manager to “crack the whip” Scoooter, you just need to stop wasting time and political capital on activities that are irrelevant to the job of leading what is still a relatively small and insignificant New England suburb.
Roger, Captain.
One of the questions on a school application that I had to respond to in 1971 was “Please give your thoughts on ‘THE WISE RESTRAINTS THAT MAKE MEN FREE'”. This concept has been resounding in my head so much lately – unfortunately, more than ever.
1. Sequence the lights better on the Post Road
2. Increase the turn signal timing as mentioned for the increased number of cars
3. Keep our kids on the bus … stop driving and picking them up would help enormously. We pay for each seat and most run too empty…while the line up at the schools inhibiting traffic can be quite frustrating.
Bravo Jeffrey. Somebody with solutions rather than merely whining.
Police cannot be everywhere all the time. But cameras can be in more places consistently. In the UK drivers receive tickets based on violations recorded by camera. Irrefutable video evidence.
First, what Jeffrey said about light sequencing, etc. Yes.
I have lived here for 36 years. Traffic volume has become excruciating on almost a daily basis. The level of competency of so many drivers is abysmal, or perhaps intentionally rude. Neither is acceptable. I live on a narrow winding road with speed bumps, blind curves, and a very steep hill. There are many people walking throughout the day. There also is a fair amount of wildlife who apparently have learned what first graders used to be taught—look to your left and look to your right before crossing. And lately, a lot more people fly through here much of every day, at high speeds far beyond the necessary long time 25mph limit. That includes some nutty bikers whose put-puts are in high gear as they speed along toward the next blind curve.
Increasingly frequently, drivers are blocking intersections while the light is red thereby preventing drivers who have the green light to proceed. Sometimes a car can unintentionally block several feet into an intersection because the traffic ahead simply stopped moving, but several cars blocking an intersection are intentional or possibly inattentive. In NYC, for a very long time, their Don’t Block The Box edict has been effective. It certainly made a practical and visible difference when I was driving there. So, why can’t certain intersections thoughout Westport be painted with a white grid and signs erected around town warning, “Don’t Block the Box.” Seems to me that this is quick, easy, and comparatively inexpensive and worth trying… unless the state DOT has a say….
Many cities and towns lhave or are installing speed and red light cameras. They pay for themselves and slow traffic. We are behind the times.
At the same time- Our traffic lights have to be smarter- allowing for left turn arrows, turning lanes, right on red, and proper timing to allow better flow.
And drivers have to be patient and courteous instead of nasty and aggressive.
Way, way, way. way, way, way behind the times!!!! Here that Ms Tooker?
I meant HEAR that Ms Tooker? That’s an embarrassing spelling mistake.
Good point Steve, simple actions leveraging technology to help change the culture, (entitlement or just unaware)to increase safety while brining in additional funds for 06880 , seems like a smart idea. Perhaps the tec team at town can work with WPD to explore? Happy to help.
Sustainable Westport’s “Walkable Westport” presentation by Jeff Speck at Bedford last month was a wonderful peek at what could be. He talked a lot about how we could start to tame some of our worse traffic woes, while allowing safer space for bicyclists and pedestrians. I doubt this town would ever agree to some of his recommendations but it was nice to dream for a couple of hours. (And he dared to touch on the hot-button issue of downtown even though he was specifically told, in writing: “DO NOT TALK ABOUT PARKER-HARDING.” The DMA wouldn’t have liked his observations. )
He also made this observation: “Your car is not an instrument of freedom but is instead a prosthetic device you need to live your life.”
How about saving 70 million by NOT building a new Long Lots building, and only spend 40 million fixing it up! How many speed cameras and cops and speed bumps can you get for your 70 million in savings?