Police place speed board on Greendale Ave.

A speed board clocks how fast cars are going on Greendale Avenue.

By Kathryn Eident
Globe Correspondent

A machine clocking drivers’ speeds on Greendale Avenue was placed there as part of the Police Department’s yearly program to curb speeding, not necessarily because of a recent fatal car accident, according to Police Lieutenant John Kraemer.

“There was an accident there so we put it there, but it was going to go on Greendale anyways,” he said. “We’ve had it deployed in various locations along Greendale Avenue. Every year we put it on Greendale at a different location.”

Dr. Phyllis Jen, a Needham resident, was killed in a head-on collision while traveling home from work in April. Three people have been killed in two fatal car accidents on Greendale Avenue since 2006.

(For previous coverage of the accident on Greendale Avenue, click here.)

Police use the machine, called a “speed board,” each spring and summer on various streets throughout town to urge drivers to slow down near schools, prominent crosswalks and on busy streets. For instance, officers place the speed board on Webster Street and Central Avenue each August, just before school starts, he said.

“There are times of year where you try to utilize it to not only give people information of the speed is, but to remind them that school’s in session,” Kraemer said.

The speed board runs on solar power, and can collect general traffic volumes and speeds in addition to displaying a driver’s speed, he said.

For Kraemer, the danger on Greendale Avenue isn’t speeding cars, but distracted drivers. Innovations like cell phones and sophisticated radios divert drivers’ attention away from the road and increase the likelihood of accidents, he said.

“I don’t think Greendale in and of itself is an unsafe road,” he said. “I think any roadway can be made unsafe by inattentive driving.”

The speed board has been on Greendale Avenue for about a month and is scheduled to be moved to a new location on Forest Street in the coming days, he said.

The Police Department won’t completely turn its attention away from the traffic on Greendale though. Cruisers will be stationed along the road to enforce the speed limit, which is 40 miles per hour in some places, throughout the summer, he said.

“Some people see the speed board and get the message,” he said. “Others don’t, so we follow up with the cruiser.”