Everybody who regularly drives in the Poconos is aware of the dangers that come with driving wooded back roads. It is no different on Route 903, which runs north and south between the towns of Blakeslee and Jim Thorpe.

If you drive 903 on a daily basis you have had to stop short for turkeys, deer, skunks, raccoons and opossums. And you are not a real Route 903 driver if you haven’t encountered the limping black bear that frequents the area of Penn Forest Township from Dom and Ali’s to Maury Road.Unfortunately, most of the problems encountered by drivers on Route 903 have little to nothing to do with the wildlife and more to do with the wild drivers.A few years back Route 903 was designated by the state as an “aggressive driving enforcement area.”Under the plan the Pennsylvania State Police and Kidder Township received special funds earmarked specifically for added patrols along the road.“The aggressive driver enforcement funds pay for overtime for officers to specifically patrol Route 903 and up to 1 mile onto a feeder road,” says Kidder Township Police Chief Matt Kuzma.“From July 6 to Aug. 30 Kidder received $1,500. With that we ran 57 and a half hours, wrote 48 citations. This included 12 for speeding, two for improper turning, three for running a stop light, one DUI and one for improper lane changes. We wrote an additional 29 citations for miscellaneous violation.”These numbers do not include citations written by the Pennsylvania State Police.Funding changesThe Pennsylvania State Police from the Fern Ridge barracks patrol Route 903 from Route 115 to just south of the turnpike interchange in Penn Forest Township, the remainder of the road is patrolled by the state police out of Lehighton or the Jim Thorpe police department.The state is considering dropping the aggressive driver enforcement program designation for Route 903.Sgt. J. Matt Racho, Fern Ridge Station Commander of the state police was told the funds would be distributed differently in the future and roads would be selected based on the number of crashes reported.This is quite a surprise to residents who regularly travel the route and shocking to many who pass by the number of crosses that have popped up along the roadway signifying a fatal crash that has happened there.“I can’t tell you how many deaths have occurred since I have lived here, just on the stretch of road between Old Stage Road and the turnpike entrance,” said Paul Montemuro, owner of Frosty Mountain Beverage and a number of other commercial properties along Route 903. “I personally knew four people who have died there, including Jasmine Fonseca and Taylor Shepherdson just last month.”Fonseca, 15, and Shepherdson 16, both of Towamensing Trails, were killed in a crash along Route 903 in August. The teenagers were returning home from cheerleading practice at Jim Thorpe Area High School when the crash happened during a blinding rainstorm. Four other teens in the vehicle, as well as the passengers in another car, were all injured. The accident remains under investigation.“There was just a terrible accident at Behrens Road. I think the guy was texting or something, not paying attention and he slammed into the car waiting to turn and pushes that car into an oncoming car. It’s insane.”Montemuro added that with the recent repaving of Route 903 he sees that road becoming a drag strip.“You can’t win, you need the road fixed for the health of your car,” he said. “But then people are just going to fly on it.”“The weekends are what really scares me,” said Penn Forest resident Anthony Cintron. “I have lived here 12 years, but over the last year it really seems like I have seen a big increase in traffic and there is always someone who has to fly around three to five cars at a time.”Speeding, tailgatingTom Prontnicki of Towamensing Trails drives Route 903 for both work and pleasure.“Every day, especially around 6:30 in the morning, I watch people not only speeding, but passing in the school zone,” he said.“I have always been concerned about the fact that there are no shoulders along most of the road,” said Joe Alonso, an 11-year resident of Towamensing Trails. “If I have a fear, that is it. There is nowhere to go if your car breaks down.”“Oh don’t get me started,” said Sabina Acker of Penn Forest. “Seventeen years of speeding, tailgating. The tailgating is really bad.”Edmund Webb says he is a good driver, 60 years without an accident.“I keep alert and watch my speed,” he says. “But I will admit that there is definitely a problem with tailgaters. I see someone tailgating, I just slow down and you know, they just pass and give me the finger. I am the one with no accidents though.”Kathy Young drives Route 903 with her children in the car every day and echoes many of the sentiments of the others.“There is a new park that opened in Penn Forest Township, just across from Bear Creek Lake. It is frequently visited by local families for recreation. It is also used by the Jim Thorpe Youth Soccer League multiple days a week for soccer games and practices,” Young said.“I worry about the safety of these families, pulling in and out of the parking lot to and from Route 903. I have seen the parking lot filled on Saturdays, and cars still flying past the park entrances, even cars passing, along the area of the park. Drivers are distracted. They are impatient. They are not using common sense in the area of this park. The speed limit should be lowered to 45 mph on the entire Route 903.”Less police, more speedingWarren Reiner, chairman of the Penn Forest Supervisors, agrees that more police presence means less speeding.Reiner, who is also the roadmaster for the township, said he doesn’t believe signs do much.“Heck, we have just been told by the Turnpike Commission that we are going to be responsible for replacing the divided road signs at the turnpike exchange,” Reiner said. “Those signs have been mowed down three times already since the interchange opened in July. We’re going to go broke and it’s obvious no one is reading it if they keep running over it.“I am a strong believer that the more you see the state police along the roadway, the less violations you see as well,” Reiner said.According to Sgt. Racho, from Sept. 21, 2013, to Sept. 21, 2014, state police at Fern Ridge and Lehighton investigated 39 vehicle collisions on Route 903. That number in the same time period this year has increased to 45.Business owner Barbara Franzosa is also concerned about the increase in traffic this summer.“There just seemed to be so much more traffic lately,” she said. “And then you add the road construction and it is more of a nightmare.”Franzosa, who is running for a seat on the Kidder Township board of supervisors, said that if funding is cut to the aggressive driver enforcement program for Kidder Township, she would definitely consider increasing funding to the police department to combat aggressive driving in the township.