Spike In NJ Road Deaths Since Last Year, State Police Data Shows

NEW JERSEY — Road deaths are rising again in New Jersey this year as we approach the busy holiday travel season, recent state police data shows.

As of Friday, Nov. 15, there have been 560 fatal crashes on New Jersey roads in 2024, resulting in 591 deaths. On that date last year, there had been 489 fatal crashes and 517 fatalities — a 14.3 percent increase year-to-year, according to the New Jersey State Police database.

Overall in 2023 there were 574 fatal crashes in New Jersey, and 606 people died as a result.

As a note, fatal crashes and fatalities were higher in 2021 and 2022 than they were in 2023. Traffic deaths hit a 15-year high in 2022, when 698 people died in fatal crashes.

New Jersey also saw a 26 percent increase in traffic fatalities from 2019 to 2022, in part due to reckless driving and drug or alcohol use, according to an analysis from the nonprofit States Newsroom.

Contributing factors to serious crashes

New Jersey State Police data shows the number of intoxicated drivers involved in fatal crashes climbed each year from 2020 to 2022. In 2022, 33 percent of drivers who died in a crash had consumed alcohol before they got behind the wheel, and so had 27.2 percent of drivers who survived in crashes where another person was killed.

According to the most recent data for 2022, distracted driving was a factor in 49 percent of all crashes around the state.

In a 2024 study from an injury law firm, New Jersey was ranked as the fifth-worst state for distracted driving. According to the study, 183 deaths were attributed to distracted driving in 2022 — more than 25 percent of all fatal accidents in the state.

Another study from Consumer Affairs looked at reckless and aggressive driving, and put New Jersey as the seventh-worst state for road rage incidents. While the state had a low rate of road rage incidents involving guns, the study said 72.8 percent of fatalities on New Jersey roads were due to aggressive or careless driving — the highest in the nation.

And, the state also had one of the highest rates of citations for speeding violations and aggressive/careless driving.

Across the state, police stations and other law enforcement agencies are preparing to be out on patrol during busy travel times around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day.

Funding from the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety will allow for more officers to be on the roads enforcing traffic regulations around the state this year, a spokesperson said. The division manages the Community Highway Safety Program, and distributes about $30 million in federal funding every year to address dangerous driving through enforcement such as the "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" and "U Drive. U Text. U Pay" campaigns.

Related articles

• New Tool Helps NJ Parents Keep Kids Distraction-Free While Driving
• This Is The Deadliest Road In Each NJ County, 2023 Data Shows