Fatal crash profile · State

Traffic deaths in New Jersey in 2020

State in United States

Deaths, 2020
586
Fatal crashes
549
Population
9.3M

In 2020, 586 people died in 549 fatal crashes in New Jersey. The death rate was 6.3 per 100,000 residents, compared with 11.8 in the United States. New Jersey had the 25th most traffic deaths of the 51 states and DC and the 46th-highest death rate. Pedestrians accounted for 30% of deaths, and 23% of fatal crashes were speeding-related.

Deaths

Traffic deaths

6.3

deaths per 100,000 residents in 2020

  • About half the rate in the United States: 11.8

New Jersey traffic deaths by year goes back to 1975.

Profile by year: 2024 · 2023 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020

Road users

Who died

30%

of deaths were pedestrians

  • About 1.8 times the share in the United States: 17%
Who died in 2020
Category Deaths
Vehicle occupants and others 316
Pedestrians 174
Motorcyclists 78
Cyclists 18
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Deaths by type, 2020
Type Deaths Share in New Jersey Share in the US
Pedestrians 174 30% 17%
Motorcyclists 78 13% 14%
Cyclists 18 3% 2%
Alcohol-impaired driving crashes 155 26% 30%
Speeding-related crashes 146 25% 29%

Alcohol-impaired and speeding-related count everyone killed in those crashes, so a death can appear in more than one row.

Crash factors

Speeding, alcohol, night and weekend crashes

23%

of fatal crashes were speeding-related

  • About 80 percent of the share in the United States: 29%

24%

of fatal crashes involved a drinking driver

  • About 90 percent of the share in the United States: 27%
Crash factors in 2020
Category New Jersey United States
Speeding-related 23.7% 26.7%
Alcohol-involved 23.3% 28.6%
At night 55.7% 53.4%
At weekends 32.6% 32.9%

Share of fatal crashes. Alcohol-involved means a police-reported drinking driver.

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Timing

When crashes happen

56%

of fatal crashes happened at night

  • About the same as the share in the United States: 53%

33%

of fatal crashes happened at weekends

  • About the same as the share in the United States: 33%
Fatal crashes by hour of day
Category Fatal crashes
12am 10
1am 16
2am 22
3am 16
4am 11
5am 22
6am 21
7am 14
8am 8
9am 12
10am 24
11am 20
12pm 17
1pm 15
2pm 16
3pm 25
4pm 30
5pm 41
6pm 37
7pm 32
8pm 37
9pm 32
10pm 37
11pm 34

All crashes 2020.

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Fatal crashes by day of week
Category Fatal crashes
Sun 85
Mon 78
Tue 57
Wed 64
Thu 86
Fri 85
Sat 94

All crashes 2020.

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Fatal crashes by month
Category Fatal crashes
Jan 45
Feb 34
Mar 34
Apr 27
May 44
Jun 44
Jul 56
Aug 51
Sep 57
Oct 55
Nov 59
Dec 43

All crashes 2020.

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Conditions

Weather and light

Weather at the time of the crash
Category Fatal crashes
Clear 462
Rain 49
Cloudy 26
Fog, Smog, Smoke 7
Sleet or Hail 1
Freezing Rain or Drizzle 1

All crashes 2020. Crashes where conditions were not reported are left out.

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Light conditions at the time of the crash
Category Fatal crashes
Daylight 225
Dark - Lighted 188
Dark - Not Lighted 117
Dawn 8
Dusk 7
Dark - Unknown Lighting 2

All crashes 2020. Crashes where conditions were not reported are left out.

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Roads and vehicles

Where and what, 2020

Roads with the most fatal crashes

  1. I-9521
  2. US-118
  3. US-13012
  4. US-912
  5. SR-3511
  6. 444 GARDEN STATE PARKWAY11
  7. SR-4710
  8. I-7810
  9. SR-279
  10. US-408

Road names as recorded in police reports.

Vehicles involved, by type
Category Vehicles
Cars 361
SUVs 187
Motorcycles 83
Pickup trucks 67
Medium and heavy trucks 55
Vans 32
Other vehicles 27
Buses 8

All crashes 2020.

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Vehicles most often involved

  1. Honda Accord26
  2. Honda Civic23
  3. Toyota Camry22
  4. Honda CR-V17
  5. Jeep Grand Cherokee16
  6. Nissan Altima16
  7. Toyota Corolla15
  8. Chevrolet Silverado14
  9. Ford Explorer10
  10. Jeep Wrangler10

Reflects how common a vehicle is as well as crash involvement; not a safety rating.

Crashes

Fatal crashes

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Fatal crashes in 2020. Crashes without reported coordinates are not shown.

Filter crashes
Crash factors
Date Location Deaths
Sep 10, 2020 Gloucester County 1
Sep 10, 2020 Milltown, Middlesex County 1
Sep 10, 2020 Clifton, Passaic County 1
Sep 7, 2020 Bayonne, Hudson County 1
Sep 7, 2020 Gloucester County 1
Sep 5, 2020 Burlington County 1
Sep 5, 2020 Toms River, Ocean County 1
Sep 5, 2020 Hamilton Township, Mercer County 1
Sep 5, 2020 Cassville, Ocean County 1
Sep 5, 2020 Chesterfield, Burlington County 1
Sep 4, 2020 Bound Brook, Somerset County 1
Sep 4, 2020 Readington, Hunterdon County 1
Sep 3, 2020 Paramus, Bergen County 1
Sep 1, 2020 Newark, Essex County 1
Aug 31, 2020 Belleville, Essex County 1
Aug 31, 2020 South Brunswick, Middlesex County 1
Aug 31, 2020 Woodbridge, Middlesex County 1
Aug 31, 2020 Millville, Cumberland County 1
Aug 31, 2020 West Windsor, Mercer County 1
Aug 30, 2020 Newark, Essex County 3
Aug 29, 2020 Gloucester County 1
Aug 29, 2020 Cherry Hill, Camden County 1
Aug 29, 2020 Hunterdon County 1
Aug 27, 2020 Salem County 1
Aug 27, 2020 Fort Lee, Bergen County 2

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Nearby and related

Counties in New Jersey in 2020

Area Deaths, 2020 Per 100,000
Atlantic County 40 14.6
Bergen County 43 4.5
Burlington County 41 8.9
Camden County 38 7.3
Cape May County 9 9.5
Cumberland County 24 15.6
Essex County 45 5.2
Gloucester County 35 11.6
Hudson County 24 3.3
Hunterdon County 12 9.3
Mercer County 21 5.4
Middlesex County 67 7.8
Monmouth County 34 5.3
Morris County 17 3.3
Ocean County 30 4.7
Passaic County 29 5.5
Salem County 14 21.6
Somerset County 14 4.1
Sussex County 7 4.9
Union County 30 5.2
Warren County 12 11.0

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Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2020. A fatal crash is one in which at least one person died within 30 days. Population: US Census Bureau estimates.