NJ Traffic Fatalities Highest Since 2007: State Police Data

NEW JERSEY — The return to the roadways in 2021 after the 2020 shutdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it a significant increase in traffic deaths in New Jersey, with the state recording the highest numbers it has seen in nearly 15 years.

As of Dec. 17, there have been 630 fatal crashes in New Jersey, and 657 people have lost their lives as a result, according to New Jersey State Police data.

That's a 17 percent increase in crashes and 11.9 percent increase in deaths over 2020, when there were 549 fatal crashes with 587 deaths — in spite of the pandemic shutdown. It's also a 20 percent increase in crashes and 17.7 percent rise in deaths over 2019 in New Jersey, when there were 524 crashes and 558 deaths.

The 2021 count of fatalities, with two weeks left in the year, marks the highest number of fatal crashes since 2007, when there were 674 that killed 724 across the state. The lowest totals in the last 20 years were in 2013, with 508 crashes and 542 deaths resulting from them.

What has driven the increase in fatalities in 2021 is not entirely clear, however. A look at the numbers county by county shows it’s not entirely a function of population.

Bergen County, the most populous in the state with 930,974 residents, according to the World Population Review website, has recorded 34 fatal crashes with 34 deaths, or 0.37 deaths per 10,000 people.

Camden County, which has 506,707 residents, has the highest number of fatal crashes and fatalities in the state, with 62 crashes and 64 deaths resulting from them, or 1.26 deaths per 10,000 people.

While highway deaths draw the most attention, rural areas have not been unscathed. Salem County, the smallest with a population of 61,663, has had 22 deaths in 20 fatal crashes, or 3.57 deaths per 10,000 residents.

Middlesex County, meanwhile, with its confluence of highways including the New Jersey Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway, Routes 287, 440, 130, 35, 9 and 1, has had 41 fatal crashes and 43 deaths. Of those, 22 have been on those highways. It’s fifth overall for fatalities in 2021.

Essex County, which has 799,785 residents, has seen the second-highest number of fatal crashes and deaths so far in 2021, with 56 crashes and 57 deaths, or 0.71 deaths per 10,000 people.

One statistic that does stand out is pedestrian deaths. There were 204 pedestrians killed so far in 2021. Counties with larger cities have much higher numbers of pedestrian deaths. Half of Camden County’s 64 deaths were of pedestrians hit by vehicles, and Essex County had 27 pedestrians killed so far in 2021.

Hunterdon County is the only one to record single-digit fatalities, with nine deaths through Dec. 17. None of them were pedestrians.

Cape May County was second-lowest with 12 deaths, including two pedestrians.

There were 355 drivers who died in the fatal crashes, and 76 passengers. The remaining 22 deaths were "pedalcyclists," which includes bicyclists and other manually pedaled transportation.

Among the drivers killed in fatal crashes, State Police list one as "16 or younger," but the data does not specify if it was someone with a learner's permit. Drivers ages 50-64 had the highest death toll, with 72, followed by drivers ages 30-39, with 68. There were 45 drivers aged 25-29 who were killed and 41 who were 40-49. Drivers aged 21-24 and those 65-79 each accounted for 39 of the driver fatalities, and there were 20 deaths of drivers ages 80 and older. There were 4 drivers age 17 who were killed in crashes, and 23 who were 18-20 years old.

Here is the full county-by-county breakdown, according to New Jersey State Police data through Dec. 17.

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