Why Has New Jersey Had More Car Accident Deaths in 2024?

We have a problem in New Jersey and it seems like none of the Politicians running for office or Public Figures with platforms seem to care about addressing it.

If you saw and heard political commercials over the last several weeks or consumed local and regional news outlets, you heard none of them address the reason why more people died in New Jersey this year compared to 2023.

There is a 14.6% increase in Automotive Fatalities from 2023 to 2024 in New Jersey. This issue is not just isolated to certain areas of the state because almost every county has seen increases in Vehicular Fatalities.

Why Has There Been An Increase In Automotive-related Deaths in New Jersey?

According to the latest data from the New Jersey State Police, there have been 557 Automotive Crashes which has directly led to 588 Vehicular Fatalities this year. With another several weeks left in 2024, NJ is already ahead of where the state was last November and just 18 Fatalities behind the 2023 total.

This information from the NJSP comes two months after the latest research showed that New Jersey has the third-highest rate of drivers involved in fatal vehicle crashes as a result of Reckless or Careless Driving in America.

New Jersey also has the third-highest rate of drivers involved in Fatal Automotive Crashes in America due to disobeying traffic signs or signals. In the last ten years, 13.8% of Vehicular-related Deaths in New Jersey were a result of a driver being Reckless or Careless behind the wheel.

The reason "why" for the increase in Automotive Fatalities and New Jersey's high rate of Vehicular Crashes comes back to this: A new study found that 26.72% of NJ's Automotive Fatalities are because of Distracted Driving.

Yes, you read that correctly, more than a quarter of all Car Accident Deaths in New Jersey are because of Distracted Drivers.  New Jersey was recently ranked the 5th Worst State for Distracted Driving in America and no other Northeastern state is in the Top Ten.

New Jersey Drivers have to stop multitasking while operating an Automobile. It doesn't matter who is texting you or sending you a Direct Message on Social Media, all of those alerts and emails can wait until you reach your destination.

Here are the New Jersey Counties with increases in Auto Fatalities from 2023 to 2024:

-Hunterdon County: 100% increase in all Car Accident Deaths
-Cape May County: 75% increase in Driver Fatalities
-Cumberland County: 36.4% increase in all Car Crash Deaths
-Warren County: 27.3% increase in all Car Crash Deaths
-Bergen County: 23% increase in Pedestrian Fatalities
-Sussex County: 22.2% increase in all Car Crash Deaths
-Monmouth County: 21.6% increase in all Car Crash Deaths
-Gloucester County: 20% increase in Pedestrian Fatalities
-Atlantic County: 20% increase in all Car Accident Deaths
-Salem County: 16.7% increase in all Car Crash Deaths
-Passaic County: 12% increase in all Car Accident Deaths
-Mercer County: 10.7% increase in all Car Accident Deaths
-Union County: 6.7% increase in Pedestrian Fatalities
-Burlington County: 5.6% increase in all Car Accident Deaths

If the increase in Vehicular Fatalities is not scary enough, here are the most dangerous roads in New Jersey: