The high degree of mobility that northern New Jersey enjoys does not come without certain risks for users of its roadway system. For pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and bus passengers, injury or death is a small but real possibility. Though our society often focuses on other sources of danger, motor-vehicle crashes cause over 40,000 deaths per year (or about one every 12.5 minutes) in the United States and are the leading cause of death for people aged 2 to 33. In 2004 there were nearly 250,000 reported crashes in the region and 496 fatalities. In other words, on a typical day, at least one person dies from motor vehicle accidents in our region.
In addition to injury, death, and property damage, crashes also impact congestion in the form of incident delays. These are especially prevalent in areas of the region with older infrastructure and limited capacity.
Many years of vehicle safety and traffic engineering improvements have resulted in generally safer conditions for automobiles, with fewer fatalities and fewer crashes per vehicle miles traveled. However, an increase of automobile travel in the country and in our region means that the number of actual crashes and fatalities have remained level (see figure below). In addition, there has been a growing awareness of the need to protect the most vulnerable road users - pedestrians and bicyclists. In 2004, pedestrians accounted for 23% of the region's traffic fatalities (compared with 11% nationally), even though walking is the mode of travel for less than 10% of the region's trips.
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Fatal crashes in NJTPA region |
For vehicular crashes, seven of the ten worst intersections in the NJTPA region are on Routes 1 or 9, two of the busiest arterials. However, there are crash “hotspots” throughout the region. Similarly, though many of the high pedestrian crash and fatality locations are in the cities of Newark, Jersey City and Elizabeth, pedestrian crashes and fatalities occur in suburban and rural counties as well.
NJTPA has embraced the challenge of improving safety for all travelers in the NJTPA region. This can be best addressed by both safety-specific studies based on crash data analysis, as well as an integration of safety concerns into all of our transportation planning and prioritization efforts. When it comes to roadway improvements, NJTPA recognizes the value of directing limited funds at high-crash locations, with relatively low cost, high impact improvements that benefit all modes.
For more information on Safety Planning at NJTPA, contact Lois Goldman, Manager of Corridor Studies, at 973-639-8413, or lgoldman@njtpa.org.