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. At a regional level, the total number of crashes in the region dropped each year between 2003 and 2006, from a high of 248,521 to a low of 223,923. Although crashes increased back to 232,526 in 2007, this number remained well below levels seen in previous years. In 2007, crashes resulted in about 70,000 injuries, including about 4,000 pedestrians. Clearly, while much progress has been made to make our roads safer, there is more to do to continue to reduce these levels.
Each year on October 10th, every driver is encouraged to be exceptionally careful so that for at least one day, there will be no fatalities on New Jersey's roads.
More Info at:
NJ Div. Highway Safety Website
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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. Of the region’s 428 crash-related deaths in 2007, 25 percent were pedestrians, even though walking accounts for less than 10 percent of all trips in the region. This trend shows why pedestrian safety has been, and will continue to be, a top priority of the NJTPA’s safety improvement efforts.
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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 Scott Rowe, Manager of Corridor Studies, at 973-639-8425, or srowe@njtpa.org.