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New Jersey car accident statistics (2023)

Police in New Jersey reported 247,743 crashes in 2023, about 679 a day. They hurt or killed 73,136 people and killed 600. Union County had the most crashes per 1,000 residents. People on foot were 33% of those killed. Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT's final crash tables, checked November 8, 2026.

Updated · crash reports 2019 to 2023By the Counselworthy team · Sources · Download every fact

Every number below is one sentence with its source beside it. A line marked "Counselworthy analysis" is our own count from public records: please credit Counselworthy and link to this page when you use it.

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New Jersey car accident statistics by year

  1. Police in New Jersey reported 247,743 crashes in 2023. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2023)

  2. New Jersey averaged about 679 police-reported crashes a day in 2023. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2023)

  3. Crashes in New Jersey rose 2% from 2022 to 2023. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2022 to 2023)

  4. 22% of New Jersey crashes in 2023 hurt or killed someone: 53,315 of 247,743. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2023)

  5. Police in New Jersey reported 1,195,923 crashes from 2019 to 2023. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2019 to 2023)

New Jersey crashes by year
YearCrashesPeople hurtPeople killedOn foot, killed
2019283,19883,118587184
2020195,47459,258611173
2021226,95868,637721218
2022242,55072,856732196
2023247,74373,136600198

Source: NJDOT crash tables, final, checked November 8, 2026. People hurt includes people killed.

New Jersey traffic deaths and injuries

  1. 600 people were killed in New Jersey crashes in 2023. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2023)

  2. New Jersey crashes hurt or killed 73,136 people in 2023. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2023)

  3. About 12 people a week died in New Jersey crashes in 2023. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2023)

  4. 568 New Jersey crashes killed at least one person in 2023. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2023)

  5. Head injuries were the most common injury police wrote down in New Jersey crashes: 58,763 of 333,612. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2019 to 2023)

  6. 13% of people killed or seriously hurt in New Jersey vehicles wore no seat belt or child seat: 1,342 of 10,728 with belt use recorded. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2019 to 2023)

New Jersey car accident statistics by county

  1. New Jersey had 26.4 crashes per 1,000 residents in 2023. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables and Census Bureau population estimates, 2023)

  2. Union County had the most crashes per 1,000 residents in 2023: 35.9. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables and Census Bureau population estimates, 2023)

  3. Middlesex County had the most crash deaths of any New Jersey county in 2023: 59. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2023)

Crashes per 1,000 residents in New Jersey's counties, 2023
CountyCrashesResidentsCrashes per 1,000People killed
Union County21,046586,11535.935
Middlesex County27,595873,28131.659
Passaic County16,473524,01131.426
Atlantic County8,066276,64329.241
Somerset County9,693351,04227.624
Gloucester County8,496308,69327.534
Essex County23,815871,15327.351
Mercer County10,514391,36926.926
Bergen County25,387964,15626.335
Hunterdon County3,423130,31326.36
Monmouth County16,414645,79625.436
Cape May County2,33594,57724.75
Salem County1,54465,48823.611
Camden County12,317529,97723.241
Ocean County15,188661,36823.042
Burlington County10,691472,27322.636
Hudson County15,701719,68221.827
Morris County11,216516,90221.722
Cumberland County3,233154,49720.923
Sussex County2,722146,32818.610
Warren County1,868111,65116.710

Highest rate first. Every crash police reported on a county's roads, highways included, divided by the people who live there on July 1, so counties that busy highways cross run higher. It isn't a risk score for anyone driving or walking there. Sources: NJDOT crash tables, checked November 8, 2026; Census Bureau population estimates, checked November 8, 2026.

Town by town: Hackensack, Hoboken, Jersey City, Newark, and 24 walkable New Jersey towns side by side.

New Jersey bicycle accident statistics

  1. 27 people on bikes were killed in New Jersey crashes in 2023. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2023)

  2. 2,189 people on bikes were hurt or killed in New Jersey crashes in 2023. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2023)

  3. 15% of New Jersey crashes that hurt someone on a bike were hit-and-runs: 1,281 of 8,602. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2019 to 2023)

Causes of car accidents in New Jersey

  1. Police listed "not paying attention" in 52% of New Jersey crashes that hurt someone and had a cause written: 121,471 of 235,368. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2019 to 2023)

  2. Police marked alcohol involved in 5% of New Jersey crashes that hurt someone: 12,334 of 260,632. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2019 to 2023)

  3. Police marked a phone in use in 1% of New Jersey crashes that hurt someone: 2,257 of 260,632. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2019 to 2023)

What police listed in New Jersey crashes that hurt someone, 2019 to 2023
What police listedCrashes
Not paying attention121,471
Following too close38,083
Didn't yield37,688
Unsafe speed22,780
Ran a traffic signal13,347
Unsafe lane change11,464
Ran a stop sign9,389
Unsafe turn9,369

A crash can list more than one. 235,368 of 260,632 crashes that hurt someone had a cause written.

New Jersey hit-and-run statistics

  1. 12% of New Jersey crashes in 2023 were hit-and-runs, where a driver left: 30,823 of 247,743. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2023) After a hit-and-run: what to do

  2. Hit-and-run crashes in New Jersey hurt 4,529 people and killed 41 in 2023. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2023)

  3. Police reported 151,864 hit-and-run crashes in New Jersey from 2019 to 2023, 13% of all crashes. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2019 to 2023)

Where drivers in New Jersey crashes live

  1. Of drivers in New Jersey crashes that hurt someone, 12% lived in another state: 53,989 of 461,277 with a home on the report. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2019 to 2023)

  2. 5% of drivers in New Jersey crashes that hurt someone lived in New York: 21,722 of 461,277. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT statewide crash tables, 2019 to 2023)

New Jersey car accident laws, in numbers

  1. In New Jersey, an injury lawsuit generally must be filed within 2 years. (N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2(a), checked October 7, 2026) The deadline to sue, explained

  2. New or renewed standard New Jersey auto policies must cover $35,000 per person for injuries, from January 1, 2026. (P.L.2022, c.87 (N.J.S.A. 39:6A-3), checked October 7, 2026)

  3. New or renewed standard New Jersey auto policies must cover $70,000 per accident for injuries, from January 1, 2026. (P.L.2022, c.87 (N.J.S.A. 39:6A-3), checked October 7, 2026)

  4. Standard New Jersey auto policies include PIP, which pays medical bills up to $250,000 per person per accident. (N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4, checked October 11, 2026) How PIP works

  5. Standard New Jersey auto policies need at least $35,000 per person of uninsured motorist coverage, from January 1, 2026. (N.J.S.A. 17:28-1.1(a), (b), (e), checked October 11, 2026) Hit by an uninsured driver

  6. New Jersey caps an injury lawyer's contingent fee at 33⅓% of the first $750,000 recovered, after costs. (R. 1:21-7(c), (d), checked October 14, 2026) Injury lawyer fees, explained

  7. New Jersey's fund for hit-and-run and uninsured crashes requires notice of a claim within 180 days of the crash. (New Jersey Property-Liability Insurance Guaranty Association, Unsatisfied Claim & Judgment Fund, checked October 16, 2026) After a hit-and-run: what to do

General information, not legal advice.

Sources and how we counted

Sources

How we counted

  • Every number comes from NJDOT's final crash tables for the whole state, 2019 to 2023, read November 8, 2026: the Crash, Pedestrian, Vehicle, Driver and Occupant tables, from police crash reports (form NJTR-1). NJDOT posts them about 2 years behind, so 2023 is the newest year there is.
  • A crash counts in the county NJDOT's table puts it in. NJDOT's 2023 table enters a few thousand crashes twice, with the same case number, date and time and the police department written two ways, so each counts once. Reports that share only a case number, on another date or at another time, count as their own crashes.
  • One 2023 report's counts of people hurt and killed don't read as numbers in NJDOT's table. It counts as a crash, but not in the people counts.
  • 6 crashes in 2023 have no county in NJDOT's table. They count in New Jersey's totals, not in any county's.
  • Hurt means any injury police wrote down: a death, or a suspected serious, minor or possible injury. Killed or seriously hurt is the top two of those five levels.
  • Crashes per 1,000 residents divide a county's crashes by the Census Bureau's estimate of the people living there on July 1 of that year. A county is left out when its newest year has under 60% of its yearly average in the 3 years before, since its records would look incomplete.
  • Percents are rounded to whole numbers. A share of fewer than 20 crashes or people isn't given. A county is called the highest only when it leads the next by at least 10%.
  • These are police reports. A crash nobody reported isn't here, and other agencies' counts of traffic deaths follow their own rules, so their totals can differ.
  • The law numbers come from the statute or court rule named beside each one. General information, not legal advice.
  • Crash numbers never change a law firm's score.

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Counselworthy, "New Jersey car accident statistics (2023)," updated November 8, 2026, from NJDOT crash tables. counselworthy.com/nj/car-accident-statistics/

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