Every year, a quieter Thanksgiving
Crashes on Thanksgiving in Jersey City, Hoboken and Hackensack, against the usual Thursday around it that year.
- 20192019: usual 37 , Thanksgiving 19−49%
- 20202020: usual 16 , Thanksgiving 3−81%
- 20212021: usual 32 , Thanksgiving 14−56%
- 20222022: usual 29 , Thanksgiving 13−56%
- 20232023: usual 23 , Thanksgiving 13−43%
- 20242024: usual 29 , Thanksgiving 21−26%
- 20252025: usual 28 , Thanksgiving 15−47%
A usual ThursdayThanksgiving
Lower in 7 of 7 years. Black Friday was lower than the Fridays around it in 7 of 7. Source: Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT crash records.
Only Christmas is quieter
17 holidays and named days, each against the same weekday 1 to 4 weeks before and after, quietest first.
- Christmas−58%
- Thanksgiving−49%
- Black Friday−44%
- Columbus Day−35%
- Memorial Day−33%
- New Year's Eve−27%
- Labor Day−25%
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day−23%
- Veterans Day−21%
- Presidents' Day−14%
- July 4−13%
- Christmas Eve−12%
- Election Day−12%
- New Year's Day−12%
- Easter−10%
- Halloween−3%
- Juneteenth+13%
The crashes on each day added up over 2019 to 2025, against the usual for that weekday. A day that falls on a weekend, like Easter or some years' July 4, is set against the same day of the week. Source: Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT crash records.
The days around it
Each day of the long weekend against the same weekday nearby, 2019 to 2025. Only a day that passes every rule (under How we counted) is a finding. The rest are patterns, and we say so.
| Day | Crashes | Usual | Change | Years it went that way | Our read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Wednesday before | 240 | 200 | +20% | 6 of 7 | A pattern |
| The night before, 9 pm to 4 am | 27 | 19 | +43% | 4 of 7 | A pattern |
| Thanksgiving | 98 | 194 | −49% | 7 of 7 | Holds |
| Black Friday | 120 | 216 | −44% | 7 of 7 | Holds |
| The Saturday after | 117 | 186 | −37% | 7 of 7 | A pattern |
| The Sunday after | 130 | 138 | −5% | 4 of 7 | About usual |
- The Wednesday before is busier, but a Wednesday 4 weeks earlier moved 18% too, so the extra crashes may just be how Wednesdays swing that time of year.
- The Saturday after is quieter every year, but Saturdays 4 and 6 weeks before and 6 weeks after moved as much as 22%, so we don't call it a rule.
Only on Thanksgiving
The same count on Thursdays with nothing special about them. If late fall alone emptied the streets, these would fall too.
- 6 weeks earlier−9%
- 4 weeks earlier+9%
- Thanksgiving−49%
- 6 weeks later−9%
Each fake date is a Thursday 4 and 6 weeks before Thanksgiving and 6 weeks after, 2019 to 2025. None moved more than 9%. 4 weeks later usually lands in Christmas week, so it's left out. Source: Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT crash records.
City by city
Crashes on Thanksgiving and Black Friday against the usual, 2019 to 2025.
| City | Thanksgiving | Usual | Change | Years lower | Black Friday change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jersey City | 81 | 131 | −38% | 7 of 7 | −45% |
| Hoboken | 1 | 14 | −93% | 7 of 7 | −75% |
| Hackensack | 16 | 49 | −67% | 7 of 7 | −37% |
| All 3 | 98 | 194 | −49% | 7 of 7 | −44% |
A small count moves a lot by chance: Hoboken's usual Thanksgiving is about 14 crashes over 7 years, and Hackensack's usual Thanksgiving is about 49 crashes over 7 years. Source: Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT crash records.
Every finding, with its source
One sentence each. These are our own counts from public records: please credit Counselworthy and link to this page, or to the finding, when you use them.
Crashes on Thanksgiving fall 49%: 98 over 7 years, against about 194 on the Thursdays around it. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT crash records, 2019 to 2025)
Thanksgiving had fewer crashes than the Thursdays around it in 7 of 7 years, 2019 to 2025, the 3 cities combined. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT crash records, 2019 to 2025)
On Black Friday, crashes fall 44%: 120 against about 216 on the Fridays around it, lower in 7 of 7 years. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT crash records, 2019 to 2025)
Of 17 holidays and named days we checked, only Christmas is quieter than Thanksgiving against the days around it. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT crash records, 2019 to 2025)
On Christmas, crashes fall 58%: 73 against about 172. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT crash records, 2019 to 2025)
From 6 to 10 am on Thanksgiving, crashes fall 69%: 13 against about 43. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT crash records, 2019 to 2025)
Thursdays 4 and 6 weeks before Thanksgiving and 6 weeks after moved 9% at most. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT crash records, 2019 to 2025)
The Wednesday before Thanksgiving has 20% more crashes: 240 against about 200, more in 6 of 7 years. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT crash records, 2019 to 2025)
A Wednesday 4 weeks earlier moved 18% too, so the Wednesday is a pattern, not a rule. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT crash records, 2019 to 2025)
From 9 pm to 4 am the night before Thanksgiving, crashes were higher in 4 of 7 years: 27 against about 19. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT crash records, 2019 to 2025)
The Saturday after falls 37%, but Saturdays 4 and 6 weeks away moved as much as 22%, so it's a pattern. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT crash records, 2019 to 2025)
The Sunday after Thanksgiving had about as many crashes as other Sundays: 130 against about 138. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT crash records, 2019 to 2025)
Jersey City: crashes on Thanksgiving fall 38%, 81 against about 131, lower in 7 of 7 years. (Counselworthy analysis of NJDOT crash records, 2019 to 2025)
What we can't say
- That driving on Thanksgiving is safer. Fewer crashes most likely means fewer people on these cities' streets that day: the morning rush, 6 to 10 am, falls 69%. We don't count how many people drove, so this can't say any one trip got safer or riskier.
- Anything about highways or the trip to dinner. These are crashes police reported in Jersey City, Hoboken and Hackensack. Holiday travel numbers you'll see elsewhere count every road in the country over the whole long weekend.
- That fewer people got hurt. Crashes that hurt someone fell 46% on Thanksgiving, 19 against about 35, but on a Thursday 6 weeks earlier they fell 39% too. Counts this small swing that much by chance.
- Anything about people on foot. Thanksgiving crashes with someone on foot: 6 against about 9. Too few to tell a change from chance.
- That the night before Thanksgiving is worse here. From 9 pm to 4 am, crashes were higher in only 4 of 7 years: 27 against about 19. That's not enough to call it a rule.
Sources and how we counted
Sources
- NJDOT Crash Data Portal (police crash reports, NJTR-1) · saved October 7, 2026
How we counted
- Every crash NJDOT's Crash Data Portal lists for Jersey City, Hoboken and Hackensack, 2019 to 2026-09, the same records as each city's crash data page. A crash with no time on its report is left out.
- The usual: each year, the average of the same weekday 1 to 4 weeks before and after, added up over the 7 years. Those days never include a holiday or named day, the Thanksgiving weekend itself, or December 23 to January 2.
- The days: Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November and Black Friday the day after. The night before runs from 9 pm on the Wednesday to 4 am on Thanksgiving. The 17 holidays and named days ranked are New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents' Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, July 4, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Halloween, Election Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas Eve, Christmas and New Year's Eve.
- The fake-date test: the same count on the same weekday 4 and 6 weeks before and after, when nothing special happens. A fake date that lands on a skipped day is left out that year, and one left with fewer than half the years isn't counted. For Thanksgiving that's 4 weeks later, which usually falls in Christmas week.
- Before a finding goes on this page it has to hold every one of these: the day moves at least 10% against its usual, at most 1 year goes the other way, every fake date moves less than half as much, and chance alone would give a split that lopsided less than 1 time in 100. Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Thanksgiving from 6 to 10 am pass all of them. The Wednesday before, the night before and the Saturday after miss at least one, so they're here as patterns.
- NJDOT lists far fewer Hoboken crashes from February 2023 on, so Hoboken adds less to the later years. Each holiday and its usual days come from the same weeks of records, so a gap thins both sides alike.
- NJDOT calls these records preliminary: crashes can take weeks to appear and can change. These are police reports, so a crash nobody reported isn't here.
- Crash numbers never change a law firm's score.
Use these numbers
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: credit Counselworthy and link to this page, or to the finding you use. Reporters and researchers can email hello@counselworthy.com.
Download the counts (CSV)Counselworthy, "Thanksgiving and car crashes in New Jersey," updated November 5, 2026, from NJDOT crash records. counselworthy.com/nj/research/thanksgiving-car-accidents/