After a 30-year-high for traffic fatalities and a 30% spike in pedestrians killed in 2024, New Jersey had a less deadly year in 2025 and did better than predictions by national safety officials.
The New Jersey State Police reported a drop in the number of traffic deaths, from 684 in 2024 to 575 in 2025, representing a 15% drop. State Police caution this is a preliminary number that could change.
The figure met a goal of reducing traffic fatalities to 577 deaths in 2025 that was set in the state Highway Safety Plan.
New Jersey also did better than projections by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) which forecast the state would see a 10% drop in traffic deaths between 2024 and 2025.
Nationally, the NHTSA projected a sharp drop in traffic fatalities for 2025 even though Americans drove about 25 billion more miles in 2025.
In 2024, Ocean County had the highest number of fatalities in the state with 62 people killed in 53 crashes, followed by Middlesex County where 48 people died in 48 crashes.
Essex County was the county with the third highest death toll where 42 people died in 42 crashes. Rural Hunterdon County had the fewest deaths in 2025 with 6 people killed in 6 fatal crashes.
Fewer pedestrians were killed in 2025, dropping from 230 in 2024 to 173, according to State Police data. In 2024, pedestrian deaths had increased 30% compared to 2023.
Essex County saw the most pedestrian deaths at 25, followed by 17 pedestrians killed in Ocean County.
Statewide, one less cyclist was killed in 2025, 17, compared to 18 killed in 2024.
The reduction in fatalities came as the state started a new Target Zero initiative this year.
Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law on Jan. 13 creating the first-of-its-kind, 13-agency Target Zero Commission. That happened after traffic deaths rose 14% in 2024 compared to the previous year, reaching a 30-year high in pedestrian fatalities.
The Target Zero Commission, created to develop a plan for eliminating traffic deaths by 2040, approved its draft report of recommendations to reduce fatalities on Dec. 18, 2025.
The 72-page plan, described as the nation’s first statewide strategy to end roadway fatalities, laid out an ambitious roadmap. It recommends proposed laws for the legislature to consider and additional measures for state agencies and local law enforcement to implement.
During a Dec. 1 public hearing, several safety advocates and families of fatal crash victims called on Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill’s administration to act on the report’s recommendations.
A copy of the report will be provided to Sherrill’s transition team, state Department of Transportation officials said. Copies of the approved report were also sent to Murphy and the state legislature.
That report leans heavily on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe Systems Approach, comprising actions to address issues around having “Safer People, Safer Roads, Safer Speeds, Safer Vehicles, and Better Post-Crash Care.”
It made specific recommendations in seven areas: driver education, pedestrian safety, road design, driver awareness of safety laws, speed management, vehicle safety and post-crash care.
The report also identified 140 sections of interstate, state highways and local roads as high-injury areas that need attention.
