With the summer season about to get in full swing soon, people in New Jersey often want to spend more time outdoors and even enjoy the ability to walk rather than drive all of the time. Whether simply walking through an outdoor shopping area, along a boardwalk for enjoyment and exercise or something else, pedestrians should know that they have to be very careful when sharing the roads with motor vehicles.
According to records from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the number of pedestrians killed in New Jersey in 2017 spiked dramatically over the prior year. In 2016, there were 163 pedestrian fatalities across the state. In 2017, 183 people on foot lost their lives in vehicle accidents. That number represents more than 29% of all vehicular fatalities in New Jersey in 2017. The 183 deaths in 2017 is also more than in any year for the prior decade.
In Ocean County, there were eight pedestrian deaths in 2016 but that increased in 2017 to 13 deaths. Those 13 pedestrian fatalities accounted for 24.5% of all accident deaths in the County in 2017. Between 2013 and 2017, Ocean County recorded a total of 54 pedestrian deaths. Neighboring Burlington County and Monmouth County recorded 54 and 55 pedestrian fatalities in those same five years, respectively. Essex County saw the most pedestrian deaths in that time, with 99 people on foot being killed in accidents.
If you would like to learn more about your options for seeking compensation or other assistance after you or a loved one has been involved in a pedestrian accident, please feel free to visit the pedestrian’s rights page of our New Jersey personal injury website.