Crime & Safety

Route 1 Tops State's Deadliest Roads

Report shows the Middlesex County highway is one of New Jersey's most dangerous roadways for pedestrians.

Route 1 in Middlesex County has been named one of the state's deadliest roads for pedestrians over the last three years.

According to a report from the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, nine people were killed on Route 1 from 2009-2011, including 41-year-old Peter Jacob, of Bound Brook, who was struck and killed on Route 1 in South Brunswick in 2011.

Overall, Route 1 was tied for the fourth most dangerous road for pedestrians in the entire tri-state area, with Broadway in Manhattan and Route 24 in Nassau County, N.Y. tied for the most pedestrian deaths at 12.

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Jacob's death was one of three fatalities along Route 1 in 2011. The busy roadway has accounted for three pedestrian deaths per year since 2009, according to the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a nonprofit advocacy organization that focuses on transportation. 

The nine fatalities on Route 1 tie it with US‐322/40 (Blackhorse Pike, Albany Avenue) in Atlantic County and Route 130 in Burlington County for the dubious distinction of being the state's most dangerous roadway. 

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Route 9 in Middlesex also made the list ranked as the ninth most dangerous road, with eight pedestrian deaths over the three-year time span.

Just last month, a New York man attempting to cross the northbound lane of Route 1 near Deans Lane was struck and left in critical condition.

In addition to the pedestrian struck on Route 1, the final week of February also saw a pedestrian struck walking across Route 535. The Monroe Township man suffered a broken leg in the collision.

Analysis from the Tri-State Transportation Campaign is based on data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System. 

To view the Tri-State Transportation Campaign's full report on the region's deadliest roads, click on the attached PDF. 

What other South Brunswick roadways do you feel are unsafe for pedestrians? Tell us in the comments.


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