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Transportation Performance Management

 

State Highway Safety Report (2021) - New Jersey

Select HSIP Report Year:

The following provides a summary of the Highway Safety Improvement Program's (HSIP) safety performance measures and State safety performance targets. As per the Safety PM Final Rule, States are required to set annual safety performance targets in the HSIP annual report for the number of fatalities, rate of fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT), number of serious injuries, rate of serious injures per 100 million VMT, and number of non-motorized fatalities and serious injuries. The safety performance targets are based on 5-year rolling averages. States have the flexibility to use the methodology they deem most appropriate when establishing safety performance targets. FHWA encourages States to review data sets and trends and consider factors that may affect targets. The safety performance targets should be data-driven, realistic, and attainable and should align with the performance management framework and legislative intent.

A State Department of Transportation (DOT) has met or made significant progress towards meeting its safety performance targets when at least four of the five safety performance targets established under 23 CFR 490.209(a) have been met or the actual outcome is better than the baseline performance. The baseline performance is the 5-year average ending with the year prior to the establishment of the target.

The Basis for Target and Additional Comments are provided by the State in their HSIP Annual Report and have not been edited by FHWA. Any questions about individual State reports should be directed to the respective State DOT. For additional information about each State's HSIP, the complete reports are available at https://highways.dot.gov/safety/hsip/reporting.

More information and resources on Safety Performance Management are available at https://highways.dot.gov/safety/hsip/spm/safety-performance-management-safety-pm-overview.

All State data used to populate the State Highway Safety Reports for 2021 are available for download at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/tpm/reporting/state/tpm_dashboard_data.zip.

  • Number of Fatalities

  • Number of Fatalities 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
    Annual 561 602 624 563 558 586 699
    5-Year Average 581.6 586.6 606.0
    Target (5-Year Average) 574.0 565.0 669.4
  • Basis for Number of Fatalities Target

    See attached document called "Basis for established target"
    2010-2019 Number of Fatalities is based on available FARS data as of 4/23/2021. 2020 Number of Fatalities is based on available NJ State Police Fatal Accident Investigation Unit as of 3/31/2021. With guidance from the 2020 NJ SHSP, NJ established 3.0% annual reduction of fatalities.
    The safety performance target was established after careful consideration of near-term trends in fatality frequency, recently built projects, and the current socioeconomic environment. The target is based on a five-year rolling average value and is reported to satisfy federal requirements with the understanding that New Jersey safety vision is Towards Zero Deaths on all public roads. Unfortunately, the number of fatalities and serious injuries on New Jersey roads has been increasing since 2020. Similar trends have been seen nationally. To this end, NJDOT is committed to the vision of achieving Zero fatalities by the year 2050.
    The COVID-19 Pandemic led to a decrease in VMT in 2020 and an unexpected increase in fatalities in New Jersey, with similar trends nationwide. The trend of increasing fatalities has continued through 2021 and year -to-date 2022. Although the VMT are increasing on New Jersey roadways, it is not at pre-pandemic levels to date.

  • Data Sources:
    Fatalities: 2015-2020 Final FARS, 2021 FARS Annual Report File
    Targets: 2020-2022 New Jersey HSIP Annual Reports

  • Fatality Rate (per 100 million VMT)

  • Fatality Rate
    (per 100 million VMT)
    2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
    Annual 0.74 0.78 0.81 0.73 0.71 0.88 0.95
    5-Year Average 0.754 0.782 0.816
    Target (5-Year Average) 0.740 0.766 0.906
  • Basis for Fatality Rate Target

    See attached document called "Basis for established target"
    The VMTs were also weighted using the FHWA COVID data, and the projections based on INRIX reporting of the daily percent traffic based on 2019 volumetric data. A 3.0% annual reduction is projected for fatality rate target.
    The safety performance target was established after careful consideration of near-term trends in fatality rate, recently built projects, and the current socioeconomic environment. The target is based on a five-year rolling average value and is reported to satisfy federal requirements with the understanding that New Jersey safety vision is Towards Zero Deaths on all public roads. Unfortunately, the number of fatalities and serious injuries on New Jersey roads has been increasing since 2020. Similar trends have been seen nationally. To this end, NJDOT is committed to the vision of achieving Zero fatalities by the year 2050.
    The COVID-19 Pandemic led to a decrease in VMT in 2020 and an unexpected increase in fatalities in New Jersey, with similar trends nationwide. The trend of increasing fatalities has continued through 2021 and year -to-date 2022. Although the VMT are increasing on New Jersey roadways, it is not at pre-pandemic levels to date.

  • Data Sources:
    Fatalities: 2015-2020 Final FARS, 2021 FARS Annual Report File
    VMT: 2015-2021 FHWA Highway Statistics Series, VM-2 Table
    Targets: 2020-2022 New Jersey HSIP Annual Reports

  • Number of Serious Injuries

  • Number of Serious Injuries 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
    Annual 1,138 1,019 1,137 1,284 3,047 2,904 3,166
    5-Year Average 1,525.0 1,878.2 2,307.6
    Target (5-Year Average) 2,124.8 2,537.2 3,079.6
  • Basis for Number of Serious Injuries Target

    See attached document called "Basis for established target"
    2010-2018 Number of Serious Injuries is based on available NJDOT data (DOT-ARD database) as of 3/29/2020. 2019 Number of Serious Injuries is based on available NJDOT data (DOT-ARD database) as of 3/31/2021. 2020 numbers are estimated based on calculations using available data including Number of Serious Injuries available NJDOT data (DOT-ARD database) as of 3/31/2021. The serious injury targets are projected to be 3.0% annual reductions on a weighted non-COVID related serious injury numbers.
    The safety performance target was established after careful consideration of near-term trends in serious injury frequency, recently built projects, and the current socioeconomic environment. The target is based on a five-year rolling average value and is reported to satisfy federal requirements with the understanding that New Jersey safety vision is Towards Zero Deaths on all public roads. Unfortunately, the number of fatalities and serious injuries on New Jersey roads has been increasing since 2020. Similar trends have been seen nationally. To this end, NJDOT is committed to the vision of achieving Zero fatalities by the year 2050.
    Beginning in 2019, New Jersey updated the police crash report to be consistent with the federally required classifications (Killed, Suspected Serious Injury, Suspected Minor Injurie, Possible Injury, and No Apparent Injury). As a result of this change, injuries not previously attributed the serious injury classification are now included in the serious injuries numbers for 2019-1021. For example, a crash victim with a broken arm that would have previously been classified as a Moderate Injury, is now classified as a Suspected Serious Injury. As a result, New Jersey saw an increase in reported serious injuries due to the changes in reporting. The increase creates a challenge in predicting anticipated totals for future years as well.
    The continued challenges posed by changes in the police crash report from and the COVEID-19 Pandemic have rendered previous injury trends and models ineffectively leading to challenges in developing data projections.

  • Data Sources:
    Serious Injuries: 2022 New Jersey HSIP Annual Report
    Targets: 2020-2022 New Jersey HSIP Annual Reports

  • Rate of Serious Injuries (per 100 million VMT)

  • Rate of Serious Injuries
    (per 100 million VMT)
    2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
    Annual 1.51 1.32 1.47 1.66 3.90 4.38 4.30
    5-Year Average 1.972 2.546 3.142
    Target (5-Year Average) 2.724 3.440 4.178
  • Basis for Serious Injury Rate Target

    See attached document called "Basis for established target"
    The VMTs were also weighted using the FHWA COVID data, and the projections based on INRIX reporting of the daily percent traffic based on 2019 volumetric data. A 3.0% annual reduction is projected for serious injury rate target.
    The safety performance target was established after careful consideration of near-term trends in serious injury rate, recently built projects, and the current socioeconomic environment. The target is based on a five-year rolling average value and is reported to satisfy federal requirements with the understanding that New Jersey safety vision is Towards Zero Deaths on all public roads. Unfortunately, the number of fatalities and serious injuries on New Jersey roads has been increasing since 2020. Similar trends have been seen nationally. To this end, NJDOT is committed to the vision of achieving Zero fatalities by the year 2050.
    The COVID-19 Pandemic led to a decrease in VMT in 2020 and an unexpected increase in fatalities in New Jersey, with similar trends nationwide. The trend of increasing fatalities has continued through 2021 and year -to-date 2022. Although the VMT are increasing on New Jersey roadways, it is not at pre-pandemic levels to date.
    Beginning in 2019, New Jersey updated the police crash report to be consistent with the federally required classifications (Killed, Suspected Serious Injury, Suspected Minor Injurie, Possible Injury, and No Apparent Injury). As a result of this change, injuries not previously attributed the serious injury classification are now included in the serious injuries numbers for 2019-1021. For example, a crash victim with a broken arm that would have previously been classified as a Moderate Injury, is now classified as a Suspected Serious Injury. As a result, New Jersey saw an increase in reported serious injuries due to the changes in reporting. The increase creates a challenge in predicting anticipated totals for future years as well.
    The continued challenges posed by changes in the police crash report from and the COVEID-19 Pandemic have rendered previous injury trends and models ineffectively leading to challenges in developing data projections.

  • Data Sources:
    Serious Injuries: 2022 New Jersey HSIP Annual Report
    VMT: 2015-2021 FHWA Highway Statistics Series, VM-2 Table
    Targets: 2020-2022 New Jersey HSIP Annual Reports

  • Number of Non-Motorized Fatalities and Serious Injuries

  • Number of Non-Motorized Fatalities
    and Serious Injuries
    2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
    Annual 395 387 403 426 821 746 891
    5-Year Average 486.4 556.6 657.4
    Target (5-Year Average) 588.5 754.1 848.2
  • Basis for Number of Non-Motorized Fatalities and Serious Injuries Target

    See attached document called "Basis for established target"
    VMTs for 2020, 2021 & 2022 are not available. 2020 is estimated based on FHWA Traffic Volume Trends (https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/travel_monitoring/tvt.cfm ). For 2021 and 2022, the team reviewed the INRIX volumetric factor trends (passenger VMT to historical passenger VMT) for 2020 to April 2021 and decided, due to the anomalies in the data, to assign a weight to each quarter for 2021 for an overall VMT of 95% of 2019; and CY 2022 VMT to be equal to 2019. A 3.0% annual reduction is projected for non-motorized fatalities and serious injuries target.
    The safety performance target was established after careful consideration of near-term trends in non-motorized fatality and serious injury frequency, recently built projects, and the current socioeconomic environment. The target is based on a five-year rolling average value and is reported to satisfy federal requirements with the understanding that New Jersey safety vision is Towards Zero Deaths on all public roads. Unfortunately, the number of fatalities and serious injuries on New Jersey roads has been increasing since 2020. Similar trends have been seen nationally. To this end, NJDOT is committed to the vision of achieving Zero fatalities by the year 2050.
    The COVID-19 Pandemic led to a decrease in VMT in 2020 and an unexpected increase in fatalities in New Jersey, with similar trends nationwide. The trend of increasing fatalities has continued through 2021 and year -to-date 2022. Although the VMT are increasing on New Jersey roadways, it is not at pre-pandemic levels to date.
    Beginning in 2019, New Jersey updated the police crash report to be consistent with the federally required classifications (Killed, Suspected Serious Injury, Suspected Minor Injurie, Possible Injury, and No Apparent Injury). As a result of this change, injuries not previously attributed the serious injury classification are now included in the serious injuries numbers for 2019-1021. For example, a crash victim with a broken arm that would have previously been classified as a Moderate Injury, is now classified as a Suspected Serious Injury. As a result, New Jersey saw an increase in reported serious injuries due to the changes in reporting. The increase creates a challenge in predicting anticipated totals for future years as well.
    The continued challenges posed by changes in the police crash report from and the COVEID-19 Pandemic have rendered previous injury trends and models ineffectively leading to challenges in developing data projections.

  • Data Sources:
    Fatalities: 2015-2020 Final FARS, 2021 FARS Annual Report File
    Serious Injuries: 2022 New Jersey HSIP Annual Report
    Targets: 2020-2022 New Jersey HSIP Annual Reports


Additional Comments

2021 Comments:

The five- year rolling average targets above, incorporating serious injuries, indicate a large increase. This is a result of a large spike in reported serious injuries in 2019 crashes. Beginning in 2019, New Jersey updated the police crash report to be consistent with the federally required injury classifications (Killed, Suspected Serious Injury, Suspected Minor Injury, Possible Injury, and No Apparent Injury). As a result of this change, injuries not previously attributed to the serious injury classification are now included in this number. For example, a crash victim with a broken arm that would have previously been classified as a Moderate injury, is now classified as Suspected Serious Injury. As a result, New Jersey saw a 116% increase in reported serious injuries due to the changes in reporting. This large increase creates a challenge in predicting anticipated totals for future years. New Jersey expects the five-year rolling average to increase over the next few years until the data stabilizes.

2022 Comments:

Note that 2012 & 2016 VMTs are adjusted for Leap Years (366 days).

Safety Performance Target Assessment

PLEASE NOTE: Each State’s safety performance target assessment is based on its own State-specific target methodology and program philosophy. Therefore, conclusions should not be drawn based only on the information in the Safety Performance Target Assessment Summary table. For example, the State may have set aggressive targets, and not met those targets, while another State may have set more easily attainable targets, and met those targets. FHWA understands that each State’s safety program is unique and therefore does not prescribe a methodology for States to set targets. States have the flexibility to use the methodology they deem most appropriate when setting their safety performance targets.

New Jersey 2021 Safety Performance Target Assessment
Performance Measure 2017-2021 Target 2017-2021 Actual 2015-2019 Baseline Met Target? Better Than Baseline? Met or Made Significant Progress?
Number of Fatalities 574.0 606.0 581.6 No No No
Rate of Fatalities 0.740 0.816 0.754 No No
Number of Serious Injuries 2,124.8 2,307.6 1,525.0 No No
Rate of Serious Injuries 2.724 3.142 1.972 No No
Number of non-motorized fatalities and non-motorized serious injuries 588.5 657.4 486.4 No No

Updated: 05/18/2023
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