TSTC Opens Up Crash Data, Reveals Most Dangerous Road In South Jersey

The Tri-State Transportation Campaign has a released a new report that analyzes bicycle crashes in 8 South Jersey Counties from 2008-2010 to determine particularly dangerous roadways for cyclists. The report extracts NJDOT's public (but difficult to access) traffic crash data and geocodes all the bicycle crashes in the region on Google Maps.
 
The analysis shows that many crashes were clustered on specific roads, with certain roads the most dangerous in more than one county. US 30 was one of Atlantic and Camden Counties’ most dangerous roads (65 crashes in these counties combined). NJ 47 was one of Cape May, Cumberland and Gloucester Counties’ most dangerous roads (58 crashes in these counties combined).


The report's findings demonstrate the need for New Jersey to continue to examine the design of its streets, particularly the roads that have been shown to be hot spots for bicyclist crashes. The percentage of bicyclists in crashes on these “hot spot” roads ranged from 15.7% to 32.6% of each county’s total bicycle crashes.

NJDOT passed a statewide Complete Streets policy in December 2009 which requires new or rehabilitated roads to be built for all users, including walkers, cyclist, transit riders, and drivers.

"There is a clear demand for safe cycling routes in the state, yet most roads are still designed for only cars in mind,” said Matthew Norris, Tri-State Transportation Campaign's South Jersey Advocate. “We hope these numbers will help the New Jersey Department of Transportation and county officials fix these roadways to encourage healthier, more active lifestyles.”

"People need options for transportation. Not everyone drives a car, but our roads aren't accommodating to pedestrians and cyclists. They have every right to use the road but can't always do so safely. More attention needs to be paid to making our roadways not only safe, but inviting, so those who choose to travel by bike or on foot have their own established spaces can feel secure in using them,” said Patty Woodworth, owner of Action Wheels Bike Shop in Deptford.

County fact sheets and Google Maps can be found at http://tstc.org/njbiking.

The analysis found the following roads to be the most dangerous in the three suburban counties. Percentages are percent of bicyclist crashes in each county which happened on that road.
     
Burlington  

• Route 537-Marne Hwy/Camden Ave (7.6%)
• US 130 (6%)
• Burlington County 607-Church St (5.2%)

Camden   

• US 30-White Horse Pike (6%)
• NJ 168-Black Horse Pike (5.2%)
• Route 561-Haddon Ave/Haddonfield-Berlin Rd (4.5%)

Gloucester  

• NJ 47 - Delsea Dr. (10.1%)
• NJ 45 - Mantua Ave/Bridgeton Pike (9.6%)
• US 322 - Black Horse Pike (7.9%)

Note: much of the above text is taken from the press release issued today by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.

The map below overlays TSTC's crash data on top of census data, trails and bike lanes in South Jersey. A full page version is viewable here.

View map on GeoCommons