Through July 14, 2016, four people have been killed on a 30-mile stretch of Interstate 78 from the Pennsylvania border to the Interstate 287 interchange in Somerset County.
Accidents on the 30-mile stretch of Interstate 78 from the Pennsylvania border to the Interstate 287 interchange in Somerset County have claimed the lives of four people in just a little over six months.
The four fatal accidents this year equals the number of fatal accidents in 2015 on the same stretch of road, according to State Police.
The average number of fatalities on this section of Interstate 78 is 4.8 per year, according to a NJ Advance Media analysis of state Department of Transportation traffic data from 1997 to 2014.
From 1997 through Thursday, a total of 98 people have been killed, including a tractor-trailer driver who died in a one-vehicle crash on Thursday in Tewksbury Township in Hunterdon County.
The worst year for fatalities was 1997, when 11 people died. In 2014, there was only one fatality. Most years the number of fatalities is between four and eight.
The 42 accidents on this stretch of I-78 in 2016
From 1997 to 2014, there were a total of 13,336 accidents. Of those, 3,029 were accidents with injuries.
The most recent fatal accident claimed the life of a tractor-trailer driver, who was killed Thursday when his rig struck a bridge abutment on eastbound Interstate 78 in Tewksbury Township and burst into flames.
Thursday's accident snarled traffic on this expressway heavily used by commuters coming from the Lehigh Valley and the Delaware Valley into Central Jersey and beyond to North Jersey and New York City.
The eastbound side of Interstate 78 was closed for nearly six hours, stranding drivers and creating gridlock on Route 22 and other highways and back roads throughout Hunterdon and Somerset counties.
Even at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, 14 hours after the crash, two lanes of the eastbound side of the expressway remained closed with ongoing heavy delays.
This year's other fatal accidents include:
- Jan. 6 at 11:40 a.m. - Clinton Township - Fatal accident involving a van (westbound)
- April 18 at 6 p.m. - Union Township - fatal accident (eastbound)
- May 25 at 12:30 p.m. - Alpha - fatal accident involving a vehicle and tractor-trailer (westbound)
NJ.com readers had different thoughts as to why this stretch of Interstate 78 continues to be dangerous:
yankeesfan01x: "...what are the odds that those people who moved to the Lehigh Valley from Jersey and still work in Jersey have to drive a little bit more offensive in the AM to make it to work on time? And think about the timing of it to? People from Northwest Jersey probably didn't start really moving out to Eastern PA until the last few years and go figure the accident rate is up on 78 by a ton."
RUmrshorty93: "...The increase in accidents is the volume of traffic coupled with excessive speed and inattentive drivers of both trucks and cars. Speeding and inattentive drivers have all different kinds of license plates."
Capt Ron: "My sincerest condolences to the trucker and his family. Anyone who commutes in the NJ/NY/PA/CT area knows the highways are overcrowded. Add to that the size difference between passenger vehicles and over the road trucks. I've often wondered why not restrict the usage of over the road trucks on these highways during the peak rush hours. It is my understanding they need to stop and rest anyway so why not during these times? Just a thought."
NJNana: "First off to the trucker RIP. To the family my deepest sympathy. Why do people ASSUME it is always the trucker's fault? I travel 78 twice a day for the last 16 years. Everyday I see cars (NJ & PA) and motorcycles weave in and out of the 3 lanes. There are times when I actually gasp because they come so close to the tractor trailers when they cut in front of them. I Don't see the truckers texting or on their cell phones, but I do see people in cars doing it."
jr1975: "With all the accidents and massive truck traffic and all this talk of transportation fixes and even a possible gas tax, yet there is never a discussion on making truck and car lanes like the NJ turnpike has. IF there were separate car and truck lanes, you could close the one section and still get traffic through on one of the roadways....but of course even with all the money, environmentalists would shoot it down. I'm just glad I don't have to sit in that congestion everyday!!"
yknot819: "We need more patrols on this road and more people pulled over for speeding, texting, etc. Also, why do I rarely see a police car pulling over a trucker? Only passenger vehicles? There is so much dangerous behavior and the only way to stop it is to ticket it."