The bill Gov. Phil Murphy signed Monday creates a commission tasked with bringing traffic fatalities to zero by 2040. Pedestrian deaths hit their highest level in decades in 2024. (Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor)
By NIKITA BIRYUKOV
Republished with permission from New Jersey Monitor
Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill Monday creating the Target Zero Commission in a push to bring down New Jersey traffic fatalities to zero by 2040.
The 13-member commission is tasked with adopting strategies to improve roadway and sidewalk safety for pedestrians, cyclists and others traveling outside a motor vehicle.
“Every day, you read about a tragic death that was avoidable," ” bill sponsor Sen. Pat Diegnan, D-Middlesex, said at a bill signing ceremony in Trenton. "This is the beginning of my 23rd year in the Legislature. I can actually tell you, without doubt, that I have never felt prouder to be an advocate for a particular piece of legislation."
New Jersey had 691 traffic fatalities across 655 crashes last year, according to New Jersey State Police data. Among the dead were 223 pedestrians, the highest level reached in more than three decades and a 30 percent increase from the 171 killed in 2023.
The increases came despite a 4.4 percent drop in traffic fatalities nationwide in the first nine months of 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
“These are not simply statistics. They are tragedies that no family will ever truly recover from,” Murphy said.
The commission will be staffed largely by Cabinet-level officials or their designees, including the heads of the Departments of Transportation, Health, Community Affairs, and Human Services, as well as the director of highway traffic safety, the superintendent of the New Jersey State Police and the chief administrator of the Motor Vehicle Commission, among others.
It must meet at least twice each year, with its first meeting required within 60 days of the bill’s signing, and hold the same number of public hearings annually.
“My heart and my soul and my prayers are out to everyone who’s lost someone, and this is something that will hopefully be a little bit of peace in your minds with the signing of this law today,” said bill sponsor Assemblyman Rob Karabinchak, D-Middlesex.
The commission is tasked with advising the Department of Transportation on roadway and transportation infrastructure planning and must annually report on its work to the governor and Legislature.
It’s not clear what strategies the commission will take up to reduce fatal car crashes, though the law Murphy signed Monday explicitly bars the commission from recommending the state adopt red-light cameras.
The law’s enactment follows a concerted advocacy push by family members of individuals killed or injured in car crashes.
Arland Macasieb, a triathlete who suffered severe injuries after being struck by a car from behind in September 2021, joined lawmakers at the bill’s signing.
“Today, I stand before you representing the 600 people who lose their lives each year to traffic violence in our state and never have a chance to tell their stories. Unlike them, I was fortunate enough to survive a horrific crash,” he said. “My survival is not just a second chance at life, it’s also a responsibility to speak out for those who cannot.”
