Car accident in Passaic, NJ: one in six injury crashes in the city involves a pedestrian
Passaic crash reports list 3,852 car accidents in 2023 and 2024, and 729 of them hurt or killed someone. 123 of those 729 were pedestrian crashes, 16.9 percent: the top share in Passaic County and second of 50 large New Jersey towns, behind Bayonne.
Hurt in a Passaic accident as a driver, passenger or pedestrian? A short New Jersey questionnaire, about 30 seconds, checks whether a sponsoring lawyer's office may review your claim for free.
Start the New Jersey accident quiz
Advertisement. Opens the New Jersey questionnaire. Review its policies and contact consent before submitting your details. No legal advice or guarantee of acceptance or compensation.
How often are pedestrians hit by cars in Passaic?
Often: 123 of the city's 729 injury crashes in 2023 and 2024 were pedestrian crashes, 16.9 percent, against 9.1 percent countywide and 6.6 percent statewide.
Counting every pedestrian crash, injury or not, there were 133. 77 of those 133 happened in daylight and none of the 77 was fatal. All five pedestrian deaths came after dark.
See the full table
| Crash type | City of Passaic | Passaic County | New Jersey |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right angle | 30.3% (221) | 24.5% | 22.4% |
| Pedestrian | 16.9% (123) | 9.1% | 6.6% |
| Rear-end | 16.2% (118) | 27.3% | 30.7% |
| Hit a parked vehicle | 6.2% (45) | 4.1% | 3.4% |
Right-angle crashes, not rear-end crashes, lead the city's injury list. Statewide it is the other way round.1
Does PIP cover you as a pedestrian? Our New Jersey pedestrian accident guide explains who pays a pedestrian's medical bills.
Court rulings on people hit while crossing are on our page of NJ appeals decisions for pedestrians hit by a car. Statewide first steps are on the New Jersey car accident help hub.
Did every fatal crash in Passaic happen after dark?
Yes. All eight fatal crashes from 2023 through 2025 happened after dark, seven with street lights on and one with them off. Six of the eight were pedestrian crashes.
2024 stands apart: five pedestrians were killed, after none in 2023, and four of those deaths came between August and October.
| Month | Crash type | Road and cross street in the record | Light |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2023 | Fixed object | Route 21 (no cross street recorded) | Dark, lights on |
| Apr 2024 | Pedestrian | Passaic Avenue at Aycrigg Avenue | Dark, lights on |
| Aug 2024 | Pedestrian | Brighton Avenue at Milton Avenue | Dark, lights on |
| Sep 2024 | Left turn or U-turn | Pennington Avenue at Paulison Avenue | Dark, lights on |
| Sep 2024 | Pedestrian | Summer Street at Central Avenue | Dark, lights off |
| Oct 2024 | Pedestrian | Route 21 at Passaic Avenue | Dark, lights on |
| Oct 2024 | Pedestrian | Main Avenue at Prospect Street | Dark, lights on |
| Jan 2025 (preliminary) | Pedestrian | Broadway at Liberty Street | Dark, lights on |
After a night crash, note whether the street lights were working. Which photos and records help prove fault is on our page on what evidence helps prove fault after an NJ crash.
Where do most car accidents happen in Passaic?
On two corridors: Route 21, a state highway, and Monroe Street, a city street.
Route 21, the McCarter Highway, had 279 accidents inside Passaic in 2023 and 2024. 72 hurt or killed someone, 9.9 percent of the city's injury accidents, with 103 people hurt and 2 killed.
River Drive is the cross street named most often on Route 21 in Passaic: 17 of 63 injury accidents in 2024 and 2025. The whole road is on our page of Route 21 accidents across Essex and Passaic counties.
Monroe Street forms 4 of the 26 Passaic corners with 3 or more injury accidents in 2024 and 2025. Records naming it count 406 accidents, 65 with someone hurt, 90 people hurt, 9 pedestrian crashes and no deaths.
See the full table
| Intersection | Someone hurt or killed | People hurt | All accidents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boulevard at Passaic Avenue | 6 | 8 | 12 |
| Hoover Avenue at Monroe Street | 5 | 5 | 14 |
| Boulevard at Broadway | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Hope Avenue at Monroe Street | 5 | 10 | 9 |
| Main Avenue at Oak Street | 4 | 5 | 12 |
| Brook Avenue at River Drive | 4 | 7 | 11 |
| Paulison Avenue at River Drive | 4 | 6 | 11 |
| Lexington Avenue at Summer Street | 4 | 4 | 5 |
Monroe Street cross streets, 2024 and 2025
| Cross street | Someone hurt or killed | All accidents |
|---|---|---|
| Hoover Avenue | 7 | 26 |
| Parker Avenue | 6 | 23 |
| Hope Avenue | 6 | 21 |
| 1st Street | 5 | 13 |
| Main Avenue | 4 | 27 |
| Dayton Avenue | 4 | 19 |
| Market Street | 4 | 18 |
Statewide leaders are on our page of New Jersey intersections with the most injury accidents. Nearby, compare car accidents in Clifton and its Route 3 corridor, car accidents in Wayne and car accidents in Paterson, where reports go through a different portal.
How many Passaic accidents involve a parked car?
About one in four. 994 of the city's 3,852 accidents in 2023 and 2024 (25.8 percent) were a vehicle striking a parked vehicle, against 11.4 percent statewide.
Only 45 of those 994 hurt anyone. If someone hit a parked car and left, our hit-and-run guide covers the claim. If a delivery truck was involved, see truck accidents in Passaic.4
When do most Passaic accidents happen?
On Mondays and in the late afternoon. Monday had the most injury accidents, 128 over 2023 and 2024, and 3 pm to 6 pm was the busiest three-hour window, with 141.
Passaic County as a whole peaks on Fridays instead.5
Did Passaic accidents drop in 2025?
No. The preliminary 2025 file holds 1,874 Passaic accidents, 1.6 percent more than in 2024, while Passaic County as a whole is 13.8 percent below its 2024 total.
See the full table
| Year | All accidents | Someone hurt or killed | People hurt | People killed | Pedestrian crashes | Bicycle crashes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2,007 | 408 | 559 | 1 | 85 | 42 |
| 2024 | 1,845 | 321 | 435 | 6 | 48 | 14 |
| 2025 (preliminary) | 1,874 | 342 | 464 | 1 | 56 | 34 |
Pedestrian crashes fell from 85 in 2023 to 48 in 2024, then rose to 56 in the 2025 file.6
How do I get a Passaic police accident report?
From the Passaic Police Department Records Bureau, if city police handled the crash. The city states no fee and no waiting time, so ask when you request it.
- Request it online through the city's Motor Vehicle Crash Report listing.
- Or call the Records Bureau at 973-365-3910.7
How long reports take, whether they are public record and what happens if you miss the 10-day report are answered on our guide to getting a New Jersey accident report, agency by agency.
To decode the crash-type boxes, see how to read a New Jersey crash report.
What else do people ask about Passaic accidents?
Is Passaic dangerous to drive in?
For people on foot, its records stand out: 16.9 percent of injury crashes involved a pedestrian, second of 50 large New Jersey towns, behind Bayonne. Those are counts, not risk rates.
Was there a car accident in Passaic today?
This page covers police crash records through the preliminary 2025 file, not live news. If you were just in a crash, start with our first 24 hours checklist.
What happens if you hit a parked car and leave in NJ?
Passaic logged 994 parked-car accidents in 2023 and 2024, so this comes up often. What leaving the scene means for the owner's claim is on our New Jersey hit-and-run claim guide.
What these numbers can and cannot tell you
The counts on this page are police-reported car accidents from NJDOT crash records, analyzed by us. They show where and when accidents where someone was hurt happened in Passaic. They do not show who was at fault in any accident, and they say nothing about whether you have a claim or what it could be worth.
Rules that apply anywhere in New Jersey
- Your own auto policy's PIP pays eligible medical expenses "no matter who caused the auto accident," up to your policy's limit and after its deductible and co-pay. If you chose your health insurance as primary, it pays first and PIP pays second. A claim against the other driver for pain and suffering is separate: it depends on fault and on the lawsuit option on your policy. 8
- Being partly at fault does not stop you from recovering, as long as your share is not greater than the other driver's, or the combined share of all the drivers you claim against (the "51 percent" rule). Your damages are reduced by your share. 9
- If someone is hurt or killed, or property damage to any one person is over $500, the driver must tell the police right away and send a written report to the Motor Vehicle Commission within 10 days, unless a police officer files one. If police did not investigate, New Jersey's SR-1 self-reporting form is the form for that. 10
- An injury lawsuit generally must be filed within two years, and a claim against a public body (a town, the state, NJ Transit) needs a written notice within 90 days. These are general rules with exceptions; check your own dates with a lawyer. 11
Next steps: how to get your New Jersey accident report, agency by agency, and how New Jersey no-fault (PIP) insurance works after an accident. This is general information, not legal advice.
Hurt in a car accident in Passaic? Take the 30-second New Jersey quiz to see if a lawyer's office may review your claim for free.
Start the New Jersey accident quiz
Advertisement. Opens the New Jersey questionnaire. Review its policies and contact consent before submitting your details. No legal advice or guarantee of acceptance or compensation.
Sources
- NJDOT crash records 2023 and 2024 as normalized by hudcostreets/nj-crashes; our count and town ranking (Passaic County 7,917 and New Jersey 112,966 accidents where someone was hurt or killed).
- NJDOT crash records via nj-crashes, fatal crashes supplemented from the NJ State Police feed; our count, one row per fatal crash, month only.
- NJDOT crash records via nj-crashes; our count; Route 21 totals 2023 and 2024, corners and cross streets 2024 and 2025 (2025 preliminary).
- NJDOT crash records via nj-crashes; our count, 2023 and 2024, crash type as the officer recorded it.
- NJDOT crash records via nj-crashes; our count of accidents where someone was hurt or killed, 2023 and 2024, city and county.
- NJDOT crash records via nj-crashes; our count by year, 2025 preliminary.
- City of Passaic, Motor Vehicle Crash Report.
- NJ DOBI Auto Insurance Buyer's Guide 2026, pp. 2, 6; DOBI health insurance as primary
- N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.1; NJ DOBI comparative negligence FAQ
- N.J.S.A. 39:4-130; NJDOT self-reporting crash form
- N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2; N.J.S.A. 59:8-8
How we counted
- NJDOT crash records 2023 to 2025 (hudcostreets/nj-crashes), fatal crashes added from the State Police feed. 2025 is preliminary.
- "Passaic" is the City of Passaic, not the county. The town ranking covers the 50 municipalities with 500 or more injury accidents in 2023 and 2024.
- Route 21 rows are those coded as state highway 21. Corners and cross streets use 2024 and 2025; spelling variants are not merged, so those counts are floors, and 18 corners tie at 3.
- The 2025 change compares the preliminary 2025 total with 2024.
- Counts, not risk rates: no traffic volume sits behind them.