Plainfield NJ car accident records: four in ten injury accidents are right-angle collisions
Plainfield had 839 police-reported car accidents in 2023 and 2024 in which someone was hurt or killed. They hurt 1,161 people and killed 7. That ranks Plainfield 27th in New Jersey and 4th in Union County.
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Why are so many Plainfield injury accidents right-angle crashes?
Because most of them happen at crossings: 53% of Plainfield injury accidents were coded at an intersection, against 32% statewide. Rear-end collisions, the state's most common type, are only 11% here.
See the full table
| Measure | Plainfield | Union County | New Jersey |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right-angle collisions | 41.0% (344) | 23.9% | 22.4% |
| Rear-end collisions | 11.4% (96) | 30.5% | 30.7% |
| Pedestrian struck | 12.2% (102) | 8.2% | 6.6% |
| Coded as an intersection accident | 53.2% (446) | 35.5% | 31.9% |
| Dark, with continuous street lights | 32.7% (274) | 23.1% | 18.3% |
Of the 344 right-angle injury accidents, 283 (82%) were coded at an intersection.1
Are pedestrians hit more often in Plainfield?
Yes: a pedestrian was struck in 12.2% of Plainfield injury accidents (102), against 6.6% statewide. In 2024, three of the six people killed in Plainfield traffic were pedestrians.
Two corners in the intersection table below each had 4 pedestrian injury accidents in 2024 and 2025: Madison Avenue at West Second Street, and East Second Street at Watchung Avenue. Whose insurance pays a walker's medical bills, and when you can sue, is covered in pedestrian accident claims in New Jersey.
Which Plainfield roads have the most right-angle accidents?
West 7th Avenue, with 25 right-angle injury accidents in 2024 and 2025. East 7th Avenue, the other half of County Route 601, follows with 23, then East Front Street with 19.
See the full table
| Road (as named in the records) | Right-angle, someone hurt or killed | All right-angle accidents |
|---|---|---|
| West 7th Avenue (County Route 601) | 25 | 62 |
| East 7th Avenue (County Route 601) | 23 | 70 |
| East Front Street (County Route 620) | 19 | 44 |
| West Front Street (Route 28) | 16 | 33 |
| West Fourth Street (Route 28 secondary) | 15 | 31 |
| Plainfield Avenue (County Route 603) | 14 | 43 |
Roads 7 to 13 (five tie at 11)
| Road (as named in the records) | Right-angle, someone hurt or killed | All right-angle accidents |
|---|---|---|
| Central Avenue | 14 | 34 |
| Clinton Avenue | 12 | 22 |
| Grant Avenue | 11 | 35 |
| West Fifth Street (Route 28) | 11 | 32 |
| South Avenue (Route 28) | 11 | 31 |
| East Second Street | 11 | 30 |
| Madison Avenue | 11 | 22 |
Which Plainfield intersection has the most injury accidents?
Madison Avenue at West Second Street, with 17 injury accidents in 2024 and 2025. That ranks 6th among all New Jersey intersections and 2nd in Union County, behind East Grand Street at Reid Street in Elizabeth's accident records (24).
See the full table
| Intersection | Someone hurt or killed | 2024 | 2025 | People hurt | Pedestrian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madison Avenue at West Second Street | 17 | 10 | 7 | 23 | 4 |
| East Second Street at Watchung Avenue | 8 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 4 |
| Plainfield Avenue at West 8th Street | 7 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 0 |
| West Front Street (Route 28) at Rock Avenue | 7 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 1 |
| West Fourth Street (Route 28 secondary) at Park Avenue | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 |
| Clinton Avenue at West Third Street | 6 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| Grant Avenue at South Second Street | 6 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 1 |
| Clinton Avenue at Myrtle Avenue | 6 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| Spooner Avenue at West 7th Avenue | 6 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
No other Plainfield corner reached 9. East Second Street at Watchung Avenue jumped from 1 injury accident in 2024 to 7 in 2025.3
The full statewide list is on New Jersey intersections with the most injury accidents.
Who is at fault in a right-angle crash at a Plainfield intersection?
The crash report does not say. A right-angle code records how the vehicles met, not who had the light or the right of way.
How split fault reduces a claim is covered in partial fault in New Jersey car accident cases, and T-bone claims in side-impact collision claims in New Jersey. What proves who ran the light is in evidence that helps prove fault.
For the report itself, ask the department whose officer came to the scene. Our accident report guide, agency by agency lists each route, fee and wait.
How often do drivers hit parked cars in Plainfield?
About one in four times: 925 of 3,640 police-reported Plainfield accidents in 2023 and 2024 (25.4%) were a moving vehicle striking a parked one. Countywide the share is 13.4%, statewide 11.4%.
Most hurt no one: 70 of the 925 did. In 2024 and 2025 the most parked-car accidents were on West Front Street (Route 28) with 42, East Front Street with 39, Park Avenue with 38 and West 7th Avenue with 37.2
Repairs after someone hits your parked car are covered in property damage claims in New Jersey. If the driver drove off, see hit-and-run claims in New Jersey.
When do most car accidents happen in Plainfield?
On Sundays and in the evening. Plainfield's 132 Sunday injury accidents in 2023 and 2024 were the most of any day, while Sunday is Union County's quietest day (1,176).
From 6 pm to midnight Plainfield had 31% of its injury accidents, against 24% countywide. The single busiest hour was 5 pm to 6 pm, with 73.
See the full table
| Day | Plainfield | Union County |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 110 | 1,322 |
| Tuesday | 113 | 1,294 |
| Wednesday | 101 | 1,366 |
| Thursday | 124 | 1,332 |
| Friday | 131 | 1,476 |
| Saturday | 128 | 1,269 |
| Sunday | 132 | 1,176 |
The statewide pattern is on when car accidents happen in New Jersey.
How does Plainfield compare with nearby towns?
Plainfield ranks 4th in Union County with 9.1% of its injury accidents in 2023 and 2024, behind Elizabeth (2,287), Union Township (1,453) and Linden (1,089). The Union County accident hub has every town; see also Linden's accident records.
Across the county line, see Edison car accident counts and Piscataway Township accident counts.
Statewide rules have their own pages: how no-fault PIP pays your medical bills, what happens if you were partly at fault, the deadline to file an injury lawsuit and when and how to report a crash.
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Sources
- NJDOT crash records via hudcostreets/nj-crashes, our analysis. Shares are of accidents where someone was hurt or killed (Plainfield 839, Union County 9,235, New Jersey 112,966).
- NJDOT crash records via hudcostreets/nj-crashes, our analysis.
- NJDOT crash records via hudcostreets/nj-crashes, our analysis; statewide and county ranks from our 2024 and 2025 intersection list.
How we counted
- Police-reported accidents NJDOT assigns to Plainfield City, Union County, on every road type, from the NJDOT crash records joined by the open-source hudcostreets/nj-crashes project (fatal accidents filled from the State Police feed), downloaded 2026-11-06.
- "Someone hurt or killed" means at least one person coded as hurt or killed. Counts are not risk rates.
- Headline counts, types and timing use 2023 and 2024. Road and corner counts use 2024 and 2025. 2025 is preliminary and street-name variants are not merged, so counts are a floor.
- By year: 424 injury accidents in 2023, 415 in 2024 and 372 in 2025.
- Counts come from police reports: they do not show fault or what a claim is worth.