Route 17 NJ accident today: who takes the report and where crashes cluster
On Route 17 the town police, not the State Police, almost always write the accident report: only 10 of 3,855 Route 17 crash records from 2023 and 2024 name a State Police station. Paramus alone handled 266 of the road's 769 injury accidents.
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Which police department has my Route 17 accident report, and can I get it online?
The police of the town where you crashed, since local departments patrol Route 17 from North Arlington to Mahwah. Two of them sell reports online:
- Paramus (266 of the road's 769 injury accidents): in person on weekdays or online via CrashDocs. Address, phone and hours are on our Paramus car accident data page.
- Mahwah (52, at the north end): Mahwah Police Department, 221 Franklin Turnpike, (201) 529-1000. Its "Auto Accident Reports" link goes to LexisNexis BuyCrash.
- Hackensack: records unit contacts are in the Bergen County guide's report contacts.
- Hasbrouck Heights, Rochelle Park, Ramsey and the other towns: call the department's non-emergency line and ask for the records bureau.
In the rare State Police case (Totowa 8, Meadowlands 1, Moorestown 1), the report comes from the State Police portal; fee and wait are in our State Police crash report steps.2
Where on Route 17 do the most injury accidents happen?
In Paramus, with 266 of 769 injury accidents in 2023 and 2024, then Hasbrouck Heights with 120. The busiest single mile is milepost 12 to 13 in Paramus (90), ahead of milepost 8 to 9 in Hasbrouck Heights (74).
See the full table
| Town | Median milepost | All accidents | Someone hurt or killed | People hurt | People killed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paramus | 13.6 | 1,354 | 266 | 380 | 1 |
| Hasbrouck Heights | 8.3 | 505 | 120 | 173 | 0 |
| Mahwah | 25.6 | 303 | 52 | 69 | 0 |
| Rutherford | 4.4 | 155 | 37 | 46 | 0 |
| North Arlington | 0.7 | 127 | 35 | 41 | 0 |
| Saddle River | 20.6 | 168 | 35 | 55 | 0 |
| Rochelle Park | 11.0 | 212 | 34 | 46 | 0 |
| Ramsey | 23.2 | 188 | 28 | 31 | 2 |
All 20 Route 17 towns, south to north
| Town | Median milepost | All accidents | Someone hurt or killed | People hurt | People killed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Arlington | 0.7 | 127 | 35 | 41 | 0 |
| Lyndhurst | 2.2 | 129 | 27 | 38 | 0 |
| Rutherford | 4.4 | 155 | 37 | 46 | 0 |
| East Rutherford | 5.2 | 143 | 17 | 28 | 0 |
| Carlstadt | 6.0 | 49 | 7 | 12 | 1 |
| Wood-Ridge | 6.7 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| Hasbrouck Heights | 8.3 | 505 | 120 | 173 | 0 |
| Hackensack | 9.2 | 88 | 14 | 20 | 1 |
| Lodi | 9.9 | 96 | 21 | 27 | 1 |
| Maywood | 10.3 | 74 | 16 | 29 | 1 |
| Rochelle Park | 11.0 | 212 | 34 | 46 | 0 |
| Paramus | 13.6 | 1,354 | 266 | 380 | 1 |
| Ridgewood | 16.9 | 82 | 19 | 20 | 0 |
| Ho-Ho-Kus | 18.3 | 66 | 19 | 28 | 0 |
| Waldwick | 19.0 | 36 | 6 | 7 | 0 |
| Saddle River | 20.6 | 168 | 35 | 55 | 0 |
| Allendale | 21.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Upper Saddle River | 21.8 | 63 | 13 | 23 | 0 |
| Ramsey | 23.2 | 188 | 28 | 31 | 2 |
| Mahwah | 25.6 | 303 | 52 | 69 | 0 |
For Paramus on every road, see Paramus car accident data by road, cross street and hour; the county view is in the Bergen County car accident guide.
What kind of crash is most common on Route 17?
Rear-end crashes: 56 percent of Route 17 injury accidents, against 31 percent statewide. With same-direction sideswipes the share reaches 73 percent, nearly double the statewide 39 percent.
The intersection crash common elsewhere is rare here. Right-angle crashes were 5 percent on Route 17 against 22 percent statewide.
See the full table
| Crash type (as coded by police) | Route 17 count | Route 17 share | Statewide share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Same direction, rear end | 429 | 55.8% | 30.7% |
| Same direction, sideswipe | 129 | 16.8% | 8.5% |
| Fixed object | 87 | 11.3% | 11.6% |
| Right angle | 38 | 4.9% | 22.4% |
| Pedestrian | 16 | 2.1% | 6.6% |
| Overturned | 16 | 2.1% | 1.4% |
| Left turn or U-turn | 7 | 0.9% | 4.6% |
| Opposite direction, head on or angular | 6 | 0.8% | 3.3% |
| All other types | 41 | 5.3% | 10.8% |
Next steps after being hit from behind are in our guide to rear-end crashes in New Jersey.
Which Route 17 cross streets and junctions see the most injuries?
West Midland Avenue in Paramus, with 39 injury accidents in 2024 and 2025, far ahead of Century Road (17) and the Garden State Parkway (16). Among highway junctions, the Parkway leads, then Route 4, I-80 and Route 46. Route 4 runs west from the junction into Fair Lawn, covered in Fair Lawn's Route 4 and Route 208 crashes.
Route 4's own numbers are on Route 4 crash data from Paterson to Fort Lee.
See the full table
| Rank | Cross street as recorded | Town | Someone hurt or killed | All accidents | People hurt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WEST MIDLAND AVENUE | Paramus | 39 | 150 | 56 |
| 2 | CENTURY ROAD | Paramus | 17 | 140 | 32 |
| 3 | GARDEN STATE PARKWAY | Paramus | 16 | 83 | 19 |
| 4 | GARDEN STATE PARKWAY SECONDARY | Paramus | 13 | 54 | 15 |
| 5 | WEST PLEASANTVIEW AVENUE | Hackensack | 12 | 54 | 19 |
| 6 (tie) | CENTURY RD | Paramus | 11 | 49 | 14 |
| 6 (tie) | UNION AVENUE (BERGEN COUNTY S32 2) | East Rutherford | 11 | 45 | 16 |
| 8 (tie) | SOUTH SUMMIT AVENUE (BERGEN COUNTY 57) | Hackensack | 10 | 57 | 17 |
| 8 (tie) | RIDGEWOOD AVENUE (BERGEN COUNTY 80 1) | Paramus | 10 | 47 | 17 |
| 8 (tie) | MALCOLM AVENUE | Hasbrouck Heights | 10 | 46 | 11 |
| 11 | HENRY STREET | Hasbrouck Heights | 9 | 23 | 14 |
See the full table
| Highway named as cross street | Main town in the records | Someone hurt or killed, 2024 | Someone hurt or killed, 2025 (preliminary) | All accidents, both years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garden State Parkway | Paramus | 15 | 14 | 137 |
| Route 4 | Paramus | 10 | 5 | 107 |
| I-80 | Lodi, Hackensack | 6 | 6 | 65 |
| Route 46 | Hasbrouck Heights | 6 | 5 | 61 |
| I-287 | Mahwah | 2 | 2 | 19 |
| Route 7 | North Arlington | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| Route 3 | Rutherford, Lyndhurst | 1 | 0 | 12 |
| Route 120 | East Rutherford, Carlstadt | 0 | 1 | 9 |
Crashed on the other road? See Garden State Parkway accident data, I-80 accident data, Route 46 accident data or Route 3 accident data. Store-entrance crashes have their own page on the Route 4 and Route 17 shopping entrances.
How Route 17 junctions compare with the rest of the state is on our list of the most dangerous intersections in New Jersey.
How many people have died in Route 17 crashes?
Eight people died in eight fatal Route 17 accidents from 2023 to 2025: 4 in 2023, 3 in 2024 and 1 in the preliminary 2025 records. Ramsey had two.
Five of the 7 deaths in 2023 and 2024 happened after dark on lit stretches, though only about a quarter of injury accidents happen in that light. Two of the 7 were pedestrians.
North Arlington, at the south end, had 13 of Route 17's 19 pedestrian crashes in those two years; no other town had more than two. After being hit on foot, see the guide to pedestrian crashes in New Jersey.1
When do Route 17 accidents happen?
Mostly at midday: the 1 pm hour had the most injury accidents (64) in 2023 and 2024, and noon to 3 pm held 167 of 769. Tuesday (132) and Friday (124) were the busiest days.
Outside Paramus, Route 17 shows no Sunday dip: 71 Sunday injury accidents, close to the weekday counts. The quieter Paramus Sunday is explained on the Paramus crash data page.
See the full table
| Day | Paramus | Rest of Route 17 |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 38 | 59 |
| Tuesday | 50 | 82 |
| Wednesday | 35 | 65 |
| Thursday | 39 | 69 |
| Friday | 36 | 88 |
| Saturday | 50 | 69 |
| Sunday | 18 | 71 |
The statewide pattern is on when most car accidents happen in New Jersey.
Route 17 accident questions
Was there an accident or a fatal accident on Route 17 today?
We have no live feed. For a crash today, the police of the town where it happened are the first source; Paramus handles about a third of Route 17's injury accidents. Deaths are rare: 8 from 2023 to 2025.
Do I need to call the police if I get rear-ended on Route 17?
Yes if anyone is hurt: call 911, and the town police will write the report. Rear-end crashes are 56 percent of Route 17 injury accidents. If no officer files one, a written report is due within 10 days; see police steps after a rear-end crash.
Who is most at fault in a rear-end collision?
The police crash type shows how vehicles met, not who caused it. How fault is usually decided is in who is at fault in a New Jersey rear-end crash and how real juries split fault.
Can I get a Route 17 accident report online?
Usually: Paramus links to CrashDocs and Mahwah to LexisNexis BuyCrash; other towns answer through their records bureau. Whether reports are public record, and each agency's fee, is in our New Jersey accident report guide.
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.
Hurt in a car accident on Route 17? 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
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Sources
- Our analysis of NJDOT crash records 2023 to 2025 via hudcostreets/nj-crashes, fatal crashes supplemented from the NJ State Police fatal feed.
- Paramus Police Department, Police Reports; Mahwah Police Department home page; New Jersey State Police crash reports portal; read 2026-11-10.
How we counted
We counted NJDOT crash records for 2023 to 2025, cleaned by hudcostreets/nj-crashes, with State Police fatal data added. Counts are police-reported accidents, not risk rates, and show no fault. Records typed plain "ROUTE 17" without a state prefix (51) are excluded, so counts are a slight floor.
Town figures use 2023 and 2024 and the median milepost, since a few records carry stray mileposts. Cross streets pair 2024 with preliminary 2025, ranked as typed: "Century Rd" and "Century Road" are one street, and five more streets tie at 8. Route 120 means NJ 120.
A blank State Police station field is read as local police. "After dark on lit stretches" means dark with continuous street lights.