Route 3 NJ accident today: who handles it, and where Route 3 crashes happen
Local police handle most Route 3 accidents: Clifton, Rutherford, East Rutherford, Secaucus or North Bergen, not the State Police. Clifton and Secaucus say crash reports are usually ready after three business days. This page has no live traffic feed; it shows where Route 3 crashes happened from 2023 to 2025.
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Who handles a Route 3 accident, and when is the report ready?
The police department of the town where the crash happened handles most Route 3 accidents. Only 43 of 4,634 records from 2023 to 2025 name a State Police station.
| Agency | Route 3 stretch | How to get the report | Ready | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clifton Police (Passaic) | Mileposts 0 to 4 | Online report service linked from the police FAQ; Records Division 973-470-5877; see Clifton car accident data | After 3 business days | Not listed |
| Rutherford Police (Bergen) | Mileposts 5 and 6 | Records Bureau counter, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., or by mail | Not listed | $5.00 by mail |
| East Rutherford Police (Bergen) | Mileposts 7 and 8 | Call the department that came to the scene | Not listed | Not listed |
| Secaucus Police (Hudson) | Mileposts 9 and 10 | Records Bureau, 1203 Paterson Plank Road, or the department's online services | Usually after 3 working days | Not listed |
| North Bergen Police (Hudson) | Eastern end | Call the department that came to the scene | Not listed | Not listed |
| NJ State Police | 43 records | State portal; see our New Jersey accident report guide | Up to 14 business days | $13.00 |
Other departments are in our guide to New Jersey accident reports by agency, and the codes are explained in how to read a New Jersey crash report.1
Was there an accident on Route 3 in New Jersey today?
We have no live traffic or news feed; a crash from today appears in our counts only after its police report reaches NJDOT. For today's news on a crash, call the department for that stretch in the table above.
How do I find out if someone I know was in a Route 3 accident?
Call the police department for that stretch of Route 3. Clifton covers mileposts 0 to 4, Rutherford 5 and 6, East Rutherford 7 and 8, Secaucus 9 and 10, and North Bergen the eastern end.
Was there a fatal accident on Route 3 or in New Jersey yesterday?
We cannot confirm recent crashes. Route 3 had 2 deaths in 2023, 2 in 2024 and none so far in 2025. For statewide deaths, the NJ State Police fatal crash statistics are the official count.
How do I look up an accident report in NJ, and is it public record?
Ask the agency in the table above. The basic crash report is a public record; serious and fatal investigation reports are not. Our New Jersey accident report guide covers every route.2
Did a hit and run happen on Route 3 today?
We have no live reports; see our hit-and-run claim guide.
Where on Route 3 do most accidents happen?
Milepost 3 in Clifton, where records most often name Main Avenue as the cross street, had 127 injury crashes in 2024 and 2025. No other mile had more than 81. Where Route 3 ends at Route 46 to the west, our guide to Route 46 crashes near Little Falls covers the merges at that split.
See the full table
| Milepost | Town | Cross street named most often | Someone hurt or killed | Killed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Clifton | Main Avenue | 127 | 0 |
| 0 | Clifton | Grove Street | 81 | 1 |
| 2 | Clifton | Bloomfield Avenue | 75 | 0 |
| 4 | Clifton | River Road | 75 | 0 |
| 6 | Rutherford | North Service Road | 67 | 0 |
| 1 | Clifton | Hepburn Road | 57 | 0 |
| 5 | Rutherford | Park Avenue | 55 | 0 |
| 9 | Secaucus | Paterson Plank Road | 44 | 0 |
| 7 | East Rutherford | a Route 3 westbound ramp | 37 | 1 |
| 8 | East Rutherford | "I-95 Western Alignment" | 33 | 0 |
| 10 | Secaucus | Paterson Plank Road | 30 | 0 |
The Route 21 ramps in Clifton lead the Route 3 ramp crashes, with 15; see Route 21 accident data.3
How are Route 3 crashes different from the rest of New Jersey?
Almost two in three Route 3 injury crashes were rear-end collisions: 424 of 674 in 2023 and 2024, double the statewide share.
Is Route 3 dangerous? Its risk is stop-and-go and dark-hour risk: rear-end crashes at double the state share, 33 percent of injury crashes in the dark against 28, and 3 of 4 deaths on foot. Statewide hot spots are on the most dangerous NJ intersections.
See the full table
| Crash type | Route 3 | Route 3 share | New Jersey share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rear end | 424 | 62.9% | 30.7% |
| Sideswipe, same direction | 104 | 15.4% | 8.5% |
| Fixed object | 82 | 12.2% | 11.6% |
| Right angle | 19 | 2.8% | 22.4% |
| Head on or angular, opposite direction | 12 | 1.8% | 3.2% |
| Pedestrian | 6 | 0.9% | 6.6% |
| Overturned | 6 | 0.9% | 1.4% |
Right-angle crashes, the classic intersection crash, are 22.4 percent statewide but 2.8 percent on Route 3. In the 82 fixed-object injury crashes, the first thing struck was most often a concrete barrier (30), a curb (24) or a guide rail (13).
How fault and insurance usually work in these collisions is on our page on rear-end accidents in New Jersey.4
What share of each town's injury crashes happen on Route 3?
In Rutherford, Route 3 accounts for 119 of the borough's 300 injury crashes, about 40 percent. In Secaucus and East Rutherford it is about a quarter.
See the full table
| Town, county | Route 3, all crashes | Route 3, someone hurt or killed | Town total, someone hurt or killed (all roads) | Route 3 share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clifton, Passaic | 1,600 | 393 | 2,195 | 17.9% |
| Rutherford, Bergen | 583 | 119 | 300 | 39.7% |
| Secaucus, Hudson | 413 | 91 | 345 | 26.4% |
| East Rutherford, Bergen | 319 | 45 | 195 | 23.1% |
| North Bergen, Hudson | 101 | 26 | 802 | 3.2% |
Clifton has the most Route 3 injury crashes, 393, and Route 3 is the city's top road for them, ahead of the Garden State Parkway and Main Avenue. The city's other roads are on Clifton car accident data, and the eastern end on North Bergen car accident data.
Route 3 meets the road covered in Route 17 accident data in Rutherford and feeds Route 495 and the Lincoln Tunnel approach in North Bergen. County totals are on Bergen County car accident help and Hudson County car accident help.5
What happened on Route 3 in New Jersey from 2023 to 2025?
Police reported 1,492 Route 3 crashes in 2023, 1,524 in 2024 and 1,618 in 2025. In 2023 and 2024 that meant about 0.9 injury crashes a day.
See the full table
| Year | All crashes | Someone hurt or killed | People hurt | People killed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1,492 | 333 | 475 | 2 |
| 2024 | 1,524 | 341 | 479 | 2 |
| 2025 (preliminary) | 1,618 | 350 | 466 | 0 |
Three of the four people killed in 2023 and 2024 were pedestrians, although only 7 of 3,016 crashes involved someone on foot. They died in Clifton and North Bergen in 2023 and in East Rutherford in 2024, two of them in the dark. More in our pedestrian accident guide.
- Busiest window: 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., with 131 of 674 injury crashes, then 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. with 110.
- No weekday stands out: from 89 on Mondays to 104 on Thursdays.
- 33 percent happened in the dark, against 28 percent statewide. The statewide pattern is on when most car accidents happen.6
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 on Route 3. 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. 7
- 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. 8
- 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. 9
- 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. 10
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 on Route 3? Take the 30-second New Jersey quiz to see if a lawyer's office may review your claim for free.
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Sources
- Clifton Police Department FAQ; Rutherford Police Records Bureau; Secaucus Police Records Bureau; NJSP crash reports portal; station field and milepost towns from NJDOT crash records 2023 to 2025 via hudcostreets/nj-crashes, our count.
- NJSP crash reports portal, public record note.
- NJDOT crash records via nj-crashes, mileposts and ramp fields, 2024 and 2025.
- NJDOT crash records via nj-crashes, crash type and first harmful event, 2023 and 2024. Base: 674 Route 3 and 112,966 statewide crashes where someone was hurt or killed.
- NJDOT crash records via nj-crashes, 2023 and 2024, town by NJDOT municipality code.
- NJDOT crash records via nj-crashes, fatal crashes supplemented from NJ State Police fatal crash statistics; time of day and lighting, 2023 and 2024.
- 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
- Route 3 means route number 3 with a road name starting "NJ", "US" or "I-"; an injury crash has at least one person hurt or killed.
- Year, town and crash-type figures use 2023 and 2024; 2025 is preliminary.
- Mileposts and ramps use 2024 and 2025. In 2024 alone milepost 3 still leads, with 74. Only 80 of 691 injury crashes are flagged as on a ramp; the flag is blank on 2,077 of 3,142 records.
- The station field hints at the investigating agency. Counts are not rates and say nothing about fault or claim value.