Route 31 NJ accident today: animal strikes, curves and where to get your report
No live feed here shows today's Route 31 accidents. Police records show the pattern: 1,850 accidents in 2023 and 2024, 436 with someone hurt or killed, 8 deaths, one in seven involving an animal. Most reports come from town police; Glen Gardner, Hampton and White Township go to State Police.1
Hurt in a Route 31 accident in Hunterdon, Mercer or Warren County? Answer a few short questions, about 30 seconds, to see if a lawyer's office may review your claim for free.
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When do deer and other animal accidents peak on Route 31?
In October and November: 153 of Route 31's 281 animal accidents in 2023 and 2024 came in those two months, 54 percent of the total.
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animal accidents | 11 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 26 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 81 | 72 | 16 |
That is 15.2 percent of all Route 31 accidents, four times the statewide 3.9 percent (20,082 of 514,320). Only 15 of the 281 had someone hurt or killed. The records do not name the animal.
Clinton Township had the most Route 31 animal accidents (79), then Hopewell Township (37), Washington Township in Warren County (35) and Raritan Township (30).
Hit a deer on Route 31? See what to do after hitting a deer in NJ.2
Which Route 31 mileposts have the most injury accidents?
Mileposts 42 to 43 in Washington Borough had the most injury accidents (28). Mileposts 22 to 23 at Flemington had the most accidents overall (174).
Mileposts tell you more than corners here: three in four Route 31 injury accidents were coded as not at an intersection. The numbers run from about 0 in Trenton to about 49 in Warren County.
See the full table
| Milepost segment | Town(s) | Hurt or killed, 2024 | Hurt or killed, 2025 (prelim.) | All accidents, both years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42 to 43 | Washington Boro, Washington Twp (Warren) | 17 | 11 | 69 |
| 22 to 23 | Flemington Boro, Raritan Twp | 12 | 15 | 174 |
| 24 to 25 | Raritan Twp | 12 | 11 | 102 |
| 1 to 2 | Ewing Twp, Trenton City | 9 | 14 | 80 |
| 3 to 4 | Ewing Twp | 12 | 8 | 90 |
| 6 to 7 | Hopewell Twp | 8 | 11 | 100 |
| 23 to 24 | Raritan Twp, Flemington Boro | 8 | 10 | 96 |
| 0 to 1 | Trenton City | 3 | 14 | 67 |
| 5 to 6 | Hopewell Twp | 10 | 7 | 62 |
Where police named a cross street, Route 202 in Flemington (12 injury accidents, 76 in all) and Parkside Avenue in Ewing (12, 58 in all) came first. Route 57 (Washington Avenue) in Washington Borough followed with 10.
The Flemington crossing has its own counts on our Route 202 accident records page. The Clinton Township interchange, named on 18 Route 31 records, is on our I-78 accident records page.3
Is Route 31 one of New Jersey's most dangerous roads?
In Hunterdon County, yes: it ranks second for injury accidents, 217 of its 436, behind only I-78 with 230.
In Warren County it ranks third (80), behind the road on our I-80 accident records page (152) and Route 57 (100). In Mercer County it ranks eighth (138), behind Route 1, Route 206, Route 33, I-295, Route 29, Route 130 and I-95. For the statewide picture, see New Jersey's most dangerous intersections.
See the full table
| Town, county | All accidents | Someone hurt or killed | People hurt | People killed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ewing Twp, Mercer | 244 | 62 | 89 | 1 |
| Clinton Twp, Hunterdon | 267 | 54 | 84 | 1 |
| Washington Twp, Warren | 154 | 52 | 79 | 0 |
| Raritan Twp, Hunterdon | 268 | 51 | 78 | 1 |
| Hopewell Twp, Mercer | 240 | 50 | 67 | 2 |
| Glen Gardner Boro, Hunterdon | 72 | 25 | 49 | 1 |
| Lebanon Twp, Hunterdon | 70 | 21 | 35 | 0 |
| Flemington Boro, Hunterdon | 141 | 19 | 20 | 0 |
| East Amwell Twp, Hunterdon | 55 | 16 | 29 | 0 |
| Washington Boro, Warren | 48 | 16 | 20 | 0 |
| Trenton City, Mercer | 74 | 15 | 21 | 0 |
The southern end runs into the city on our Trenton car accidents page; elsewhere in Mercer County, see Hamilton Township car accident records. Near Clinton, Route 31 meets the highway on our Route 22 accident records page.4
How did people die in Route 31 accidents?
Most often in head-on collisions: 3 of the 7 fatal accidents were head-on, and they killed 4 of the road's 8 people. Statewide, head-on collisions caused 8.5 percent of deaths (110 of 1,294).
All three fatal head-on records were coded on a curve, two of them on wet, downhill stretches.
See the full table
| Year | Town, county | Accident type | Light | Surface | Road | Killed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Hampton Boro, Hunterdon | Head-on | Daylight | Wet | Curve, downhill | 1 |
| 2023 | Oxford Twp, Warren | Head-on | Daylight | Wet | Curve, downhill | 1 |
| 2023 | Ewing Twp, Mercer | Pedestrian | Dark, street lights on | Wet | Straight, level | 1 |
| 2023 | Raritan Twp, Hunterdon | Bicyclist | Dark, street lights on | Wet | Straight, level | 1 |
| 2024 | Hopewell Twp, Mercer | Head-on | Dark, no street lights | Dry | Curve, level | 2 |
| 2024 | Glen Gardner Boro, Hunterdon | Pedestrian | Dark, no street lights | Dry | Straight, level | 1 |
| 2024 | Clinton Twp, Hunterdon | Rear end | Daylight | Dry | Straight, uphill | 1 |
Four of the 8 deaths came on wet pavement, though wet roads were only 15 percent of Route 31 accidents (280 of 1,850). Claim questions after a frontal crash are covered in our head-on collision help guide.5
Does State Police or the town police take a Route 31 crash report?
Usually the town police. Route 31 is a state highway, but only a few rural stretches have records that name a State Police station.
See the full table
| Town, county | Route 31 accidents | Records naming a State Police station | Station named |
|---|---|---|---|
| White Twp, Warren | 12 | 12 | Washington |
| Hampton Boro, Hunterdon | 55 | 54 | Washington |
| Glen Gardner Boro, Hunterdon | 87 | 84 | Washington (82), Perryville (2) |
| East Amwell Twp, Hunterdon | 61 | 33 | Kingwood (32), Bordentown (1) |
| West Amwell Twp, Hunterdon | 21 | 5 | Kingwood (4), other (1) |
| All other Route 31 towns | 1,644 | 22 | Various, under 8 percent in every town |
Ewing, Flemington, Pennington, Readington and Trenton had no Route 31 record naming a State Police station. Here is where each report comes from:
- State Police stretches (Washington or Kingwood station): request the report on the NJSP crash reports portal.
- Ewing Township (Route 31 is Pennington Road here): the Records Bureau releases most reports in person for a nominal fee. Call 609-882-1313 ext. 7553 or 7543, or email policerecords@ewingnj.org.
- Hopewell Township: $7 online by date, name or case number, or from the records clerk at (609) 737-3100 option 2, weekdays 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.
- Raritan Township (around Flemington): in person at the police station or through crashdocs.org, phone 908-782-8889.
Fees, wait times and the SR-1 form for a crash no officer came to are on our New Jersey accident report guide.6
What else do drivers ask about Route 31?
Was there a fatal accident on Route 31 today?
New fatal crashes appear first on the NJ State Police fatal crash statistics page. For first steps after a crash, see our New Jersey car accident help guide.
Are accidents on Route 31 going up?
Not clearly. Police reported 932 Route 31 accidents in 2023, 918 in 2024 and 963 so far in the preliminary 2025 file. Injury accidents held near 220 a year: 215, 221 and 218.
What time of day do Route 31 accidents happen?
Mostly in the afternoon: 118 of the 436 injury accidents came between 3 pm and 6 pm. Compare when most New Jersey car accidents happen.
What kind of accidents happen most on Route 31?
Rear-end collisions: 587 of the 1,850 accidents and 169 of the 436 injury accidents, or 38.8 percent, against 30.7 percent statewide. Right-angle collisions came next, with 100 injury accidents.
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 31. 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 31? 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, cleaned by hudcostreets/nj-crashes, our analysis; fatal accidents from NJ State Police fatal crash statistics (retrieved 2026-11-10).
- NJDOT crash records via hudcostreets/nj-crashes, crash type "Animal", our analysis.
- NJDOT crash records via hudcostreets/nj-crashes, intersection, milepost and cross-street fields, our analysis.
- NJDOT crash records via hudcostreets/nj-crashes, our analysis.
- NJDOT crash records via hudcostreets/nj-crashes, our analysis; fatal accidents from NJ State Police fatal crash statistics (retrieved 2026-11-10).
- Station field: NJDOT crash records via hudcostreets/nj-crashes, our analysis. Report routes: NJSP crash reports portal; Ewing Police Records Bureau; Hopewell Township Police Records Bureau; Raritan Township Police, Accident Reports (all retrieved 2026-11-10).
- 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
- Only state road 31 records count, not county roads numbered 31.
- Headline counts, town, county, type and fatal figures use 2023 and 2024. Milepost, cross-street and station tables use 2024 and 2025; 2025 is preliminary and shows no deaths yet.
- A 2024 record coded to Ridgefield (Bergen) looks miscoded: it is in the 1,850 and 436 totals only, so the intersection share is 329 of 435.
- County ranks count each road by route number, main and secondary roadway together. The statewide head-on share counts head-on (angular) only.
- Cross streets are typed by hand, so their counts are minimums. Segments 24 and 1 tie at 23. Fatal dates are left out. Counts, not risk rates.