The New Jersey Police Chief Magazine | February 2024
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Speeding and driver inattention persist as significant contributing factors in fatal crashes , with unrestrained drivers accounting for nearly half of the drivers and passengers killed in traffic accidents in 2022 . Additionally , in 2021 and 2022 , driving under the influence was listed as a major contributing factor in 228 and 206 fatal crashes , respectively . These were the highest two years on record , according to the New Jersey State Police , since the tracking of this statistic began thirty years ago .
Moreover , police agencies across the state have largely overlooked the call to action by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ( NHTSA ) and the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety during their national enforcement campaigns . Despite initially being a statewide effort , these mobilizations are now often disregarded or forgotten by certain agencies . The charts below underscore the decline in participation by New Jersey law enforcement over the years . While the collective hope is that the need for such efforts will diminish one day due to a decrease in risky , reckless , and dangerous drivers on the road , we still have a long way to go .
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