A pedestrian was struck by a vehicle early Sunday morning near the intersection of Central Avenue and 2nd Street in Hackensack, and was found in traumatic arrest at the scene, prompting police to call in Bergen County’s specialized fatal crash unit. Emergency crews responded to the crash site shortly before 1 a.m., and the victim’s condition has not been officially confirmed by authorities as the investigation continues.
The crash was first reported by RLS Media, which described the incident as a developing story with crash circumstances still under investigation. Local police requested assistance from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Fatal Accident Investigation Squad, a specialized unit that investigates motor vehicle collisions involving fatal or serious bodily injuries where criminal recklessness or complex crash dynamics may be involved, according to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office. The unit’s involvement typically signals that authorities are treating the collision with the gravity reserved for cases involving potential criminal charges or severe bodily injuries.
A Troubling Pattern Along Hackensack Crosswalks
This is not the first serious crosswalk collision to rattle Hackensack in recent weeks. Just two and a half weeks earlier, on September 9, an NJ Transit bus struck two adult female pedestrians in a crosswalk on State Street, pinning one woman under a wheel and resulting in a failure-to-yield summons for the driver, as Hoodline previously reported. Days before that, on September 8, a pedestrian struck by a municipal Ford F-250 filed a civil lawsuit in Bergen County Superior Court naming Hackensack, Bergen County, and the state of New Jersey as co-defendants over crosswalk safety and municipal liability, according to Hoodline’s earlier coverage.
Intersection-related crashes contribute to Bergen County’s traffic burden, according to traffic analysis by Grungo Law.
Pedestrians Make Up Nearly Half of County’s Traffic Deaths
The Central Avenue crash lands amid a year in which pedestrians have borne a disproportionate share of Bergen County’s road fatalities. As of September 27, the county had recorded 15 fatal traffic crashes resulting in 15 deaths year-to-date, including eight motor vehicle drivers and seven pedestrians, according to preliminary New Jersey State Police records…