Are Car Crashes Getting Worse?

By Chris Lundy OCEAN COUNTY

– It seems that news of serious crashes are constantly flooding social media and news apps these days. Multi-car pile-ups, fl ipped cars, and worse make it to our news feeds – each one a cautionary tale.

For example, in one recent weekend, Toms River Police responded to 36 crashes. It begs the question: are we seeing more crashes –and more severe crashes these days?

A car catching fire after being hit is dramatic and scary, even if no one is hurt in it. But police don’t have a statistic for serious crashes. However, fatalities are recorded.

So far this year, in

Ocean County, there’s been 27 fatal crashes that resulted in 28 deaths. Monmouth County saw 19 crashes resulting in 19 deaths. These numbers are on pace to match or exceed the last few years.

In 2022, Ocean had 48 crashes resulting in 52 deaths. Monmouth had 46 crashes with

(Crashes - See Page

Lanz expressed to The Manchester Times, “My wife and I purchased a home in Crestwood Village V this past July. We have wonderful neighbors and friends, and enjoy the peace and quiet. Our greatest concern is the lack of cell service in the area. We experience continuous dropped calls and lost navigation.”

“Being new to the area, I use GPS often. I have had a great deal of problems with the GPS not fi nding locations. I use the GPS that came with my iPhone. The problem is consistent across the three platforms leaving me to believe the problem is cell service,” Lanz said.

“The lack of cell service is both a health and safety issue. A cell tower was erected on route 530, between Congasia Road and Fox Street, three to four years ago. Verizon claims to have service on that tower,

(Cell - See Page 15)