New Jersey City Achieved Zero Traffic Deaths With Quick, High Impact Ideas

In January 2019, Sarah Risser was in the passenger seat as her son, Henry Zietlow, drove them from Minnesota to Michigan for a ski trip. They were on a Wisconsin highway when an oncoming pickup towing too much weight veered into their lane.

Sarah survived the collision. Henry did not. He was 18 years old.

It’s a horrific story, but Risser knows it’s also a common one. In 2021, nearly 43,000 people died in motor vehicle crashes in the U.S. -- a 10.5% increase from 2020. The NHTSA hasn’t recorded fatalities that high since 2005.

Yet in some parts of the country, efforts born from both tragedy and political will have seen the numbers move in a different direction. And in Hoboken, N.J., there hasn’t been a single traffic death in four years.

Hoboken is a city of about 60,000 people that sits within eyesight of Manhattan just across the Hudson River. Its achievement in stopping deaths on the road comes down to simple measures, according to city officials.