An NJ Transit bus struck two women in a Hackensack crosswalk near 170 State Street just before 6:30 p.m., pinning one of them beneath a wheel before she could be freed. Both women were taken to Hackensack University Medical Center with injuries described as non-life-threatening, and the bus driver was issued a motor vehicle summons for failing to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk.
The victims were identified as a 29-year-old Palisades Park woman, whose injuries are believed to be minor, and a 30-year-old Ridgefield woman, who suffered significant leg injuries, according to Daily Voice. The outlet reported that Hackensack Deputy Police Chief Gregory Zisa said the Ridgefield woman was the one trapped beneath the bus wheel. Hackensack Police, the Hackensack Fire Department, a Hackensack University Medical Center ambulance, and NJ Transit Police all responded to the scene.
Initial reports indicated juveniles had been struck, but police later confirmed both victims were adult women, per the same account. The correction underscores how quickly early details can shift at a chaotic crash scene before authorities finish confirming who was actually involved.
What the Failure-to-Yield Ticket Could Mean
Under New Jersey Statute 39:4-36, drivers are required to come to a complete stop and stay stopped for pedestrians in marked crosswalks, a standard that replaced a simpler yield requirement when the state upgraded its crosswalk law in 2010, according to the New Jersey Department of Transportation. A routine violation carries a $200 fine, two motor vehicle points, and up to 15 days of community service.
But because the Ridgefield woman's leg injuries were significant, the case may not stay a simple ticket. When a failure-to-yield violation results in bodily injury, New Jersey law allows penalties to escalate to a mandatory court appearance, fines between $100 and $500, up to 25 days in jail, or a license suspension of as much as six months, according to the Wyckoff Police Department. Serious injury effectively takes away the option of just paying an online fine.
A Tight Window for Any Civil Claim
Separately from the traffic case, anyone pursuing civil damages tied to a New Jersey Transit vehicle collision faces a strict procedural clock. Under the New Jersey Tort Claims Act, injured parties must file a formal Notice of Claim within 90 days of the incident, according to the The Epstein Law Firm. Public entities in New Jersey can raise strict statutory immunity defenses if that deadline is missed, making the window especially unforgiving for crash victims still recovering from injuries.
A Known Trouble Spot for Pedestrians
The stretch of State Street near Essex Street has already drawn scrutiny from regional planners. A pedestrian safety field audit by the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority flagged the corridor as a high-volume transit zone in need of infrastructure upgrades, including crosswalk repainting, since it connects residential blocks to local NJ Transit bus lines. The city's own draft 2026 Comprehensive Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan similarly calls for removing slip lanes and improving crosswalk visibility near transit hubs, reflecting Hackensack's position as home to two Pascack Valley Line train stations alongside heavy daily bus traffic.
Bus-on-pedestrian entrapments are not unheard of in Bergen County. In October 2014, a pedestrian was pinned under a bus wheel on Oak Street in Ridgewood before emergency crews extricated him, according to The Ridgewood Blog. That earlier case required specialized hydraulic extrication tools from the local fire department, similar to the response Hackensack firefighters mounted this week.
The Numbers Behind a Safer Year on Bergen County Streets
This crash arrives even as pedestrian deaths have been falling sharply across the region. Bergen County recorded seven pedestrian fatalities in 2025, a 68% drop from the 22 deaths counted across the county in 2024, according to 70and73. Statewide, pedestrian traffic fatalities dropped nearly 24% in 2025 to 175 deaths, down from 230 the year before, per the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, which credited targeted traffic enforcement and roadway engineering for the decline.
The trend extends beyond New Jersey. National pedestrian fatalities fell 7% in 2025 to an estimated 6,732 deaths, the third consecutive annual decline, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. Federal and state agencies have pointed to expanded Vision Zero safety frameworks as part of that shift, though incidents like the one on State Street show why crosswalks near heavy transit vehicles remain a persistent concern for local safety officials even as the broader numbers improve.
