A 59-year-old Verona motorcyclist died Monday morning after his Harley-Davidson struck the rear of a Peterbilt dump truck on Interstate 78 East in Union Township, throwing him from the bike. Rosario Chiovaro was riding east in the highway's express lanes near milepost 52.9 around 8:37 a.m. when the collision occurred, according to New Jersey State Police.
The motorcycle overturned after hitting the dump truck, and Chiovaro was ejected, according to New Jersey State Police Sergeant Jeffrey Lebron, who reported the crash details. The crash killed Chiovaro, and no other injuries were reported, per the same account. The investigation remains ongoing, as reported by Daily Voice.
Chiovaro's hometown was Verona, and the crash occurred in Union County. Interstate 78 is an east-west route, according to Wikipedia. The stretch of highway where he died features a dual-dual roadway design that separates local and express lanes, with interchange ramps feeding into the Garden State Parkway near milepost 52, according to NYCRoads.
A Familiar Danger Zone on I-78
Monday's crash involved a motorcyclist and a commercial truck in the eastbound lanes of this Union Township corridor.
It remains unclear whether traffic congestion or sudden deceleration played a role in Monday's crash, and state troopers have not said whether any citations or commercial vehicle safety violations will follow once the New Jersey State Police Fatal Accident Investigation Unit completes its review. The specific speeds of the motorcycle and dump truck at the moment of impact have also not been disclosed.
Statewide Motorcycle Deaths Had Been Falling
Chiovaro's death comes after New Jersey saw a dramatic improvement in motorcycle safety statistics. Statewide motorcyclist fatalities dropped 40% in 2025, falling to 72 deaths from a historic high of 120 in 2024, according to the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, as reported by WRNJ Radio. State officials attributed the decline to targeted traffic enforcement and safety engineering improvements.
More broadly, New Jersey has recorded 353 fatal motor vehicle crashes resulting in 368 deaths so far in 2026, a 10.0% drop in total fatalities compared to the same period last year, according to New Jersey State Police Fatal Accident Investigation Unit statistics current as of September 14. That progress follows Governor Phil Murphy's January 2025 signing of legislation creating the Target Zero Commission, making New Jersey the first state in the nation to establish a statutory commission dedicated to eliminating traffic fatalities, according to 103.7 NNJ.
Riders Over 50 Face Rising Risk Nationally
Chiovaro's age reflects a national trend among fatal motorcycle crashes. Riders aged 50 and older accounted for 31% of all U.S. motorcyclist deaths in 2024, up from 14% in 1997 and just 3% in 1975, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's 2024 Fatality Facts report, published in June 2026 and cited by IIHS. Motorcyclists had an almost 27-times-higher death rate per mile traveled than passenger-car occupants in 2024, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
New Jersey's motorcycle helmet requirements are not detailed in the available sources, including Justia Law. It is not known whether helmet use was a factor in Monday's crash. The New Jersey State Police investigation into the circumstances surrounding Chiovaro's death continues.
