A pedestrian suffered serious injuries Tuesday evening after being struck at the intersection of Main and Court streets in Hackensack, just steps from the Bergen County Courthouse. The crash happened shortly after 4 p.m. and shut down the intersection as emergency crews responded. Police have not released further details about how the collision occurred.
Hackensack Police Chief Michael Antista confirmed only that the pedestrian suffered serious injuries, according to Daily Voice. The crash remains under investigation, and no additional information about the pedestrian's identity, age, or condition has been released. It is also unclear whether the driver remained at the scene or what led up to the collision.
A Pattern of Pedestrian Crashes in Hackensack
Tuesday's crash adds to a string of pedestrian collisions that have struck Hackensack intersections throughout 2026. In September, a pedestrian was struck near Central Avenue and 2nd Street and found in traumatic arrest at the scene, as previously reported by Hoodline in a story that also detailed an NJ Transit bus striking two women in a State Street crosswalk on Sept. 9, pinning one beneath a wheel, which resulted in a failure-to-yield summons.
Just days later, on Sept. 23, a 76-year-old man was hospitalized after being hit by a car at River Street and University Plaza Drive. Per Patch, the 18-year-old driver was turning left onto River Street when he struck the man, who was in the crosswalk at the time. That driver was cited for failure to yield to a pedestrian, and the man's head and back injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
A Fatal Hit-and-Run Earlier This Year
The city also saw a fatal pedestrian hit-and-run in May. The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office said a 74-year-old man was struck at the intersection of Essex Street and Summit Avenue around 12:49 a.m. on May 8 and was transported to Hackensack University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead a short time later. A Bergenfield man, Terrence J. Hedden, was charged with second-degree knowingly leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, third-degree endangering an injured victim, and related motor vehicle offenses, according to the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office. The investigation into that fatal crash was conducted jointly by the prosecutor's office and the Hackensack Police Department.
County and Statewide Trends
Zooming out, Bergen County recorded seven pedestrian fatalities in 2025, a 68% drop from the 22 pedestrian deaths logged in the county the year before, according to data cited in Hoodline's earlier coverage of a Central Avenue crash. As of Sept. 27, the county had recorded 15 fatal traffic crashes resulting in 15 deaths year-to-date, including seven pedestrians, the same report noted.
Statewide figures tell a similarly improving but inconsistently reported story. New Jersey pedestrian fatalities fell to 175 in 2025 from 230 in 2024, per the same Hoodline account, while a separate NJ.com report put the pedestrian death toll at 173 for 2025 and said overall traffic deaths fell from 684 in 2024 to 575 in 2025, a 15% drop attributed to the New Jersey State Police. The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General offered yet another preliminary count, citing a decline in fatal crashes from 647 in 2024 to 547 in 2025 and total traffic deaths falling from 684 to 582. The competing figures were not reconciled in the available reporting.
No cause has been determined for Tuesday's crash near the Bergen County Courthouse, and police have not said whether charges or citations are expected. Hackensack officials have not issued any additional statement beyond Chief Antista's confirmation that the pedestrian was seriously injured.
