How do we reconcile the unimaginable pain of loss with foreseeable tragedy?

As a father of two young daughters, navigating crosswalks on busy roads is often the most stressful part of my day. Cars blow through intersections, trucks block crossings, and aggressive drivers punish-pass pedestrians and bikers alike. The risk of a car careening into my own children is simultaneously remote and near. An eventuality that may prayerfully never come yet arrives all too often for far too many families.

Yet another Jersey City family suffered that unfathomable heartbreak when a delivery truck driver struck and killed their young son. Full details around the accident are still forthcoming but it appears to have occurred as a UPS driver on Jersey Avenue was making a left turn onto Sixth Street where the boy was crossing on his bike.

This family — newly broken — joins the ranks of hundreds of others across the state who will lose loved ones to fatal traffic collisions this year. Despite being a leader on road safety and Vision Zero, this death is Jersey City’s second for 2025, following a few months after a driver struck and killed an elderly man in a crosswalk, dragging him through an intersection. Late last year, a young man was killed crossing the street after a NJTransit bus ran a red light. Statewide, 691 New Jerseyans died in traffic crashes in 2024. Two hundred and forty seven of those deaths were pedestrians and bicyclists struck by vehicles. Five percent of victims were children. 

Deaths involving children and cars are preventable. These are not accidents. They are the result of decades of poor policy choices and impotent policing of our roads. Investing in infrastructure improvements, shifting modes of transit, lowering speed limits, and enforcing traffic laws can save lives. Vehicle size plays another prominent role in determining the risk of injury or death. Some trucks, SUVs, and commercial vehicles are not suited to city streets. We know what changes need to be made and the scale on which they need to be made. The problem is ultimately a political one. 

And we have a host of political problems related to roads and highways in this state. Despite the progress we have made, there is still too much to be done and leaders at the state level continue wrongheaded policies like highway expansions that increase traffic volume. More cars lead to more risk of collision. At the county level, leaders in Hudson County seem content with a languid approach, targeting a full Vision Zero implementation sometime in the 2030s. More delays mean more deaths. And at the local level, traffic enforcement is missing.

Half a century ago, the Dutch faced a similar crisis in their cities. Outraged over fatal accidents involving children, concerned Dutch families launched a road reform campaign called “Stop de Kindermoord” or, in English, “Stop Killing Children” to pressure politicians to make roads safer for all users. Campaigns, protests, and advocacy work. And Dutch parents were successful. The Netherlands has an extensive network of bicycle lanes, quieted its city roads, and converted former inner-city highways to boulevards and canals. The rate of Dutch road deaths is a third of what we suffer here in America. The safety of Dutch roads creates more independence for children and less stress for parents.

Hudson County’s cities can do the same, bringing peace and protection to pedestrians and cyclists of all ages and abilities. We have plans for Vision Zero improvements – curb extensions, protected bike lane networks, and lower speed limits. Yet the implementation of these plans is often delayed or truncated for one reason or another. One of the most common refrains is prioritizing parking over safety. Sometimes objections are framed as concern over a new traffic pattern, as if encouraging more people to drive would magically fix traffic or make roads safer.

Even when the city successfully makes improvements, compromises are reached that ultimately compromise the safety of pedestrians and people on bikes. Instead of hardened infrastructure, we often install cheaper flex posts to delineate space. We slap paint on streets and call it protection. Cars and delivery trucks looking for a quick place to illegally park swiftly flatten the plastic poles, splintering them into mushy pulp. Screeching tires canvass the white street paint with black scuff marks. Delay and half measures on Vision Zero are not acceptable.

We need to tell our local leaders, “Stop killing children.”