Memorial Day weekend continues to be deadly on New Jersey roads

Katie Sobko and Scott Fallon, NorthJersey.com
Updated ·3 min read
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Memorial Day weekend often rates among the most dangerous times to drive, and this year has been no exception in New Jersey.

Families throughout the state have been forever changed as a result of vehicle crashes over the past few days. At least five died over the weekend in North Jersey alone, according to police and published reports. That number is likely to grow statewide when New Jersey State Police conduct a roundup for the holiday weekend.

The most horrific crash came Friday night, when four people were killed in Andover, including two children. Andrew Benavente, a retired Newark police officer, and his two children, A.J., 13, and Madelyn 5, were going home to see their mother and Benavente’s longtime fiancée. They never made it.

Instead, Benavente's 2001 Ford Ranger pickup was struck by a driver who had crossed the double yellow lines into the wrong lane of traffic. Bruce Cseh of Blairstown, 22, smashed into Benavente's truck with such force that it burst into flames. Cseh later also died of injuries sustained in the crash. The incident remains under investigation.

Andrew Benavente with fiancée, Digna, and their children, A.J. and Madelyn.
Andrew Benavente with fiancée, Digna, and their children, A.J. and Madelyn.

In Jersey City, a 36-year-old woman died Sunday morning after the car she was driving hit several cars. Desiree Milow was pronounced dead at the scene and five other people were taken to Jersey City Medical Center to be treated for injuries.

There were other close calls. An 11-year-old boy is in stable condition after he was hit by a car while riding his bike in Seaside Heights.

Giancarlos Fernandez, a 19-year-old Hasbrouck Heights man, allegedly hit the child at about 7 p.m. Friday and then tried to get away. After the collision, the child was embedded in the windshield of the car before being thrown to the pavement. Fernandez got out of his car and ran, but borough detectives caught him a few blocks away, police said.

The child was airlifted to Jersey Shore University Hospital, Neptune, where he was listed in stable condition Saturday.

Earlier: Jersey City woman dies after Sunday morning car crash

'Now I got no team': Newton mother reels after death of children, fiancé in fiery crash

Deadly summer travel season begins

Memorial Day weekend is annually one of the deadliest set of days on the road in the U.S. due to an enormous amount of car travel combined with the usual culprits: distracted driving, impatient driving, fatigued driving, drunken driving, speeding and neglecting safety belts, safety experts say.

It also ushers in the "101 Days of Summer" — the most dangerous travel period of the year. There are nearly twice as many automotive deaths during the summer months as during the rest of the year combined in the U.S., according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Traffic moves slowly on the Garden State Parkway in Lakewood Monday afternoon, May 29, 2023. as Memorial Day comes to a close at the Shore.
Traffic moves slowly on the Garden State Parkway in Lakewood Monday afternoon, May 29, 2023. as Memorial Day comes to a close at the Shore.

Holiday weekends are often extremely deadly because of a greater propensity for drivers to drink or to drive late at night. Still, fatalities in New Jersey are down from about 1,000 a year in the late 1980s to almost half that in recent years thanks in large part to car safety upgrades.

Asbury Park Press: Speeding Hasbrouck Heights motorist seriously injures 11-year-old boy in Seaside Heights

This Memorial Day weekend was expected to be among the busiest for road travel in the past two decades, with more than 42 million Americans expected to drive 50 miles or more from their homes, according to AAA.

The increased traffic is due largely to gas prices dropping considerably over the past year — $1 per gallon lower this holiday weekend compared with Memorial Day 2022. The average gallon of gas in New Jersey was $3.55 on Monday — about 3 cents less than the national average.

Memorial Day fatal crashes

Sixty-three people died in Memorial Day weekend car crashes in New Jersey from 2013-2021, the latest state police data shows.

  • 2021: 2 crashes, 2 deaths

  • 2020: 4 crashes, 5 deaths

  • 2019: 8 crashes, 8 deaths

  • 2018: 6 crashes, 6 deaths

  • 2017: 6 crashes, 7 deaths

  • 2016: 15 crashes, 15 deaths

  • 2015: 6 crashes, 9 deaths

  • 2014: 4 crashes, 6 deaths

  • 2013: 4 crashes, 5 deaths

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Memorial Day 2023 in North Jersey sees more car accidents, fatalities