If you loathe driving on Route one in central Jersey, you've got good reason.

New data from the state police show that road is a major contributor to fatal crashes in New Jersey, which are up 28% statewide over last year, with the majority happening in Middlesex and Monmouth Counties.

As Melissa Rose Cooper reports, the problem has gotten so severe.

Law enforcement in that area are trying a new tactic to reduce crashes and hopefully save lives.

We don't need their words.

We need directions.

Get behind the wheel.

Buckle up.

Be safe.

A message.

Lieutenant Gary Holston of the South Brunswick Police Department Traffic Safety Division wants all drivers to put into action every time they hit the road.

Holsten says they've seen a disturbing increase in violations in recent years along roads like here on Route one.

Some of them even fatal.

Currently, just here in South Brunswick, we've had four fatal crashes resulting in eight deaths.

Two of those crashes were triple fails.

So the department is taking steps to make the road safer, implementing a new initiative known as CRASH.

The crash program is our coordinated response for accident suppression on state highways.

We're working with other agencies along the Route one corridor in Middlesex County.

I believe we have participation from all agencies with the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office coordinating, and we're going to be rolling out stepped up enforcement, not just every day within our town, but coordinating with those north and south of us so that we're together in our enforcement efforts on certain days of certain weeks for the next multiple months.

South Brunswick isn't the only area in New Jersey seeing an increase in fatal crashes.

Data shows deadly crashes are up 28% statewide, with 197 happening this year alone.

That's an increase from 154 reported this time last year, most of them happening in central Jersey.

So the average perception reaction time for someone to see something that comes into their vision and then reacts either through steering or through braking is 1.6 seconds.

So the Second Mile per hour sign as you look, will dictate that total 1.6 seconds, the distance traveled.

And as you could see from the higher the speeds, obviously it's the greater distance.

And that's if you're sober and you're alert and oriented.

If you're distracted, it's only going to increase.

And like I said, if you're looking down at your phone or if you're impaired and just not realizing what's going on, and that number can be astronomical.

Holmdel Patrolman Matthew McCloskey is raising awareness of distracted and impaired driving in Monmouth County through a program he calls Goal zero Amnesty says it's already getting some people to think twice before driving recklessly.

In March, Officer stopped 360 vehicles and issued 239 summonses as a result of just 4 hours of enforcement on one highway.

So there's a direct correlation between the importance of enforcement and but it's also when we stop cars, we want to educate the public of why we're enforcing supplements, distracted driving or seatbelt laws.

Because if these statistics are going up, because right now over the year to year, comparative over this time frame, this year, we're already hovering between 25 and 30%, depending on the day compared to last year.

And last year, we saw a drop of almost 80% at this time from 22 to 23.

So again, that's I don't know what caused that drop.

And now the spike again.

But again, it's I think if we if we're slow and steady and keep the course, these numbers will tend to come down.

And officers say safety is the number one goal.

So they're hoping more drivers will abide by the rules.

So everyone can make it back home.

Bright NJ Spotlight News.

I'm Melissa Ross Cooper.