Route 4 is a mess. If you’re sitting in your car right now, staring at a sea of brake lights near Paramus or Englewood, you already know that. An accident on Route 4 NJ today has turned the morning commute into a total standstill, and honestly, it’s a scenario North Jersey drivers know all too well. This stretch of highway is basically the backbone of Bergen County, but when one thing goes wrong near the Garden State Plaza or the Teaneck exits, the whole system collapses like a house of cards.
Traffic is backed up for miles.
Emergency crews are on the scene, and while the specifics of the vehicles involved are still being cleared, the ripple effect is hitting every side street from Hackensack to Fair Lawn. People are trying to cut through residential neighborhoods to avoid the highway, which—let's be real—usually just makes the side streets just as miserable as the main road.
Why Route 4 NJ is Such a Nightmare Today
The geography of Route 4 is a huge part of why a single accident on Route 4 NJ today causes such an outsized disaster. You’ve got these massive shopping hubs—the Outlets at Bergen Town Center, Westfield Garden State Plaza—all feeding into a road that was designed decades ago. It wasn't built for this volume. When a collision happens, there’s nowhere for the cars to go. There are no shoulders in certain sections, meaning a disabled vehicle stays in a live lane until a tow truck can fight its way through the very traffic the accident created. It's a self-defeating loop.
Usually, the bottleneck happens because of the lane merges near the Route 17 interchange. It's a "cloverleaf" nightmare. Drivers are trying to accelerate onto Route 4 while others are braking hard to exit. It’s high-speed physics meeting human error.
📖 Related: NIES: What Most People Get Wrong About the National Institute for Environmental Studies
If you're stuck, you're likely seeing the flashing lights of the Paramus or Teaneck police departments. They’re the ones who usually handle the brunt of these calls. The North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) has actually studied this corridor for years, noting that the high density of curb cuts—those little entrances to gas stations and diners—creates "friction." That friction leads to the exact kind of rear-end shunts and side-swipes that are currently ruining everyone's Friday.
The Real-Time Impact on Local Transit
It isn't just cars. NJ Transit bus routes like the 171 and 175 are seeing major delays because they rely on these same lanes to get commuters toward the George Washington Bridge. If you're waiting at a bus stop right now, check the MyTix app or the NJ Transit Twitter (X) feed. They are notoriously slow to update sometimes, but they'll eventually post the "delay" notification that you've probably already guessed is happening.
What the Data Says About This Stretch
Is it getting worse? Probably. According to the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) crash records, the segments of Route 4 through Paramus and River Edge consistently rank among the highest for "property damage only" accidents in the state. Why? Because it's stop-and-go. People get distracted. They look at their phones. They see a sale sign. Boom.
How to Navigate the Route 4 Mess Right Now
Look, if you haven't left the house yet, don't. Or at least don't take Route 4.
👉 See also: Middle East Ceasefire: What Everyone Is Actually Getting Wrong
The best move is usually to pivot to Route 80 or the Garden State Parkway if you’re trying to head east toward the city. Even if it looks longer on the map, "moving" at 40 mph is mentally better than "idling" at 0 mph on Route 4.
- Check 511NJ: This is the official state site. It's better than Google Maps sometimes because it pulls directly from the traffic cameras that the police are watching.
- Waze vs. Reality: Waze is great, but it often sends everyone down the same "shortcut," which then becomes a new traffic jam. If Waze tells you to take a back road through a residential part of Teaneck, fifty other people just got the same notification.
- The "George" Factor: If the accident on Route 4 NJ today is close to the bridge, the Port Authority will sometimes throttle the lanes. This causes a "back-up of a back-up."
The Safety Reality of Bergen County Highways
We need to talk about the "Jersey Slide." We've all seen it. A driver realizes they're about to miss the exit for Grand Ave and cuts across three lanes of traffic. On a road like Route 4, where the exits are sometimes on the left and sometimes on the right, this is a recipe for the exact situation we're seeing today.
New Jersey's "Move Over" law is also critical here. When you see those tow trucks and police cars on the side of Route 4, you have to move over a lane if it's safe. If it's not safe, you have to slow down. People forget this in the heat of a commute, but it's what keeps the first responders from becoming victims themselves.
Immediate Steps for Drivers Caught in the Gridlock
If you are currently trapped behind the accident on Route 4 NJ today, the first thing is to stay off your phone unless you're using it for navigation. Rubbernecking is a legitimate cause of secondary accidents.
✨ Don't miss: Michael Collins of Ireland: What Most People Get Wrong
- Keep Distance: Even in crawl-speed traffic, leave a gap. People are frustrated and might slam their brakes or swerve without signaling.
- Ventilation: If you’re stuck near the actual crash site, keep your windows up. Fumes from idling cars and potential fluid leaks from the crash aren't great to breathe in.
- Patience with First Responders: You might see an ambulance trying to get through the shoulder. Give them every inch you can. Their "golden hour" for getting a victim to Hackensack University Medical Center is ticking.
Better Alternatives for Future Commutes
Maybe today is the day you decide you're done with Route 4. It happens to the best of us. The Pascack Valley Line or the Bergen County Line trains are solid alternatives if you work in Hoboken or NYC. You avoid the "unpredictability" factor. You can't have a multi-car pileup on a train track (well, it's significantly less likely).
Another option? Route 46. It’s the unloved sibling of Route 4. It’s uglier, sure, and has just as many stoplights, but it handles overflow much better because the lanes are generally wider in the commercial zones.
Actionable Insights for the Road Ahead
Traffic is a fact of life in North Jersey, but being a victim of it doesn't have to be.
- Download the NJ-511 App: Set up personalized alerts for Route 4. It will ping your phone before you even leave your driveway.
- Check the "Paramus Police" Social Media: They are surprisingly fast at posting about road closures and major accidents near the malls.
- Dashcam Investment: Given how frequent these incidents are, having a dashcam on Route 4 is just smart. It settles insurance disputes instantly when someone claims you hit them in the stop-and-go mess.
- Know Your Hospitals: If you're ever in a scrape here, know that HUMC (Hackensack) and Holy Name (Teaneck) are the primary destinations. Knowing where you are helps if you ever have to call 911 yourself.
The cleanup from an accident on Route 4 NJ today usually takes about 90 minutes for a standard tow, but the "traffic tail" can last for three hours. If the accident involved a pole or a spill, you’re looking at a much longer afternoon. Plan accordingly, take a breath, and maybe take the long way home through the side streets of River Edge once the initial surge dies down. Stay safe out there.