By Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media

Last year saw a spike in the number of fatalities on New Jersey highways, but the places you're most in danger of crashing are on short stretches that usually intersect with another highway or have many shopping areas, according to an analysis of 2016 crash statistics.

Statewide, there were 83,751 crashes on state highways last year, a slight increase from the 83,341 crashes that occurred in 2015, according to state Department of Transportation statistics. Last year, those crashes resulted in 254 deaths and 20,969 injuries, up from 212 deaths and 20,463 injuries in 2015.

Those figures do not include crashes on toll roads such as the New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway or Atlantic City Expressway. Here are the top 12 sections of highway on which you’re most likely to crash.

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12. Route 80, Woodland Park to Paterson

This section of Route 80 between New Street in Woodland Park and Spring Street in Paterson made the 2015 list with 181 crashes and it didn’t improve in 2016. The one-mile, curved section of highway, with exits and entrances to and from Route 19, had 199 crashes occur there in 2016 and it had an average traffic volume of 145,231 vehicles a day.

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11. Route 287, Turnpike to Route 27, Edison

New to the 2016 list is a two-plus-mile section of Route 287 in Edison between Route 27 and the New Jersey Turnpike, which had 209 crashes in 2016 and an average daily traffic volume of 117,671 vehicles. This busy section of highway also includes an interchange with Route 1 and handles traffic to Raritan Center

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11. Route 1, Menlo Avenue, Edison, to Ronson Road, Woodbridge.

This section of Route 1 from Menlo Avenue to just south of Ronson Road in Woodbridge also had the second-highest number of crashes in 2016 with 209 collisions. Among the reasons for the crashes are a busy interchange with the Garden State Parkway in the less-than-one-mile section of Route 1, and bumper to bumper traffic during rush hours. An average of 65,924 vehicles a day used it in 2016.

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9. Route 37, Toms River

This well-travelled route to the Seasides and Island Beach was on the 2015 list with 246 crashes occurring between Bowling Green Drive and the bridges over Barnegat Bay. In 2016, 211 crashes occurred on this three mile section of highway, which averaged 29,363 vehicles a day.

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8. Route 78, Halsey Street to Garden State Parkway, Union Twp

This section of Route 78 in Union County is new to the list, but the 231 crashes that occurred in 2016 are not likely to surprise regular drivers of this highway. This barely one mile piece of highway includes a busy and complicated interchange with the Garden State Parkway. Average traffic volume for that section between Halsey Street and the Parkway was 145,231 vehicles a day in 2016.

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7. Route 1, Quakerbridge to Alexander, West Windsor

This two mile piece of Route 1 near the Quakerbridge and Mercer Malls in West Windsor had 235 crashes in 2016. The section of highway between Quakerbridge and Alexander roads had an average traffic volume of 81,140 vehicles in 2016.

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6. Route 287, from Route 24 to Route 10

This section of Route 287 in Morris County has the second highest number of crashes on the highway in 2016 with 244 collisions. This busy section of Route 287 has interchanges with Route 24 and Route 10, which backs-up during rush hours and had an average traffic volume of 46,010 vehicles-a-day, according to DOT statistics.

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5. Route 440, Bayonne to Communipaw Avenue, Jersey City

This is a section of Route 440 new to the list, but drivers who’ve used this section from the Bayonne City line to Communipaw Avenue in Jersey City along the Hackensack River know why it is on it. Traffic often backs up on the highway, which is a major route for trucks to get to Route 1&9 Truck. In 2016, 260 crashes took place in this section of Route 440. An average of 49,674 vehicles used that section of Route 440 in 2016.

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4. Route 280, Harrison to Steuben streets, East Orange.

This section of highway is new to the list, with 266 crashes that took place between Harrison and Steuben streets in East Orange. This section of Route 280 includes a tricky interchange with the Garden State Parkway. The average traffic volume for that section of Route 280 was 80,360 vehicles a day in 2016.

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3. Route 17, Carlough Drive, Paramus, to Linwood Avenue, Ridgewood

This piece of busy Route 17 in Paramus topped the 2015 list with 253 crashes on a smaller section of highway. In 2016, the crash zone grew to encompass eight-miles of Route 17, north of Route 4, which is bordered with shopping centers and malls, to Linwood Avenue in Ridgewood.. That area saw 479 crashes in 2016. Traffic remained constant between 2015 and 2016 with an average volume of 126,067 vehicles a day.

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2. Route 287, Foothill Road, Bridgewater, to Garfield Avenue, Franklin.

This is one of three non-contiguous sections of of Route 287, which had more than 200 crashes in 2016. This section between Foothill Road in Bridgewater and Garfield Avenue in Franklin had the most crashes, with 302 collisions in 2016. This section of Route 287 has a heavy merge bringing traffic to and from Route 22, and an interchange with Route 28. Last year, the average traffic volume was 100,669 vehicles per day for this section of Route 287.

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1. Route 295, from Route 42, Bellmawr, to Warwick Road, Lawnside.

Part of this section of Route 295 in Camden County is a repeat offender from the 2015 list, when there were 223 crashes on I-295 from Blackhorse Pike in Haddon Heights to Copely Road in Barrington.

In 2016, this high-crash area on Route 295 grew to a four mile section from Route 42 in Bellmawr to Warwick Road in Lawnside. This curving section of highway is a major commuter route to Philadelphia via the Walt Whitman Bridge, and is located between a complicated interchange with I-76, and Route 42 and Route 30 in Camden County, which is the site of the state Department of Transportation's "Direct Connection" project to improve the junction of those highways.

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Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Photo courtesy of Rich Maxwell

More on New Jersey traffic accidents

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New Jersey traffic deaths soared in 2016.

The deadliest counties for motorists in 2016.

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