At least seven people were killed in four accidents on New Jersey roadways Saturday, marking one of the deadliest 24-hour spans on New Jersey roads in years.

Most were on interstate highways, one involved an attempted police stop, and at least one involved an intoxicated driver, police said.

"It was a rough day yesterday," said Sgt. Jeff Flynn of the State Police. "It's not something that we typically see."

The tragic day began at 1:30 a.m. when three people -- a man, a woman and a child -- were killed in a crash on Route 80 in Rockaway Township. One person was charged with death by auto and DWI, police said.

In Atlantic County, two passengers were killed in a head-on crash on State Highway 49 in Estell Manor around 7 p.m. The victims, Joseph Kunak and Suzanne Tolley, were both from Pennsylvania.

An hour and 45 minutes later and half the state away, State Police tried to stop a Honda for driving erratically on Interstate 78 in Berkeley Heights, authorities said. The driver fled, and police followed for about three miles before the Honda ran off the road into a wooded area, killing two people, police said. A short time later, a pedestrian in the area was struck and seriously injured by a car, State Police said.

Also on Saturday, a motorcyclist who had crashed on Memorial Drive late Friday night was pronounced dead at Hackensack University Medical Center at 5:45 a.m.

According to a State Police report on Saturday morning, traffic fatalities are down in 2015 compared to 2014, and about on par for 2013. It's not clear if the Rockaway Township accident is included in that calculation. So far this year, 262 people were killed in 249 accidents, the State Police report said -- that's a little over one person killed every day. As of this time in 2014, 279 people had been killed. In 2013, 261 were killed in New Jersey road accidents as of July 11.

Auto fatalities are at historic lows; in 1981, 1,160 people were killed on New Jersey roads.

The most recent comparable day on New Jersey roads occurred in August 2014, when six people were killed in accidents on New Jersey roads.

Brian Amaral may be reached at bamaral@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bamaral44. Find NJ.com on Facebook.