One of the most obvious hazards to travelers on New Jersey roads is drivers who go too fast. People who zip in and out of traffic with reckless abandon are very dangerous, particularly to other drivers who may not realize how fast these drivers are going. A rear-end collision can lead to serious injuries, such as whiplash, or even death if the driver is going fast enough.
A different kind of hazard, though, can be just as dangerous: slow drivers. Many people equate slow driving with caution, but drivers who drive under the minimum required speed on the roadway can cause an accident if other drivers aren’t able to get out of their way until it’s too late.
An accident on the New Jersey Turnpike this week killed a truck driver who was apparently trying to get out of the way of a van that police said was driving under the minimum required speed. The trucker crested on a hill and saw the van up ahead of him, but because it was going too slowly, the driver apparently thought a crash was imminent. In an attempt to prevent a crash, the truck driver attempted to swerve out of the way. However, his vehicle clipped the van’s left rear corner.
This caused the big rig to go out of control. The vehicle ended up striking the guard rail in the center, falling over and catching fire. The truck driver was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. The van driver, who was injured in the accident, has not yet been charged in the incident.
Source: The Star-Ledger, “NJ truck driver killed in fiery crash on Turnpike,” Tom Wright-Piersanti, April 6, 2014