We’ve all heard and seen the saying “Slow Down and Move Over”.
Every first responder is taught to watch their back on the roadway and to never turn your back to traffic. We see it all the time in the media of it happening across the country, but we never imagine it will happen so close to home.
This crash happened about 11:15pm Thursday evening on I-80 eastbound MP 17.6 in Allamuchy.
Preliminary investigation revealed that troopers were on scene investigating a prior motor vehicle crash which caused the left and center lanes of I-80 eastbound to be closed.
The lanes were closed by positioning marked NJSP vehicles with emergency lights activated in the lanes and utilizing road flares.
In the area of MP 17.6 a Western Star heavy-duty tow truck towing a box truck failed to observe the closed lanes ahead and entered the crash scene.
The tow truck struck three marked NJSP vehicles and an Allamuchy ambulance. The troopers on scene were outside of their vehicles at the time of the crash and were not injured.
An EMT who was inside the ambulance reported a minor injury. The driver of the tow truck was not injured and was issued a summons for careless driving.
The crash remains under investigation.
Thank God that no one was killed
They could be doing a lot less hanging around on the shoulders. Moving over is not always the safest option. They will pull cars over on the thinnest shoulder just to make a few bucks at someone else’s expense. The real eitza is stay off the shoulders and don’t close travel lanes unless there is no other choice.