Tow truck accident leaves 4 injured on New Jersey highway

Officers from the North Caldwell Police Department and paramedics from the Pine Brook Fire Department responded to a report of an auto accident on Route 46 on Sunday, March 30. According to police reports, the collision occurred on a two-lane section of Route 46 when a flatbed truck struck a passenger car as both vehicles were traveling eastbound.

Authorities further elaborated that a 2014 Nissan sedan was traveling on the right lane toward Fairfield Township at around 2:51 a.m. when it was allegedly sideswiped by the truck, which was owned and operated by Passaic Towing. The collision sent the tow truck careening off the highway into a pole supporting an information road sign maintained by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

When first responders arrived on the scene, they realized that the tow truck driver and a passenger were trapped in the cabin. Police officers pulled the driver out and took him to Morristown Memorial Hospital. The passenger was also extricated by paramedics from the West Essex First Aid Squad and the Fairfield Fire Department. She was also taken to the hospital.

The driver and passenger of the sedan were transported to Pequannock, where they received treatment at the Chilton Hospital. Police officers reportedly have not yet written any traffic tickets or issued any summons in this case pending the finished investigation. While many drivers believe that unsafe driving citations issued after a car accident are indicative of liability, this is not always the case, but a civil case does not need to depend on the fact that criminal sanctions were imposed to be successful when evidence such as a completed police investigation or witness accounts may be put to use to prove negligence.

In this case, an attorney assembling a case on the behalf of the injured parties in the passenger vehicle may look to a completed investigation report for indicators of the tow truck driver"s negligence. If the tow truck driver indeed sideswiped the Nissan, it is possible that he may have been attempting an unsafe passing maneuver or distracted by a mobile device while driving, which caused him to fail to maintain his lane.

Source: The Progress, “Route 46 crash injures four,” March 31, 2014