The man's side of it!

Only in New Jersey!
Tractor Trailer crashes on NJTP spilling tons of butter and causing a five truck and one van pileup!

The New Jersey Turnpike is a major commercial corridor through the state. At any time of day there are thousands of cars and trucks speeding back and forth. The maximum speed on the TP is sixty five but the average speed is seventy five. I drove from exit 3 on the NJ Turnpike all the way up to exit 11 For three years. It was a two hour drive one way to work and I saw many strange sights and accidents along the way.

I've seen people on the phone, women applying makeup, men shaving, people using their laptops, I once saw a man eating a bowl of cereal while he was driving almost eighty miles an hour near exit 9. I've seen the left lane Dicks, the Mario Andretti's. I've been alongside or in back of 18 wheelers when their tires exploded or de-laminated. Now that's scary. I saw a car jump the barrier spin in the air and land roof to roof of another car coming in the opposite direction. The big rig truck drivers are sometimes the worst of the bunch, they cut you off, tailgate, when they come alongside you when it's raining you can't see the road.

The Turnpike is no place for the faint of heart. Cassie and I were taking Billy to work when we heard the news announcement below on NJ 101.5 Radio. It appears that an eighty two year old 18 wheel truck driver at 2:30 in the morning failed to slow down in a construction zone (the speed is reduced from sixty five to forty five) an slammed into another 18 wheeler rupturing the fuel tank and spilling it all over the road surface, then three more trucks and a van entered the mêlée causing even more damage. It's unfortunate that a man was killed and thousands of people were held up for over two hours because of the one man's incompetence.

I don't know how an 82 year old man can handle a truck that size, let alone be able to drive at 2:30 in the morning. When I was a teen at 17, I could see wonderfully at night. Now at 50 I have to be a whole lot more cautious. The headlights coming from the other direction on the windshield and the glare my glasses temporarily blind me. I used to balk at the idea of giving a driving test every few years in New Jersey, but I think the public would best be served and protected if after a certain age, say 65 drivers would be tested every two years. Truck drivers especially CDL Operators I would like to see tested every two years from when they first get their license. I don't think they should have to pay for the test, it should be included in their initial license fee.

Since most of the accidents on the TP involve Tractor trailers I would like to see the Turnpike split into two roads. One exclusively for trucks and the other exclusively for cars. The amount of money taken in each year must surely be able to pay for the modifications to the TP.

Turnpike accidents fatal to 1
By DAVID LEVINSKY
Burlington County Times

Two stretches of the New Jersey Turnpike were closed for several hours in Camden and Mercer counties for most of yesterday morning following a pair of severe motor-vehicle accidents.

A Trenton man was killed in one crash and several motorists were injured in the other, said acting Sgt. Stephen Jones, spokesman for the New Jersey State Police.

Several minor accidents also were reported as a result of motorists rubbernecking at the accident scenes.

"It caused a real mess," Jones said.

The first accident occurred at 2:38 a.m. in the northbound lanes near mile-marker 31 in Cherry Hill. According to state police, a tractor trailer driven by Isaac Breeland Jr. of Barnesville, Ga., failed to brake for traffic that had slowed due to construction and crashed into the right side of a second tractor trailer, rupturing its fuel tank.

Breeland's truck then continued forward and crashed into the median barrier.

After the crash, two trailing northbound trucks and a Ford van were struck by a fifth tractor trailer, causing a fire in the van. Two of the drivers were trapped in the wreckage, police said. The driver of one of the trucks was able to put out the van fire with an extinguisher.

The trapped drivers were cut free by firefighters and rescue-squad members from Mount Laurel, Cherry Hill and Runnemede. They were taken by helicopter to Cooper University Hospital in Camden. Their injuries were not considered life threatening.

Approximately 200 gallons of diesel fuel and cargo, including butter, spilled on the highway and closed all northbound lanes between Exit 3 at the Black Horse Pike in Runnemede and Exit 4 at Route 73 in Mount Laurel until 9:45 a.m.

The second accident occurred about 28 miles north at 5:58 a.m. in the northbound lanes near mile-marker 59 in Hamilton Township, Mercer County. According to police, Jeffrey Koba, 36, of Trenton was driving a 1996 Chevrolet Blazer when he swerved into a truck driven by Vincent J. Reilly IV, 19, of Deptford.

The crash caused the Blazer to flip several time and ejected Koba, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Reilly was not injured.

The accident closed all northbound lanes in that area until 6:45 a.m., when the left lane and shoulder reopened, police said. The right lanes remained closed until 8:45 a.m.