Fatal Rt-18 crash closes southbound lanes over Raritan River

By John S. Clyde

Editor-in-Chief

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Published: Sunday, October 4, 2009

Updated: Monday, October 5, 2009

Ramon Dompor / Associate Photography Editor

A fatal car accident occurred yesterday after 3 p.m. on the southbound lanes of Route 18 crossing the John A. Lynch Sr. Memorial Bridge.
At least one person was killed in the crash and another was rushed to the hospital after a black car crashed on the bridge, which crosses the Raritan River, authorities confirmed.
Police have not yet released the names of the driver and passenger as of press time.
University bus 2123 was located on the side of the road about .1 mile away from the damaged car near the New Brunswick side of the river with its hazard lights flashing. Authorities photographed the bus.
Senior Director of Media Relations Greg Trevor referred all questions to the New Brunswick Police Department and Middlesex County Prosecutors Office.
Traffic safety officials in the police department could not be reached for comment at press time.
Fire, police and emergency officials from New Brunswick and Piscataway responded to the scene.
Authorities closed the southbound lanes over the bridge following the accident.
Updates on the accident will be posted on dailytargum.com as they become available.

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mobeen

Fri Oct 9 2009 12:41

who ever was on the bus can you please contact me i am his sister. at
mobeen17@hotmail.com
i would like to know how it happened. thank you

Your name

Thu Oct 8 2009 08:13

The bridge is at fault, the signage is at fault, the builders are at fault..... what a bunch of nonsense. 20,000 cars a day pass over that bridge (when school is in session). Maybe the driver of the car was at fault. Was he texting, was he speeding, was he drinking, was he distracted. did he do something stupid??? Unfortunately we will never know. So the real lesson, Stan, is pay attention to your driving. We lose too many fine young men and women all across the country each year to distracted driving.

Your name

Tue Oct 6 2009 23:40

my condolences for the family of the dead and injured.. i hope everything turns out well .what exactly did happen. any one from the bus or otherwise know?

Your name

Mon Oct 5 2009 14:56

yes the car did collide with the bus,I was on the bus.

Your name

Mon Oct 5 2009 14:45

I have a non-automotive concern about that bridge. The bicycle lane on that bridge is much too narrow, ensuring that bicyclists as well as motorists are at risk of collision. (Heck, a goodly portion of the unrenovated parts of Route 18 heading into East Brunswick is a collision risk itself, what with reckless drivers and sudden slowdowns and stops, but that's another story.)

As for the bridge disaster, I saw it heading over the bridge to Piscataway to get my car. RIP Taimur.

Your name

Mon Oct 5 2009 14:18

Taimur was a great guy, He will be missed by all his family and friends. May his soul rest in peace.

mary

Mon Oct 5 2009 14:08

i feel great sorrow to the families of the dead and injured. this to show that life is so fragile. you send you kids to school or work and they may not come back. my condolences to the families may they find peace and rest in tough times ahead.

SHS '08

Mon Oct 5 2009 13:46

he went to my high school. nice guy. RIP.

Your name

Mon Oct 5 2009 13:40

Polite and caring young amn. what a shame RIP

Stan Ostaszewski RC '82

Mon Oct 5 2009 11:53

Unfortunately, this bridge has never been safe since its being built in the late '70's. I was attending Rutgers College when the bridge was built, and in case you're interested, can give you a little bit of the history as to why.

When the New Brunswick side of the bridge was being excavated and ancient Indian archeological site was discovered. The engineers had to change the New Brunswick-side curvature to bypass this site thus altering the traffic design flow that had been intended which was a straight line across the river. On top of that, ill conceived signage and the lack of deterring speeding on the bridge further contributed to many a horrendous crash. The first fatality was a motorcycle rider passing over the bridge in the rain from the Piscataway to the New Brunswick side. The original signage and pavement directional markings had drivers merging to the right just at the point where the bridge precipitously curves to the left. If any of you out there recall anything about centripetal force, you will immediately realize that this was a recipe for disaster. The pavement markings were quickly changed, but alas there is nothing that could be done with the curvature other than enforce a very reduced maximum speed while travelling on the bridge.

For those of you just beginning or soon to be beginning your professional and or public lives, you may want to always remember this example of a short-sighted budgetary decision not to expend the required money to have the bridge keep its originally designed safe straight-line design over the Raritan into approximately College Avenue and the true cost, in lives, that is continuing to be paid to this day; it's a lesson worth knowing.

anon

Mon Oct 5 2009 11:13

what was the busses involvement in this? was there any sort of collision with the car?

Sameet

Sun Oct 4 2009 23:47

i was on that bus...the scene was horrifying...RIP

Tim Jackson RC '82

Sun Oct 4 2009 23:44

My condolences to the families of the dead and injured.

Your name

Sun Oct 4 2009 23:41

Good friend of mine. R.I.P.

Your name

Sun Oct 4 2009 23:40

Good friend of mine. R.I.P.

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