John Gregg discusses car crash that hospitalized him

School board member to receive summons

By: Lea Kahn
      
Lawrence Township Board of Education member John Gregg, who was injured in a three-car accident July 28, is at home and on the mend — and thankful to be alive.
   The 44-year-old Rosedale Road resident said he was driving home from his girlfriend’s Spring Beauty Drive house July 28 when he pulled out of Brandon Road and onto Federal City Road and was struck by another car.
   "I had gotten back from vacation and I dropped some camping equipment off," Mr. Gregg said Tuesday morning. "It was around 9:30 a.m., and I was not in a rush. The next thing I knew, it was around 6:30 or 7 p.m. and I was in the intensive care unit (at Capital Health Systems at Fuld)."
   "I’m just grateful that I am here," he said. "I have no memory of what happened at all. I was told I was involved in an accident with an SUV and a Mazda, and (my car) ended up on top of a brick wall."
   Mr. Gregg said CHS staff told him he had been knocked unconscious by the impact and that he had been trapped in his car. Emergency workers had to cut the car to remove him and take him to the hospital, he said.
   Mr. Gregg, who was released from the hospital Aug. 1, said he suffered a bruise on his spleen, some cuts and "two or three" broken ribs from the impact. His car was struck on the driver’s side.
   The school board member said he planned to attend this week’s school board meeting, which was held Wednesday night. He said he would not be returning to work at AkaRx — a cancer medicine development company — for a few weeks while he continues to heal, adding that he was told it could take up to two months to fully recover.
   Meanwhile, Lawrence police Lt. Charles B. Edgar said Mr. Gregg would be issued a summons for failure to yield to the other cars, based on the Lawrence police investigation into the accident.
   The accident occurred when Mr. Gregg, who was driving a 1999 Honda CRV, pulled out of Brandon Road onto Federal City Road, Lt. Edgar said. His car was struck by a 2005 Mazda A3 driven by Renauld Williams, 20, of Lanning Street in Trenton. Mr. Williams’ car was rear-ended by a 2000 Ford Explorer driven by Theodore Camastra III, 17, of Rockland Road in Ewing Township.
   The impact forced Mr. Gregg’s Honda onto a low brick wall on the corner of Brandon Road and Federal City Road, Lt. Edgar said.