FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — The Aug. 19 crash that claimed the lives of three people on Kozloski Road has been attributed to driver inattention on the part of driver Nicholas Dever, who was killed in the crash.
Dever, 19, of Freehold Borough, was driving a 2009 Volkswagen Jetta south on Kozloski Road when he lost control of the vehicle and crossed into oncoming traffic just before 4 p.m., according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.
Kozloski Road is an undivided road at the location where the accident occurred, at the overpass above Business Route 33.
According to Charles Webster, public information officer for the prosecutor’s office, “It is almost impossible to know exactly what distraction was happening inside the vehicle since the two people who [could] answer that question are no longer with us to answer that question.”
Noelle DeLuccio, 20, of Howell, a passenger in Dever’s car, was also killed in the crash.
Webster said no cellphones were found in Dever’s car and that the relatively high speed of the Volkswagen was likely a factor in the fatal crash, coupled with a distracted driver of the vehicle. He said no mechanical issues with the vehicles involved in the crash contributed to the collision.
“Nothing found in the toxicology report for Mr. Dever or the drivers of the other vehicles indicates anything impacted the drivers’ ability to operate their respective vehicles,” Webster said.
Dever’s vehicle collided head-on with a 2006 Honda Pilot being driven by Thomas J. Koller, 50, of Freehold Township. Koller was killed in the impact.
As a result of the crash, the Volkswagen and the Honda rotated counterclockwise and the Honda became partially airborne before it collided with a 1994 Toyota Camry that was traveling behind Koller. The driver of the Toyota, Shakir E. Hobsoll, 25, of Freehold Borough, survived the crash.
On a related issue, Webster said no charges have been filed in a Sept. 27 crash that killed a 7-year old boy. The accident occurred on the same stretch of Kozloski Road as the Aug. 19 collision.
Webster said Michael Miranda, 23, of Freehold Township, was driving a 2006 Honda CRV southbound on Kozloski Road. Juliana Alcaraz, 24, of Howell, was driving a four-door Toyota sedan northbound.
The vehicles collided and Alcaraz’s 7- year-old son, who was a passenger in her vehicle, was killed. Webster reported that the child was sitting in the front passenger seat. He said toxicology reports have not been returned to the prosecutor’s office to date.
Monmouth County officials subsequently hired a contractor to install “rumble strips” on Kozloski Road from the Route 33 overpass to Center Street. The strips are a safety feature that alert drivers they may be in danger of crossing into oncoming traffic by causing vibrations that are felt and heard inside the vehicle.