JERRY WOLKOWITZ staff Firefighters in Old Bridge at the scene of the overturned tanker. OLD BRIDGE — A gasoline tanker merging onto Route 18 from Route 9 flipped over Tuesday night, injuring its driver and resulting in a second car accident.
According to Old Bridge Police Lt. Robert Weiss, the tanker was traveling on Route 9 southbound at 7:20 p.m. when the driver attempted to merge onto Route 18 south. Icy road conditions caused the driver to hit the breaks to slow down.
The tanker jackknifed to the right, Weiss said, spinning across two lanes of traffic and hitting the median before flipping over.
No gasoline spilled as a result of the accident, Weiss said.
A responding police officer was using his car to block the road near the upside-down tanker when his car was hit by another vehicle traveling on Route 18.
The South Old Bridge Fire Department responded to the scene, Weiss said, as did Old Bridge Emergency Management personnel, who got another tanker to the site of the accident to take the gasoline out of the disabled one.
Route 18 was closed in both directions between Route 9 and Tennent Road following the accident.
“It was all cleared up by 4 a.m.,” Weiss said.
Only the driver was hurt as a result of the accident, according to Weiss. He was taken to Raritan Bay Medical Center’s Old Bridge division with an arm injury.
“We got very lucky,” Weiss said. “There were no leaks and no fires.”