A family of three was killed when their car was smashed by a tractor-trailer last week in the northbound lanes of the New Jersey Turnpike in East Windsor.
By: T.J. Furman
EAST WINDSOR A family of three from Orlando, Fla., died in a fiery crash last week on the New Jersey Turnpike.
All three members of the family Dale Mauldin, 28, Dana Mauldin, 23, and their 1-year-old daughter, Taylor were pronounced dead at the scene, State Police spokesman Sgt. Gerald Lewis said.
The accident occurred at 7:50 a.m. Friday, Sept. 20, at the end of a construction zone in the middle lane of the northbound side of the turnpike near Exit 8 in East Windsor. Sgt. Lewis said Mr. Mauldin, driving a Toyota Camry, made a sharp right turn from the left northbound lane at the end of the construction zone through the right lane, presumably to reach the ramp at Exit 8. The car was struck on its passenger side by the tractor-trailer.
The truck and the car both crashed into the concrete center median. A fire broke out that eventually incinerated both vehicles. The Mauldin family was trapped inside their car, Sgt. Lewis said. He added that the causes of death the accident or the fire will not be known until autopsies are completed.
The driver of the tractor-trailer, Jose Amaya, 37, of Union City, was able to escape the accident unharmed.
According to reports, the Mauldins were on their way to a wedding and family reunion in Middlesex County and Ms. Mauldin was expecting the couple’s second child.
Sgt. Lewis said an investigation concerning the accident is continuing, but that no charges are pending against Mr. Amaya at this time.
A sign is posted at the start of the construction area, Sgt. Lewis said, directing motorists who wish to take Exit 8 into the right lane of traffic.
Emergency workers and police on the scene were forced to close the turnpike’s northbound lanes from Exit 7A (Interstate 195) in Washington Township to Exit 8A in Monroe until about 2 p.m., causing traffic backups throughout the area, particularly along Route 130.
Last week’s incident was the third fatal accident on the turnpike in East Windsor in an eight-day span. Frank Camacho, 22, of Newark died Sept. 12 after the tractor-trailer he was driving smashed into a bridge support column in the southbound lanes. Salvatore J. Coladonato IV, 23, of Upper Darby, Pa., drove his van into the back of a tractor-trailer that was stopped in a traffic backup on the turnpike Sept. 18 and later died from his injuries.