BY ELAINE VAN DEVELDE
Staff Writer
EDISON — Thirteen turned out to be a lucky number for the 13 people who escaped serious injuries after a seven-car pileup last week.
“Luckily, the majority of the 13 people involved were treated and released,” Patrolman Robert Dudash said. “It appears that the collision started when a tanker truck traveling down Route 1 south impacted one car and, in turn, another was impacted and then another and another, and so on, making it seven cars that ended up impacting one another in a chain-type succession.”
The accident happened at 8:57 a.m. June 14 just past the Main Street overpass.
The tanker, which was hauling a trailer full of Mobil gasoline, was driven by Daniel Hafner, 32, of Jackson.
He was issued a summons for careless driving.
“Cars were stopped at Prince Street when the tanker failed to stop, and, after sideswiping a 2004 Honda CRV, it hit a 1997 Honda Accord,” Dudash said. “The Accord ended up flipping onto its roof. Then, a 2004 Saturn became lodged in between the tractor-trailer and multiple vehicles in the accident.”
The 20-year-old driver of the Saturn, Donna Young, of Emerson, “was conscious and alert; however, she was unable to get out of the vehicle and had to be extricated by fire department personnel,” Dudash said. “The roof of the car had to be removed in order to get her out.”
Most of those injured complained of neck and back pain, and bumps and bruises, he added.
The accident snarled traffic on Route 1 for most of the morning commuting hours, police said. Traffic was rerouted until the scene was cleared at 11:35 a.m.
None of the gas in the tanker spilled, police said.
But hazardous materials handling personnel responded to the scene as well as several other agencies, including Middlesex County emergency medical services, the state police and state Department of Transportation personnel, Dudash said.
“It was very fortunate that no one was seriously hurt or killed,” he said.