Cars collide, lock, cross parkway median, hit third vehicle, no serious injuries
By BRIAN IANIERI
Staff Writer, 609-463-6713
Published: Thursday, July 24, 2008
MIDDLE TOWNSHIP - A bizarre accident on the Garden State Parkway sent two interlocked vehicles barreling across a grass median and into opposing traffic Wednesday afternoon.Together, the northbound vehicles skidded into the southbound lane of the parkway, where they struck a sports utility vehicle, State Police said.But the accident surprisingly resulted in only two minor injuries."It could have been a lot worse than it was," said State Police Trooper Ken Mulhern.
Police said a big piece of foam insulation lying in the right lane started the chain-reaction. Police said they don't know whether the insulation fell off a vehicle or blew in from elsewhere.The accident started on the parkway's northbound lane near milemarker 7 at about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. Sean Dean, 22, of King of Prussia, was driving north and swerved to avoid the piece of insulation on the road, Mulhern said. Dean drove off the shoulder, hit the grass and overcompensated, sending him back into the road, police said.In the far left lane, his Dodge Durango struck a minivan driven by Sarah Decker, 28, of Seaville; both vehicles locked together from the impact and kept traveling, police said.The interlocked vehicles then crossed the parkway's grass median and traveled into the southbound lane of the parkway, hitting another sports utility vehicle driven by Shonda Waters, 41, of Pennsauken, who was in the far right lane, police said.The impact sent Waters' vehicle spinning out of control and into the parkway's grass median, Mulhern said.The interlocked vehicles plowed into the guardrail of the southbound lane, police said.Through all this, only two minor injuries were reported.Mulhern said Decker and a passenger in her car were treated for minor injuries at Cape Regional Medical Center.No charges were filed."This was a serious accident that obviously could have been a lot worse," Mulhern said.E-mail Brian Ianieri:BIanieri@pressofac.com
Print Story
Email Story
