Tom’s River accident sets cars aflame, driver injured

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The Ashbury Park Press recently reported that a 31-year-old Tom’s River man was injured on Saturday when his car was struck by a pickup, causing both the pickup and the car to burst into flames.

The car accident reportedly happened around 2 o’clock in the afternoon when a Dodge pickup travelling south on Millstone Road in Tom’s River crashed into the man’s BMW, which had been travelling north on Millstone Road. The collision reportedly occurred right around Carrs Tavern Road.

Distracted driving was apparently a factor in the accident. The driver of the pickup, a 43-year-old man from Freehold, had apparently been looking at a GPS device on his cell phone. Sources said the men confessed to making a “careless” immediately prior to crashing into the BMW.

During the crash, the pickup reportedly rolled over the hood of the BMW, causing the driver of the BMW to be unable to escape from his vehicle. Flames broke out as a result of a damages fuel line and the man was fortunately able to exit his car by using the rear passenger’s side door. When authorities arrived, both vehicles were in flames.

The pickup driver refused treatment at the scene, and police cited him with careless driving and use of a cellular phone without a hands-free device. The other man was taken to the Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune and treated for a fractured tibia.

Cell phone use, as is well known, is one of the most common causes of distracted driving, which accounted for 20 percent of injury crashes in 2009, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

Source: Ashbury Park Press, “Officials identify Toms River driver injured in Saturday’s fiery crash,” Michelle Gladden, 1 May 2011.