Three people died and three more suffered serious injuries when a sport utility vehicle was involved in a single-car crash on the Garden State Parkway earlier this week. The SUV contained five members of a Staten Island family, as well as two additional family friends. New Jersey police are not yet sure what caused the fatal accident, but are continuing to investigate the crash.
According to the New Jersey State Police, the accident occurred at approximately 5 a.m. on the Fourth of July, as the family was driving back to New York from an outing to Atlantic City. While traveling in the northbound lane of the Garden State Parkway near Middletown Township, the family’s Ford Expedition suddenly veered out of control. It crashed into a right-hand guardrail before overturning at least twice.
As the vehicle turned, five passengers were thrown from the backseat of the SUV onto the Parkway’s center median and local lanes. The driver’s sons, ages 14 and 18, and a 15-year-old neighbor were all declared dead at the scene of the accident. The 54-year-old driver, his 51-year-old wife, and their 20-year-old daughter were all taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where they were treated for life-threatening injuries such as a blood clot on the brain. The final occupant of the car, the daughter’s 25-year-old fiancé, was treated for minor injuries and released from the hospital.
If you or a family member has been injured in a New Jersey car accident, please contact Breslin & Breslin for a free consultation.
Source: New York Daily News, “Three teens dead, four wounded when Staten Island family’s SUV overturned on Garden State Pkwy,” Daniel Prendergast and Mike Jacarino, 4 July 2011
