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Ethel Toth was a passenger in a 2009 Jeep Cherokee driven by George Sadue, 77, of Coventry, Rhode Island, that left the northbound highway and hit a tree on the property of an Exxon station around 2:30 p.m. Nov. 29, Ramsey Police Chief Brian Lyman said.
Toth was killed on impact, Lyman said.
Sadue was extricated by firefighters but succumbed to his injuries a short time later, the chief said, adding that no other occupants were in the vehicle.
Northbound Route 17 remained closed at Lake Street for several hours to remove the bodies, clear the wreckage and allow investigators to do their jobs.
“At this time the cause of the accident is still undetermined,” Lyman said Wednesday. “No other vehicles appear to have been involved.”
Ramsey police were assisted by members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Fatal Accident Investigations Unit and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Identification, who collected evidence, the chief noted. A medical chopper was initially placed on standby and then canceled.
The New Jersey Department of Transportation assisted with re-routing traffic, he added.
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