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The curve in the roadway over the Passaic River “becomes a skating rink when it rains,” one veteran police officer told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “In the past year we have had 3 police cars struck while clearing accident scenes in this location.”
Just last week, a Passaic County sheriff’s cruiser was totaled, and officers were sent diving for cover, when another out-of-control vehicle slammed into it.
Two times before, officers who were in their cars at the time were sent to the hospital.
Records show that 94% of the accidents at this spot happen when the road is wet.
State officials have been contacted. According to local police: “Their answer to the problem is to put up ‘Slippery When Wet’ signs,” one officer told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
“This leaves us with no other alternative but to shut down access to Route 21 south from Route 46 west whenever there is an accident,” he said.
That creates problems, of course, for drivers who regularly use the roadway, as for those who aren’t familiar with area detours. Most of all, it allows a hazard to continue — one that police say hopefully won’t claim any lives.
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