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Mark Kolta, 31, of North Bergen had been involved in an earlier chain-reaction crash on the Hackensack River bridge on westbound Route 3 shortly after 6:30 a.m., East Rutherford Deputy Police Chief Phillip Taormina said.
He was struck in another pileup after getting out of his vehicle, the deputy chief said.
Kolta was pronounced dead at a local hospital a short time later.
All told, 20 or so vehicles were involved in back-to-back crashes on and off the bridge, which sent eight victims in all to the hospital, the deputy chief said. Several investigations were continuing, he said.
The crashes were among a host of accidents caused by black ice, rain and inattentive driving throughout North Jersey during Wednesday morning's rush, police said.
These included a chain-reaction pileup in the eastbound Route 80 express lanes involving dozens of vehicles -- among them, tractor-trailers, an NJ Transit bus, box trucks, vans, SUVs and sedans -- at the Saddle Brook/Rochelle Park border.
It all began when a box truck hit a tractor-trailer that was stopped on the side of the highway.
There was no immediate word on the extent of injuries.
In Teaneck, six passengers were hospitalized after an NJ Transit bus slid into a tree at Teaneck Road and Tryon Avenue, Township Manager Dean B. Kazinci said. Three Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps units took them to Holy Name Medical Center and HUMC with injuries that included a possible broken leg, a concussion and a chipped tooth.
A driver involved in a hit-and-run crash with another NJ Transit bus outside police headquarters in Teaneck was located and charged after police found his vehicle's license plate at the scene, he said. No injuries were reported.
A Teaneck Board of Education bus with three high schoollers aboard was involved in a minor crash at River Road and West Englewood Avenue, Kazinci said. Parents picked up their kids, none of whom was reported injured.
A utility pole was toppled at River Road and Maple Avenue, downing wires, and five vehicles were involved in a collision at DeGraw Avenue and Teaneck Road, Kazinci said. No serious injuries were reported in either.
All told, the manager said, police reported to 28 crashes in town between 6:30-10 a.m.
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NOTE: ANYONE WITH PHOTOS from any incidents either included or not listed here is encouraged to send them to me at either (201) 943-2794 or gerardjdemarco@gmail.com. You'll get full credit if you want and none, of course, if you don't. Thanks so much.
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ROUTE 46: A 12-vehicle pileup on the Hackensack River bridge in Little Ferry sent five people to the hospital. None was injured seriously, Police Chief James Walters said. Two were taken by stretcher with back and neck pain, while the rest walked to ambulances, he said, adding that seven vehicles in all were towed.
ROUTE 4 (HACKENSACK, TEANECK): Multi-vehicle crashes between Hackensack and Teaneck jammed the highway. Nine vehicles were involved in a chain-reaction crash on westbound Route 4 near Hackensack Avenue shortly before 7:30 a.m. About an hour earlier, a vehicle crashed into another that had just been involved in another accident near Belle Avenue. No serious injuries were reported in any of the collisions.
ROUTE 208: Multiple crashes on the southbound highway brought emergency responders from Fair Lawn and Glen Rock shortly before 6:30 a.m. (list continues below)
PALISADES INTERSTATE PARKWAY: An occupant had to be extricated around the same time following a rollover crash on the northbound highway in Englewood Cliffs just prior to the Rockefeller Lookout. Another crash involving injury followed up the line in Alpine about 45 minutes later.
CLOSTER: ALS and BLS were requested for a crash shortly before 7:30 a.m. at Demarest Avenue and Knickerbocker Road.
PIERMONT ROAD: The road was closed between the Norwood and Rockleigh border and at Paris Avenue because of severe icing and a fiery single-vehicle crash that damaged a guardrail and part of a bike lane just after 7 a.m. The road was reopened after 10 a.m.
LODI: Essex Street over Route 17 was the proverbial sheet of ice, leading to multiple crashes, also just before 6:30 a.m.
BERGENFIELD: Delays continued into the morning rush after a traffic light was knocked down at North Washington and North Hickory avenues around shortly before 4 a.m. There was no immediate word on injuries.
HACKENSACK: No serious injuries were reported when a small school bus carrying a group of high schoolers slid into a utility pole during an icy morning filled with crashes throughout North Jersey. READ MORE....
EMERSON/RIVER EDGE: A crash was reported around 7:45 a.m. at Soldier Hill and Munsey roads. Around the same time, another collision was reported nearby at Howland Avenue and Kinderkamack Road in River Edge. There was no immediate word on possible injuries in either.
ROUTE 3: The westbound highway was fully reopened, with all lanes passable, by mid-afternoon. "Road conditions and traffic made getting needed resources, EMS, Paramedics, additional patrol units, Bergen County Sheriff’s BCI and towing equipment to the scene challenging," Taormina said. "Officers on scene did an excellent job directing responding units and equipment to the scene and responding first responders did an excellent job rendering aid under difficult conditions." (list continues below).
HAMBURG TURNPIKE: The eastbound roadway was closed following a crash just after 8:30 a.m. at Ratzer Road in Wayne.
RINGWOOD: All occupants of a vehicle got safely out of a vehicle that rolled at Stonetown and Westbrook Roads around 8:30 a.m.
LITTLE FALLS: ALS and BLS were requested for a crash involving a serious injury shortly after 7 a.m. on Long Hill Road.
PATERSON: None of 18 Passaic County Tech students was reported injured following a crash on Broadway shortly after 8 a.m.
PARAMUS: Firefighters extinguished a fully involved tractor-trailer fire on Route 17.
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