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The dump truck carrying a load of gravel plowed through a metal guardrail on the rain-soaked northbound highway's center median between Campgaw Road and Darlington Avenue shortly before 3:30 p.m. on 9/11, responders said.
The rig tipped over and landed with its cab in the southbound lanes, trapping the driver -- who was alert but had a gash on his forehead.
Firefighters worked for nearly an hour to free him from the wreckage. Meanwhile, traffic first thickened and then stretched for miles in either direction.
Mahwah EMS and paramedics from the Valley Hospital in Ridgewood tended to the driver, who was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center.
Nonstop crashes -- mostly involving tractor-trailers, as well as trucks -- have plagued that stretch of highway for years while bringing unheeded pleas for relief from area residents and commuters.
Authorities say slick conditions from road repaving have ironically made matters even worse.
Combine that with what the locals say is unsafe speed and it adds up to a sizable amount of stress -- not to mention the risk of injury or even death -- for responders and civilians alike.
Mahwah and State Police also responded Monday, along with Mahwah Fire Companies 1, 2 and 4 and the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
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