Business Route 1 North Closed After Crash Snaps Pole

Update: As of 9 a.m. today (June 6) PSE&G crews were still working to install a new utility pole to replace the one that was shattered in the accident. The right northbound lane remained closed to traffic because of that work.

The northbound lanes of Brunswick Pike (Business Route 1) in Lawrence Township had to be closed to traffic after a vehicle slammed into a utility pole, causing so much damage to the pole that the overhead electrical wires attached to the pole dangled dangerously low over the roadway.

The accident occurred about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. The northbound lanes were still closed at 3 a.m. today (Wednesday, June 6) and were going to remain closed for several more hours, possibly into the morning commute, because work crews from PSE&G needed to install a new pole, township police said.

New Jersey Department of Transportation personnel were on scene detouring northbound traffic off Brunswick Pike onto Whitehead Road. The left southbound lane of Brunswick Pike also remained closed at 3 a.m. due to the low-hanging wires.

Sgt. Michael Yeh said the accident at the corner of Brunswick Pike and Mayflower Avenue involved a vehicle that was being driven northbound along Brunswick Pike by a 17-year-old township boy.

“He indicated that he felt he had something in his shoe. As he tried to remove that item, he became distracted and drifted across the shoulder of the roadway onto the sidewalk and stuck a telephone pole at the corner of Route 1 and Mayflower,” Yeh said.

He said there were witnesses to the crash who corroborated the 17-year-old’s story.

The impact snapped away the lower half of the pole, causing the upper half – with the power lines and an electrical transformer still attached to it – to drop down dangerously low.

The teenager was not injured, Yeh said. He said a crew from Slackwood Volunteer Fire Co. responded to check a nearby building to make sure it was safe from the low-hanging wires.

Office Scott Stein investigated the crash and issued the 17-year-old tickets for careless driving and for violating the terms of his provisional driver's license, Yeh said.