Traffic & Transit
Video Shows Scene Of South Brunswick Crash That Killed 3
A video posted to social media shows what happened in the April 12 car crash on Rt. 1 at Ridge Road, which killed three young adults:
SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — This video on Instagram shows what happened in the April 12 car crash on Rt. 1 in South Brunswick, which killed three young adults and Police Chief Raymond Hayducka called "horrific."
Two people killed in that crash were young adults with special needs. The third person killed was the driver of their van, who was taking them to a special-needs school in the area. All three were killed as the Sprinter van they were in was attempting to cross Rt. 1 at Ridge Road that morning, and was hit by an oncoming tractor trailer on Rt. 1.
The tractor trailer was carrying 50,000 pounds of concrete. The van and the tractor-trailer caught fire, and first responders were unable to free the driver and the two trapped passengers from the fire.
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Police are investigating if speed of the tractor trailer was a factor. There are cameras at that intersection. As of April 23, no charges have been filed.
The passengers in the van were Daniel Vida, 28, who lived in West Windsor with his family, and Maria Passalaris, 25, who lived in Skillman with her family.
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Both use wheelchairs.
The driver of the Sprinter van was Charisse Nelson-Bailey, 24, of Princeton Junction. She was driving the young adults to an adult day program at the Red Ribbon Academy in Hillsborough.
Here is the obituary for Nelson-Bailey.
Here is the obituary for Vida, who will be buried this Friday. And here is the obituary for Passalaris, who was buried April 20. Passalaris was an athlete for Special Olympics, where she competed in Track & Field. Here is a video of Passalaris with her mother and father:
Anyone with information about the triple fatal April 12 crash is asked to call Officer Bryan Sites of the South Brunswick Police Department at 732-329-4646 or Sergeant Jonathan Berman of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 745-4328.
Initial report on this crash: 3 Young Adults Killed In South Brunswick Crash On Rt. 1
This video from ABC News shows how bad the fire was in the Sprinter van that day:
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