Photos/Video: Pickup Truck Flips Over After Collision

Lawrence Township firefighters, emergency medical personnel and police teamed up to rescue an elderly man from the wreckage of a pickup truck that flipped onto its roof after colliding with a car this afternoon, Monday, June 27.

The accident occurred about 1:15 p.m. at the intersection of Brunswick Pike (Business Route 1) and Darrah Lane East.

Lt. Charles Edgar, spokesman for the township police department, said the investigation conducted by Officer Thomas Everist revealed that Lee. W. Herman, 76, of the 300 block of Euclid Avenue in Trenton, was driving a 1997 Ford Ranger northbound along Brunswick Pike when he failed to obey a red traffic signal at the intersection.

James F. Bishop, 74, of Allura Court in Lawrence, was driving a 2007 Lexus and, having just gotten the green light, started westbound across Brunswick Pike from the road’s northbound jughandle in an effort to go west on Darrah Lane East, Edgar said.

He said the front of Bishop’s car struck the rear of Herman’s pickup truck as the truck went through the red light. The impact caused the pickup truck to skid and flip over.

The pickup truck came to rest on its roof, with Herman trapped inside. A wheel and various automotive parts that had been in the truck were tossed onto the road when the truck overturned.

Responding to the crash were township police, a township ambulance crew, the township’s daytime duty crew of career firefighters, volunteer firefighters from the Lawrence Road, Lawrenceville and Slackwood fire companies, and paramedics from Capital Health System.

Firefighters used wooden blocks and special struts to stabilize the overturned pickup truck and prevent it from moving while they used hydraulic rescue tools to first pry open and then cut away the driver’s door to free Herman.

Firefighters also contained some fuel that spilled from the overturned pickup. As a precaution, a firefighter stood by with a hose during the rescue operation. 

While his injuries were not considered to be life-threatening, Herman nevertheless was transported by ambulance to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Hamilton for treatment, Edgar said.

Bishop, the driver of the Lexus, was not hurt, he said.

Edgar said Herman was issued a ticket for not obeying the red traffic signal. He said the northbound lanes of Brunswick Pike were closed for an hour as a result of the accident.