SUV Split in Half After Hitting Tree on I-95 in Lawrence

A car was split in half after it collided with another vehicle, veered off Interstate 95 and slammed into a tree Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 30, in Lawrence Township.

Amazingly, the car’s female driver survived the crash and is expected to recover from her injuries, police said.

In a separate accident, reported about a half-hour earlier on Wednesday, eight people were hurt when a small bus loaded with senior citizens collided with another vehicle on Brunswick Pike (Business Route 1) near Carnegie Road.

The accident on Interstate 95 South occurred between the Route 1 and Princeton Pike interchanges. Police said they began receiving multiple 911 calls about the crash at 2:25 p.m. 

Lawrence Township police Sgt. Rick Doldy was in the area at the time and soon confirmed that two vehicles, a Honda sport utility and a Buick sedan had gone off the road into the woods.

Police said preliminary information provided by witnesses suggests the Buick was traveling in the left southbound lane and, while attempted to change into the middle lane, contacted the Honda and both drivers lost control. But police noted that the exact cause of the accident remains under investigation by state police.      

After leaving the road, the Honda struck a tree. The impact was so powerful, the car was split in two, with the rear section coming to rest several feet away front section.

Lawrence Township firefighters had to cut away the driver’s door to free the woman from the wreckage. She was then taken by ambulance to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton, police said.

The Buick, meanwhile, also came to rest in the woods but was not significantly damaged; the driver was not hurt, police said.

The accident at Brunswick Pike (Business Route 1) near Carnegie Road was reported at 1:56 p.m.

It occurred, according to police, when Rodolfo Rosado, 65, of Trenton, attempted to make a right turn onto Carnegie Road from the left northbound lane of Brunswick Pike and the Hyundai Accent he was driving collided with a Senior Star bus that was being driven by Carmelo Rojas, 66, of Lawrence.

Both drivers and six elderly passengers from the Senior Star bus – residents of West Windsor and East Windsor – suffered minor injuries and were taken via Lawrence, West Windsor and Trenton ambulances to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton, Capital Health System’s hospital in Hopewell and University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro.

Police said Rosado was issued a ticket for causing the accident.

Earlier on Wednesday, just before 1:10 p.m. in the southbound lane of Route 206 (Lawrence Road), just north of Darrah Lane, a Mercer County transport van driven by Gilbert Blackwell, 64, of Trenton, was struck from behind by a 2004 Lexus sedan driven by Thomas O’Brien, 24, of Yardley, Pa., police said.

Fortunately, police said, there were no passengers on the van. The only injury was a minor complaint of pain reported by O’Brien but he declined medical attention, police said.

This story was updated on Jan. 31.