An 18-year-old passenger was killed and another teenager was critically injured after a crash involving a U.S. Postal Service tractor-trailer early Sunday in Mercer County, police said.
The collision occurred around 4 a.m. April 12 at the intersection of US Route 130 and First Responders Way in Hamilton, according to the Hamilton Police Division.
Police said a Mazda CX-3 traveling southbound in the right lane slowed within the intersection while a USPS tractor-trailer approached from behind in the middle lane. As the truck entered the intersection with a green light, the Mazda tried to make a left turn toward the northbound lanes of Route 130.
Investigators said the Mazda crossed in front of the tractor-trailer, causing a serious collision. Both vehicles continued forward over a grass median before coming to rest in the northbound lanes of Route 130, police said.
The driver of the Mazda, 19-year-old Mordechai Sokol of Lakewood, was critically injured and taken by ambulance to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton, police said.
His passenger, 18-year-old Eliyahu Schepansky of Lakewood, died at the scene.
The driver of the USPS truck, 43-year-old Beatriz Reyes of the Bronx, New York, was also injured and transported to RWJ Hospital in Hamilton, according to police.