Palisades Parkway crash that killed 4 is fifth such crash in NJ since 2018

Liam Quinn, NorthJersey.com
·3 min read
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While car crashes that kill four or more people are uncommon in New Jersey, the Sept. 2 crash involving a van on the Palisades Interstate Parkway was the fifth such accident in the state over the past five years, New Jersey State Police statistics show.

The Sept. 2 crash occurred on the southbound side of the parkway in Englewood Cliffs. It killed four New York residents who were riding in a van transporting workers home from a factory in Orange County.

The four killed in the crash were driver George Massey, 44, along with passengers Jose Luis Romero Munoz, 59; Clara Estrella, 49; and Candida Frias, who would have turned 60 the next day. Eight more passengers were taken to nearby hospitals with injuries ranging from severe head trauma to minor physical complaints, police said.

This is the second crash in New Jersey in 2022 that killed four people, State Trooper Brandi Slota said. The previous one happened in Newark in July. As in the crash in Englewood Cliffs, one driver and three passengers from the same car were killed. This was also the case in 2021.

In 2020, there was one crash that killed five people in Rutherford, Slota said. One of the victims was a 4-year-old child. There were no such crashes in 2019, but in 2018 there was one that killed four on the Garden State Parkway in Toms River, again all occupants of the same car.

There have been a few fatal crashes on the Palisades Parkway in 2022 alone. The day after the crash in Englewood Cliffs, a Piermont, New York, man was killed in a single-car crash farther up the road in Alpine. In January, a Northvale man died in a crash on the parkway, also in Alpine.

Later in January, a road rage incident on the parkway that resulted in a serious crash went viral online, though no one was seriously injured.

Traffic deaths have increased across the state in 2022, up an estimated 13% as of Aug. 19.

The crash on Sept. 2 was just another example of the growing safety issues on New Jersey's roads.

The three passengers killed were employees of Party City, working out of the Amscan Warehouse in Chester, New York, said Lt. Raymond Walter of the Palisades Interstate Parkway Police. The van was a Ford Econoline with New York plates and was a hired transport for workers heading back to New York City.

First responders at the scene where a multiple fatal accident took place on the southbound Palisades Interstate Parkway in Englewood Cliffs around 1:45 a.m. on Sept. 2, 2022.
First responders at the scene where a multiple fatal accident took place on the southbound Palisades Interstate Parkway in Englewood Cliffs around 1:45 a.m. on Sept. 2, 2022.

"It is with heavy hearts that we can confirm our Chester Distribution Center team suffered the loss of three valued team members early Friday morning," a Party City spokesperson said in a statement.

"We are deeply saddened to hear of the tragic car accident that occurred and offer our most heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of those affected," the spokesperson said. "We pray for the recovery and healing of the additional team members injured in the accident."

The spokesperson said the van was not owned or contracted by Party City.

Walter did not respond to a request for further comment on the crash, which as of Sept. 4 was still under investigation.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Palisades Parkway NJ crash fifth such fatal accident since 2018