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Police issue warnings about dangerous shoulder conditions on roadways in NJ

Published  October 16, 2016 10:29pm EDT
U.S.
FOX 29 Philadelphia

MERCER COUNTY, NJ (WTXF) - The crash happened just before midnight on 295 Southbound in Hamilton. A car struck a deer, and then, as a Good Samaritan stopped to help, he was hit by a car standing near the shoulder.

The driver stopped. No one has been charged. That Good Samaritan is now in the hospital.

Police are putting out the warning that we're in the height of the deer season, meaning more deer crashes, and more vehicles on the shoulders of major highways, so be smart.

Despite an entire rest area feet away, we found the driver of this vehicle opting instead to stop for several minutes on the shoulder, as cars flew by within inches.

So close, you could feel it.

Jillian Bonet says, "I've been pulled over on the shoulder where cars are zooming by and you can feel your car shaking. But it can be scary because you don't know exactly who's behind that wheel or what's going to happen."

Especially if they're not fully focused, driving in so-called slow lane, feet from the shoulder.

And so we wanted to see how many drivers we could find who appeared to be distracted in this lane. We set the stopwatch for five minutes and counted.

Five minutes later, we counted a total of 81 drivers in this lane. Ten of them appeared to be distracted, including one woman who seemed to be taking a selfie.

That's a distraction rate of 12%.

Police advise you park on the shoulder only in an emergency, and then, as far from the road as is safely possible.

"I would stop the car at a shoulder where there is grass adjacent to it, so what you can do in that case is move all the way over to the right with your tires on the grass."

Bob Gosselin says, "I've had flat tires before, like on the New Jersey Turnpike, and I'm always reluctant to get out and change it.

"I'll even drive with a flat tire for a while and try to find a wider area to stop in."

"I would make sure I pull over, put my hazards on and then make sure to call for assistance, and wait in my car," Latesia Bell says.