Police Up Patrols after Fatal Truck Crash in New Jersey

By: Rebecca Heath
Source: nj.com (TNS)

There will be an increase in police patrols and the addition of more road signs aimed at curbing truck traffic in Hawthorne following a fatal crash involving a dump truck, borough officials said.

Johnny Azar, 56, of North Haledon, died June 11 when a dump truck collided with his SUV at the intersection of Fairview Avenue and Goffle Hill Road in Hawthorne.

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Hawthorne residents say the intersection has been the site of numerous traffic accidents.

“I lived there for 40 years. I’ve seen hundreds, hundreds of accidents there,” Hawthorne resident Patrick O’Donnell said at the June 18 Borough Council meeting. “I guess we waited until someone to die.”

O’Donnell, who lives across the street from the intersection and witnessed the accident, was one of several residents who voiced concerns about traffic safety in the borough.

Jonathan Azar, whose father died in the crash, told the borough council that his father was “struck by a monstrously large dump truck … that came down the hill and blew the stop sign.”

Azar urged the council at the meeting to install a 4-ton weight limit sign at the top of the hill to alert truck drivers to the borough’s weight limit on trucks using municipal roads.

At the time of the crash, the only weight limit sign was at the bottom of the hill. A sign has now also been placed at the top of the hill, borough officials confirmed Friday.

“My mom is a widow in part because of you,” Jonathan Azar told council members. “My sisters lost their father in part because of you. I lost my dad in part because of you.

“He was thoughtful and contemplative. He would communicate more with a nod and a look than anybody could with just their words. He was a principled man. He was patient with me and with my sisters, which is quite a feat.”

Councilman Bruce Bennett told NJ Advance Media that the borough recently hired more police officers to expand its traffic bureau.

“That truck chose to go down that road very unwisely, and had there been a policeman there, he would have been stopped,” Bennett said. “But unfortunately, there wasn’t, and it was just a very, very unfortunate incident.

“But we can’t possibly afford to put a policeman at every dangerous intersection, it’s just not realistic. We’re doing the best we can to enforce all of these traffic things.”

Bennett said officials plan to install weight limit signs at the top of every hill in Hawthorne, and in other parts of the borough, and will collaborate with surrounding municipalities, including North Haledon and Prospect Park, to look at creating safer truck routes.

But, according to Bennett, “no amount” of signage could have prevented the June 11 crash.

“It’s like speed limits. You can put all the signs you want up. If people choose not to obey them, they choose not to obey them,” Bennett said. “We are going to work on this. Will we solve the problem tomorrow or will we solve it ever? We don’t know.

“But we can work on trying to solve it and hope that truck drivers act responsibly.”

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Rebecca Heath may be reached at [email protected].
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