Road rage is suspected in a crash on New Jersey's Garden State Parkway that left a woman dead.
Authorities have charged 27-year-old Thomas Vanderweit of Saddle Brook and 20-year-old John Emili with vehicular homicide and other motor vehicle violations.
State Police spokesman Trooper Christopher Kay said Emili lost control as he tried to pass Vanderweit's vehicle on the right in the exit lane in Bergen County Sunday.
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The vehicle overturned and struck Vanderweit's vehicle.
A woman sitting in the back of Emili's vehicle was ejected and killed. Her name has not been released.
Witnesses told state troopers the men had been tailgating and making numerous lane changes.
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this just looks like another situation where facist Obama is to blame.
It is so easy to blame someone for the total failure of this society...Where were you when bush and reagen were around...Unless you are one of those whose world has been changed...ie is you are no longer a part of the european countries who dumped and ran out their malcontents , poor, and political misfits , who robbed, raped, killed,millions of people in the name of progress...oh lets not forget ..."You reap what you sow"
Your trolling sucks mightily. You should practice on you own time.
Trolls, gotta bring politics to a traffic accident!
Since we have a special collapsed spot in this thread today for trolling........
"This accident never would have happened if both drivers had been allowed to carry guns".
I always tell my wife two things:
1) All cops care about is speeding
2) I could balance the Jersey budget on tailgating tickets and left lane riders ALONE!!!
chris christy needs to get his nose out of mitt romney's butt and put some of the traffic ticket money into the public school system
And you need to learn how to spell Chris Christie's name right.
i would consider caring about the spelling of his name, if he cared about the struggling public school system in South Jersey instead of sending his children to private school upstate
Where is the ticket for the passenger who was ejected for not using the seatbelt?
billfromphilly, good thing it isn't the other way around. Romney would suffocate with his head up that moon pie.
Thinker ---- think
Ejected from the rear seat ... seat belt not required but, like you, I highly advise it.
good point More
According to New Jersey seat belt laws the rear passengers must also wear seatbelts. But, I was in an accident wear I had a seat belt on but was still ejected out a passenger window because the lap/seat locking mechanism, the one that should lock on impact, failed to function. So, passenger may, or may not, have had a belt on.
Quoted from New Jersey Traffic Laws: "According to the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, all vehicles required to have seat belts by federal standards fall under the state's seat belt law. As of January 18, 2010, all motor vehicle occupants must wear a safety belt. Previously, the law allowed those over 18 to ride unrestrained in the back seat only. Drivers are responsible for minors who fail to abide by New Jersey's seat belt law."
Read more: Motor Vehicle Seat Belt Laws in New Jersey | eHow.com #ixzz1zTgYxkDM
what is dangerous about driving the speed limit or 10 miles over in the left lane besides keeping someone from doing 80 mph or making him pass on the right?????
how does a cop tell how many car lengths a car is behind at 55 or 65 mph when the lawyer asks?????
"making" someone pass on the right is dangerous.. the LEFT lane is for passing and you should get out of it if someone else is going faster and wants/needs to pass ..how hard is that?
Leaving the scene of an accident?
bob-3014467
It's called the two second rule. Works at ALL speeds. Also known as safe following distance. If you are so close to the guy in front that when he picks his nose you feel like your ass is being scratched you are too close.
"Where is the ticket for the passenger who was ejected for not using the seatbelt?"
Sure, nice to salt the wound there eh, buddy.
You are mistaken Steve 2570999...there would be a surplus!
According to the article he was trying to pass on the right in the EXIT lane. I've driven the Garden State and if I remember correctly the exit ramps as well as the entrance ramps are ONE lane in almost all locations (some urban areas have two lane exit and entrance ramps but they are rare). I had some moron pass me on the inside of a one lane exit ramp in Illinois. He was doing 40 on the ramp and came close to losing control and certainly startled the @!$%# out of me. That kind of driving is grounds for vehicular homicide if a death results, no doubt.
Bluelake, yes this is a one lane exit, and the guy in the Honda tried passing on the shoulder. He was clearly at fault. The other guy was charged due to the fact that they had both been swerving earlier, but I have a feeling the other guy's charges may be reduced.
Moral of the story here folks:
It doesn't matter if you don't like how fast someone is going. It doesn't matter that you are going the correct speed and they are in the wrong. You are not a cop. It is not your job to mess with speeders on the road. You will just make them more pissed off and determined to pass you by ANY means. Mind your business, move to the right and let the Highway Cops do their job in pulling them over.
Your petty pride is not worth getting into an accident! If you play stupid chase games on the road, (even if you think the other guy started it) then you are behaving just as badly as the person you are trying to block from passing you. Sinking to their level is never justified. It just makes you a hypocrite!
......I am in no way trying to defend the guy who passed on the right. No one is entitled to speed or pass everyone they wish. But a lot of accidents are caused because more than one driver isn't doing what they should. And a lot of people act like they have a right to stick it to the traffic violators by provoking them. Don't speed up and block them when they try to pass, don't brake check them, don't change lanes in front of them just before they pass you. That is just going to cause more accidents.
http://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2012/07/two_men_charged_in_deadly_parkway_crash.html
She was not wearing a seat belt and it sounds like the two were playing 'tag,' i.e., taking turns tailgating and passing each other. So both would be ticketed for negligent/aggressive/reckless driving.
Road rage or impatience? There is a difference.
I agree. The article describes aggressive driving, not road rage. BTW, here in WA state, troopers regularly ticket for such behavior.
Semantics.
There might be a difference to the lawyers, but not to the victims.
I don't it matters, stupidity is exercised in both scenarios.
The article is so vague its hard to determine what happened.
Totally agree. Very badly written. I had to re-read it to figure out there were 2 vehicles, and both drivers were charged. At least I think that is what happened.
I see people daily playing "Fast and Furious" (the movie, not the gunwalking) on my commute to work.
Relax, enjoy the scenery .... you'll get there eventually and probably alive.
I see the same...only to meet up with them at the next red lighted intersection.
I don't understand why Vanderweit was charged with vehicular homicide when it was Emili that seemed to be having the driving issue. It was Emili's vehicle that the woman was ejected from, while he is making an illegal passing maneuver that STRUCK Vanderweit's vehicle. The implication of Vanderweit was due to Emili's wrecklessness. Sooo what's the deal here??
Ass****** and idots, have no color ,race, religion or worth in this world
Well, that depends on *****, cause arse -------- holes do have a purpose, without that little hole you would be full of sh!t.
Soooo...what's your point, Steve-2570999. Two idiots using 3000 lb weopons battled it out on a freeway, and now a woman has died.
My point is that if they would enforce ALL the traffic laws people would not be in the habit of driving like this.
Someone does not yield the right of way and someone else thinks they are driving a tank.
This is why we have accidents
However, if you set police cars on the median strip with their rollers on suddenly everyone drives like angels.
We can build earth killing nuclear weapons but we can't afford to park police cars on the median during rush hour?
Why The Frown?
Steve-2570999
Generally police get off the highway during "rush" hours. Traffic is self regulating around then. When is the last time you could break the speed limit at rush hour? It's a good time to take a meal break.
@ Trust - I don't know where you are from but on the way to the PA/NJ there are almost daily accidents during "self regulating" rush hour time.
One idiot trying to get to work a few seconds sooner causes hours of delays. This happens almost everyday like clockwork.
All you would need to do is get the word out that riding someone's bumper will get to a ticket and as soon as we have banked a few million they will start to get the idea.
The next time you're pi$$ed off out on the road, ask yourself what it's worth to you. I doubt that either one of these idiots thought this would happen, but they should have known it could happen. If your ego is so fragile that you can't let someone pass you, you really shouldn't be driving.
mach
"Trooper Christopher Kay said Emili lost control as he tried to pass Vanderweit's vehicle on the right in the exit lane"
Should the 1st car have pulled off the road to let the other car go by? Most exit lanes/ramps only have one lane. Of course, the story doesn't say what the 1st cars driver did to get a ticket for?
This interaction didn't take place at an exit ramp. It ended at the ramp, along with a life. They risked the lives of unknown numbers of people as they barreled down the highway chasing and tailgating each other. There was time to use their brains; they chose to react emotionally. The possibility that she died while begging the driver to stop driving like a maniac makes me sad and furious. They should be not allowed to drive until their victim is allowed to live.
Impatience with the wrong person sometimes turns into road rage. All I can say is leave a little earlier and go with the flow. You'll not only get there safely, but you won't be in a snit. Your whole day will probably go better!
I read this story 3 times, and still not clear what happened. But I have to go with the idea that one guy cut another guy off, and the other guy retaliated. They both had road rage, and at the exit one of them flipped and the girl was killed. Both drivers were charged.
There, in my novice writing, I just explained the story better than the article did.
Ya, plenty of idiots like this on the road. THere are lanes for a reason. Hope they get what they deserve.
I get the feeling that this article was written on some guy's i-phone while he was waiting on the exit ramp for the accident to be cleared.
Two jerks playing road rage and a lady is dead because of them..glad they both will be going to jail for awhile or paying big time bucks for their lawyers and crying in court we're sorry...hope no license for 10 years too after jail!
10 years? I hope these jerks NEVER drive again. Keep them locked up, too. World is safer without impatient, reckless jerks.
New City: land of BMW and Mercedes and a whole lot of arrogance. Couple that with some inexperienced, muscle bound idiot, and another Jersey punk, and you get a result like this, where someone died on account of ego and idiocy. Both drivers need to go to jail and lose their driver's licenses! Society needs to adopt a zero tolerance towards arrogant punks who put everyone else in danger because of their inflated egos.
The moron population explosion is evident daily on New Jersey's highways. Some of it is so bad that it could be considered justifiable to blast these idiots right out of their seats with an RPG. I try to stick to the center lane when possible, since most morons use the left and right lanes to pull off their stupid moron tricks - typically high speed passing on the right and tailgating in the left. Too bad they aren't the ones that always die in these cases.
It's really sad that an innocent passenger, albeit not particularly prudent for not wearing a seatbelt, had to die because of some testosterone-fueled idiot's rage and idiocy. I always wear my seatbelt when I am a passenger in the rear seat, and make all of my passengers belt up before moving out.
I hope both of these morons get prosecuted to the max, and spend some quality time in a nice facility like Rahway State Prison, where they will get some real lessons in rage, but being on the receiving side this time.
In my experience tailgating in the left and high speed passing on the right are almost always the result of someone driving in the left lane when they should be over to the right, i.e.; not passing and not driving with the flow of traffic. It's a lot like the game Parcheesi, blocking the road so no one can pass.
Here in Oregon the law is, "keep to the right unless passing" and, "trucks, buses, vehicles with trailers keep right except to pass." You would never know that from driving here however. I wish the police would pull those people over and cite them but, sadly, that will never happen.
Drive like an idiot, die like an idiot.
The woman who died wasn't driving. She was a backseat passenger!
Who wasnt wearing her seatbelt when the guys were driving like idiots. So yeah, she was an idiot. Still an innocent victim, but an idiot.
Recent example of road rage:
Nebraska plate 489-EST in a GMC Youkon on I-70
In most states you're allowed to use your cell phone while driving in order to report this sort of thing. I've gotten several drunk drivers as well as a road-rager busted doing this.
I have always been thanked by the 911 operators. I usually stop to identify myself to the police in case they need witness info and they have always thanked me too. No one has ever hassled me for driving and "celling" in these instances, they're just happy to get the jerks off the road and appreciate the help.
Random car accidents - with and without fatalities, with and without road rage tie-ins - happen all the time, in every state. Why on earth does MSNBC even publish articles like these to the site of their NATIONAL website? I just don't get it.
Why, they do it just to piss you off. See - it worked!
Road rage crashes resulting in the death of a passenger are NOT common. The absolutely unnecessary death of the passenger makes this a newsworthy story. This crash was 100 percent avoidable. It happened because of abject stupidity and arrogance.
You could tell all that from that story?
According to the story someone tried to pass someone and lost control.
Unless there is a lot more to it than MSNBC is reporting I'm sure that Vanderweit will have charges dropped if all they have are some witnesses claiming they saw them change lanes several times.
The other will probably have the charges changed to reckless driving or something.
Wrong or not this story hardly gives you enough information to determine "It happened because of abject stupidity and arrogance."
What some men won't do in the name of pride. The dumbest decisions I've ever seen made by men have been made for the sake of pride or their passion for a woman.
Around here, 'D', the odds are 50/50 on the sex of the idiot. I just dial 911 to report and then drive with the traffic. If I can only do 'x' mph safely behind the guy in front (funny how it works that way) then getting angry at me is like blaming the sand for the water being cold.
Around here it is a daily occurence. T.P. syndrome or P.E. or hate the world, does not matter to me. The only thing I have to do is get home to my kids safe. The rest of those *&%^ need to take a deep breath and relise that the only thing that they are accomplishing is endangering themselves (Do it on your own time) and others. The second part is where I take exception.
You're going to cause a wreck goofing around on your cell phone when you should be watching the road!
Couple of NASCAR wannabes.
Sorry for the death of the young woman, likely an innocent victim of vehicular stupidity.
Write all the laws you want, but you can't fix stupid (or crazy).
Too bad these two losers aren't dead instead of an innocent passenger...
It's sad when innocent people are hurt or killed because of their stupidity. They speed, swerve in and out with no thought to brake time. When they tail me, I take my foot off the gas until they 'get it' and go around me. My son's life is worth more than their game of Russian Roulette on the road. I've already had a young lady, in a rush to see her boyfriend, slam into my rear at a red light because she thought I was going to proceed.
"I take my foot off the gas until they 'get it' and go around me"
If you are doing this in the left lane, it is not just passive-aggresive, it is dangerous.. trying to force some one to 'go around' you on the right is just asking to cause an accident.
If you are not, they should just pass you in the proper lane, to the left.
More accidents happen from people trying to go around slow drivers than anything else. Its easy, if you feel like driving slow, get out of the left lane.
Your attempt to slow down traffic and force others to pass illegally is dangerous and just as arrogant as the tailgaiting idiots. The left lane is not for driving; it is for passing. Have you seen the signs that indicate: "Drive Right, Pass Left" ? Get out of the left lane...
Sometimes it's just plain anger that they is dripping out of every pore. I have been no# 200+ in a lane doing 7-10 over and these road warriors pass on the shoulder and even between lanes two cars side by side. With nowhere to go all they did was endanger and enrage those about them. Luckily, at least for a good part, most of those about kept their heads.
It is the few times when it escalated that remind me to be wary of the rest of the toady's on the road.
"Your attempt to slow down traffic and force others to pass illegally is dangerous and just as arrogant as the tailgaiting idiots. The left lane is not for driving; it is for passing. Have you seen the signs that indicate: "Drive Right, Pass Left" ? Get out of the left lane..."
Maybe they shouldn't have a law that is totally the opposite of normal highway driving which is slower on the left and pass to the right. just saying
BP-2252891, one word... HUH?
I used to drive like I had to be somewhere 10 minutes ago but then I realized one day ..." I could be rushing to my death"....so I slowed down.
Hey, you wanna be stupid and kill each other...go for it...get off the road park the cars, get out and just beat each other to death for all I care, it's the innocent people that always suffer, and not just the passangers in cars either..it's the other drivers, the taxpayers for having to support your dumba$$ when you get convicted of manslaughter..the rest of the taxpayers who pay higher insurance rates for wrecking your cars all the others.
Other sites have witness statements that say both drivers were driving erratically, and it was the Honda driver that was tailgating the Chevy driver, and then eventually the Honda driver swerved onto the shoulder in an attempt to get around the Chevy. While both were driving erratically, the Chevy driver can say he was trying to get away from a lunatic. Feared for his life... etc. Might work as a defense.
You see these morons on the road everyday. Tailgating, weaving in and out, flipping people the bird and acting like they own the road and everyone on it. People just can not follow the rules or use common sense. When you see these imbeciles you shake your head thinking how in the hell did they ever get licensed to drive.
Like the "rules" that say keep right except to pass, and the common sense (there is no such thing) that if you don't like being tailgated, get out of the way and let them pass. That's what I do, and guess what? It works EVERY time.
A lot of people get tailgated because they are "...acting like they own the road..." and refuse to move into the right lane where they are supposed to be. Those people are morons too.