Fatal crash is 107th since 1999 at ‘worst intersection’

HAMILTON >> As the Hamilton Police Division continues investigating a fatal two-vehicle crash that killed a 50-year-old Jackson man Monday afternoon at a “dangerous” intersection, a review of state data shows more than 100 drivers, passengers or pedestrians have been killed in motor vehicle accidents in Hamilton Township since 1999.

The Jackson man was the 107th person killed in a Hamilton Township car accident since Jan. 1, 1999. Hamilton Police Lt. Richard Mastropolo on Wednesday said the police division was still making notifications to the Jackson man’s family and would release the names of all involved once that is completed.

The Jackson man was driving a 2012 Kia Optima southbound on Hempstead Road when he collided with a 2014 Ford F-150 pickup truck that was traveling westbound on Arena Drive, according to Mastropolo.

The driver of the Kia had to be extricated from his vehicle by firefighters from the Whitehorse and Rusling Hose fire companies. He was transported to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton by ambulance, where he succumbed to his injuries, Mastropolo said.

The driver of the pickup truck was a 31-year-old Hamilton man who was not injured in the 3:45 p.m. Monday collision, according to Mastropolo.

Neighborhood residents described the intersection of Arena Drive and Hempstead Road as “dangerous,” “very scary,” and “bad,” with one woman calling it “the worst intersection in Hamilton.”

With the intersection featuring no traffic lights and no pedestrian-crossing island refuge, the residents demanded the installation of traffic-calming devices to minimize the risk of car accidents occurring at that location.

Residents said car accidents often occur near the corner of Arena Drive and Hempstead Road, but a review of New Jersey State Police fatal accident statistics shows that intersection is nowhere near being Hamilton’s most deadly roadway.

has reviewed all of the 98 fatal motor vehicle-related traffic accidents that have occurred in Hamilton Township over the 17-year span from Jan. 1, 1999, to Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016, and found only two other fatalities that occurred on Arena Drive:

• At 8:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 13, 2012, a pedestrian was struck and killed at the intersection of Arena Drive and Gropp Avenue. At the time, Hamilton police said 27-year-old Ian Allen of Hamilton was crossing Arena Drive near the intersection of Gropp Avenue when he was hit by a 2001 Ford Focus driven by then-22-year-old Laura Fulton of Hamilton. Allen was rushed to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Hamilton, where he was pronounced dead.

• At 12:39 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2003, a passenger died in a motor vehicle accident at the beginning of County Road 620, which is another name for Arena Drive in Hamilton Township.

Of the 98 fatal accidents in Hamilton Township that have led to 107 deaths of drivers, passengers or pedestrians since 1999, 11 of the fatalities occurred on I-295; 10 of those deaths occurred on I-195; nine occurred on Klockner Road/ Avenue; eight occurred along the Route 33 corridor that includes Greenwood Avenue and a portion of Nottingham Way; eight occurred on Route 130; seven occurred on the New Jersey Turnpike; seven occurred on County Road 533 that includes Quakerbridge Road and Whitehorse-Mercerville Road; four occurred on Route 29; four occurred on County Road 535 along the road designated as Mercerville-Edinburg Road; three occurred on the portion of Route 206 that is designated as South Broad Street; three occurred on County Road 649 that includes Sweetbriar Avenue, Sloan Avenue and Flock Road; three occurred on Route 156; one fatality occurred on Route 129, and the remaining fatalities occurred on other streets throughout the 40-squaremile township.