Two tractor-trailers collided on the southbound New Jersey Turnpike in Newark shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday, trapping a driver inside one of the trucks and causing delays near Exit 14. Firefighters worked quickly to free the driver, and two patients were taken to University Hospital with injuries initially described as non-life-threatening.
The crash happened near mile marker 104.7 on the southbound side, according to RLS Media, which reported the collision left one driver pinned inside a cab. Firefighters arriving at the scene immediately began an extrication operation to reach the trapped driver.
Driver Freed Within Minutes
Crews successfully freed the trapped driver shortly before 9:30 p.m.; the incident was reported shortly after 9 p.m. EMS then transported two patients to University Hospital in Newark, and their injuries were initially reported as non-life-threatening, per the same account.
New Jersey State Police responded to the scene as part of the emergency response. The circumstances surrounding the collision remain under investigation, and it is not yet known what led the two tractor-trailers to crash.
Traffic Backed Up During Cleanup
Motorists experienced delays in the area while emergency crews worked to clear the wreckage from the southbound lanes.
A Turnpike With a Deadly Recent History
Thursday's crash comes just months after a far more devastating collision between two tractor-trailers on the New Jersey Turnpike in Westampton killed three people, including a 5-month-old infant, according to NJ 101.5. In that February crash, a Freightliner truck heading south near Exit 5 rear-ended a Volvo tractor-trailer around 2:15 a.m. and burst into flames on impact, killing driver Albert Speaks, 49, of Plainfield, along with passenger Kuirsten Simmons, 33, of Orange, and the infant. State Police records identified it as the sixth fatal crash on the Turnpike in 2026, and charges had not been announced in that case as of the outlet's report.
No such fatalities were reported in Thursday's Newark crash, and no charges or citations connected to the incident have been disclosed. As with the Westampton case, investigators have not yet said what caused the collision.
