A pre-dawn crash on Route 17 in Carlstadt left a driver hospitalized, injured a responding officer and caused intermittent power outages. A second vehicle later struck debris from the wreck. The 2013 black BMW sedan had been traveling south near Biggie's Restaurant at about 4:46 a.m. Saturday when it left the road and hit a utility pole, guardrail and retaining wall.
According to Daily Voice, responding officers pulled the driver from the wreckage and began treating him at the scene. He was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center with facial injuries, the outlet reported.
One officer suffered minor cuts while helping free the driver and was also treated, per the same report. Carlstadt firefighters, a volunteer ambulance corps and Nick's Towing all assisted at the scene as crews worked to clear the crash and stabilize the damaged pole.
Debris Sparks a Second Crash Near the Diner
Guardrail debris thrown across Route 17 South was struck by a second vehicle, the report notes. That vehicle was later found near Meadowlands Diner, where officers took a separate crash report — a chain reaction that underscored how quickly one highway wreck can ripple outward before sunrise traffic even begins.
Damage to the utility pole caused intermittent power outages in the area, and PSE&G crews responded and began replacing the pole, according to the same account. Police urged drivers to avoid the area because of road closures while the investigation continued.
A Stretch of Route 17 With a Troubled History
A Stretch of Route 17 With a Troubled History This is not the first time a vehicle has taken out a utility pole along this stretch of Bergen County highway. A Daily Voice report from September 2024 described a car toppling a pole outside Segovia in Carlstadt, closing the roadway that Sunday morning. A separate report from this past April detailed a 20-year-old BMW driver trapped after crashing into a tree and pole on Route 17, according to Daily Voice, while just days before Saturday's crash, three people were seriously hurt in a Route 17 wreck in Paramus after a vehicle slammed into a utility pole, as reported by Daily Voice.
A Route 17 Crash in Paramus
A separate Route 17 crash in Paramus offers a comparison: on Oct. 12, a vehicle left the road and struck a utility pole, leaving three people seriously injured, with injuries described as potentially life-threatening, according to Daily Voice. Both incidents involved vehicles leaving the roadway and hitting poles; the Carlstadt crash also involved a guardrail and retaining wall, and its debris led to a second collision.
The cause of Saturday's crash has not been established, and no citation or arrest information has been released. Drivers navigating Route 17 in the area should continue to watch for lingering effects from the closures and repair work as PSE&G crews address the damaged pole.
