A driver was trapped inside a vehicle Sunday evening after a reported head-on collision between a car and a tractor-trailer on Route 22 near the toll plaza in Phillipsburg. Emergency crews freed the person and rushed them to a local trauma center, though the extent of the injuries was not immediately clear.
According to MetroLaw.com, emergency crews were dispatched after reports that one person was trapped inside a vehicle. Authorities later confirmed that the person had been freed and was being evaluated by emergency medical personnel at the scene. The patient was then transported to a local trauma center by basic and advanced life support crews, though the extent of the injuries was not immediately available.
Officials continue to investigate what led to the collision, and the full circumstances of the crash remain unclear. The same report notes that the account of the crash was sourced from police and fire departments, news outlets, social media and eyewitnesses, and had not been independently verified.
A Known Trouble Spot for Collisions
Sunday's crash adds to a string of incidents along the Phillipsburg stretch of Route 22 in recent years. Just two days earlier, on Oct. 9, a head-on collision with injuries was reported at Route 519 and Overlook Drive in neighboring Lopatcong Township, per a separate MetroLaw.com report.
Other crashes have struck the same corridor over the years. In December 2023, a crash involving a Phillipsburg School District bus with students on board shut down the eastbound lanes of Memorial Parkway, also known as Route 22, near Morris Street, according to lehighvalleylive.com. In June 2022, a driver apparently trying to avoid another vehicle struck a utility pole on Route 22 in Phillipsburg, closing part of the road, the outlet reported separately. WFMZ has also reported that a pedestrian was killed after being hit by a car on Route 22 in Phillipsburg on a Friday morning, according to police, and that at least one person was transported to a hospital with unspecified injuries after a crash on the Route 22 bridge connecting Easton and Phillipsburg.
Regional Crash Data Points to a Pattern
Route 22's problems extend well beyond Phillipsburg. The road bisecting Lehigh and Northampton counties recorded 398 serious crashes in 2025, according to data reviewed from PennDOT's open crash website and cited by lehighvalleylive.com. That figure put Route 22 more than 100 crashes ahead of the next closest road, Interstate 78, which saw 287 serious crashes over the same period.
PennDOT's crash database counts incidents involving injuries or those serious enough to require towing, the outlet noted. A Lehigh County Planning Commission study cited in the same report found that many of Route 22's on- and off-ramps are too short by modern standards, a factor the study identified as contributing to the road's high crash rate.
As of Sunday night's crash, officials had not released further details on road closures, citations or the specific cause of the collision. MetroLaw.com indicated that the investigation into what led to the crash was ongoing.
