Gabrielle Barclay, 26, of Piscataway died early Saturday after a crash on northbound Interstate 287 left her Chevrolet disabled and she was struck by a passing SUV. She was pronounced dead at the scene near milepost 7.2, according to New Jersey State Police.
State troopers responded at about 3:50 a.m. in Piscataway, according to News 12 New Jersey. The station reported that Barclay's Chevrolet sedan first hit the rear of a Freightliner truck and could not continue, leaving it in the highway's center lane.
Barclay got out of the disabled Chevrolet and was in the roadway when a northbound Hyundai SUV hit her and the car, the station reported. The Hyundai then veered off the highway's left side and struck a guardrail.
Driver Suffers Minor Injuries, No Other Reported Harm
The driver of the Hyundai suffered minor injuries in the crash. No other injuries were reported, the station noted, meaning the Freightliner driver involved in the initial collision was not hurt.
The circumstances echo another deadly roadside encounter on the same highway just over a year earlier. In July 2025, a Jeep Cherokee struck 24-year-old tow-truck driver DJ Ortiz of Hopatcong while he assisted a disabled Honda on the shoulder of I-287 in Harding Township, according to Patch. Ortiz died from his injuries after being taken to a hospital, the outlet reported.
Pattern Of Highway Deaths Involving Stopped Vehicles
Other New Jersey highway crashes offer context, though they involved different circumstances. In June, a Mini Cooper driver was killed when the car rear-ended a minivan on I-287 near the New York border; the minivan's driver and passenger were injured, NJ.com reported. In September, a man was struck and killed on Route 1&9 in Jersey City around 5 a.m., according to a separate NJ.com report.
Statewide pedestrian fatality figures
Preliminary statewide data recorded 175 pedestrian fatalities in New Jersey in 2023, down from 191 in 2022, an 8.4% decrease, according to the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. These figures cover the state as a whole, not interstate highways specifically, so they do not establish a trend in pedestrian fatalities on New Jersey interstates.
No further details about the Piscataway crash, including any citations or ongoing investigation, have been released.
