A driver trapped inside an overturned vehicle on Route 23 North in West Milford was cut free by emergency crews Thursday and flown to a hospital, after the car came to rest on its driver's side against a tree along a stretch of challenging terrain. Responders used rescue struts and cribbing to stabilize the vehicle before partially removing its roof to reach the person trapped inside.
According to News 12 New York, authorities responded Thursday to the southbound stretch of Route 23 near Paradise Road, where a crew identified as Chief 2 found the overturned car with its occupant still inside. Crews completed the extraction shortly after the roof was removed, and the station reported that patient care was then transferred without incident to flight medics for the trip to the hospital.
Jefferson Crews Secured the Landing Zone
Jefferson rescue and engine crews secured a landing zone for the medevac helicopter, per the same News 12 account, allowing the patient to be airlifted rather than driven by ground ambulance. That kind of cross-border cooperation is typical for the area: municipal and emergency management records show that volunteer fire companies and rescue squads in Passaic and Morris counties, including West Milford and neighboring Jefferson Township, maintain mutual-aid agreements to coordinate heavy rescue gear, struts, and medevac landing zones, according to Jefferson Township municipal records.
West Milford sits at the northern edge of Passaic County, bordering Morris and Sussex counties, and relies on nearby aviation assets for time-critical trauma transport. Air Methods operates Hackensack 1, a Eurocopter EC-135 medevac helicopter stationed at Greenwood Lake Airport in West Milford, which enables rapid airlifts for critical trauma patients across the three-county region, according to the RadioReference Wiki.
A Stretch of Highway With a Troubled History
The Paradise Road intersection has seen serious crashes before. In April 2024, two school buses collided on Route 23 at Paradise Road while making a quick stop to avoid a separate two-car crash, shutting down the southbound lanes near Paradise Knoll Elementary School, as reported by New Jersey 101.5. In April 2025, a two-car crash at Old Ridge Road in West Milford led to a full closure of Route 23 northbound.
NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System data show 10 fatal crashes on State Route 23 in New Jersey between 2015 and 2024, per NHTSA FARS data. Countywide, New Jersey Department of Transportation crash data shows Passaic County records more than 13,000 motor vehicle collisions annually, with nearly 3,000 causing injuries and 32 fatal crashes resulting in 33 deaths in 2024 alone, a 32 percent increase in fatalities from 2023.
Speed Limits and Speeding Behavior Along the Corridor
NJDOT speed regulations set the legal limit along Route 23 in Passaic County between 35 mph in densely settled lower sections and 55 mph through the semi-rural stretches of West Milford Township, according to the New Jersey Department of Transportation. Those higher speeds, combined with mature trees lining the right-of-way, can turn an off-road departure into a severe rollover.
A study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that 23 percent of surveyed New Jersey drivers self-identify as frequent speeders, compared with 15 percent nationally, News 12 New Jersey reported in August. Careless driving remains a top cited factor in New Jersey traffic fatalities, according to the Grossman Law Firm, LLC.
The cause of Thursday's rollover has not been detailed beyond the crash's location and the vehicle's position against a tree.
