Volunteer firefighters peel open the roof of the minivan to extricate its driver. (Click to enlarge)
An 18-year-old Little Silver man was helicoptered to a trauma center after the minivan he was driving collided head-on with a truck along the Red Bank-Tinton Falls border Sunday afternoon, Red Bank police said.
The driver, whose name was not available Sunday night, was flown to Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune with serious injuries following the 2:11 p.m. accident, said Captain Darren McConnell.
According to police, the minivan was heading eastbound on Newman Springs Road with only the driver aboard when it crossed into oncoming traffic for unknown reasons.
The minivan collided head-on with a westbound moving company truck near the roadway’s center line. The force of the impact appeared to have sent the minivan bouncing backward, so that it ended up stradding the sidewalk on the Tinton Falls side of the road, at Steven Avenue.
Volunteer Red Bank fire and first aid personnel ripped the doors and roof off the shattered minivan to free the driver, who was pinned inside. He was taken to a waiting medevac helicopter that had landed at nearby Count Basie Field.
The driver of the truck, a 28-year-old Englishtown man, and two co-workers were taken to Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank with non-life-threatening injuries, McConnell said.
An investigation into the accident is continuing, said McConnell. Witnesses are asked to get in touch with Sergeant Errico Vescio, Sergeatn Michael Furlong or PatrolmanBeau Broadley at (732) 530-2700, ext. 214.
