Car accident near main campus leaves three injured and causes temporary power outage
By Kelly Contreras | Published by October 28, 2019
A car accident on Morris Avenue near Green Lane was the cause of a power outage at Kean University in early September that shutdown Morris Avenue and caused traffic tie-ups for hours.
2007 Dodge Ram after crash.
Photo by Patrick Stoute
Three people were injured in the crash that took place at 7:26 a.m. Sept 18 on Morris Ave., according to the Union police department crash investigation report.
The power outage was addressed in a campus-wide email at 7:44 a.m.
At 8:59 a.m., Kean University police informed students and faculty via email that power was restored to the main campus and the motor vehicle crash had been cleared off of Morris Ave.
At 11:30 a.m., Kean University police issued a final email explaining that due to the crash, Morris Ave. eastbound between Lehigh Ave. and Green Lane was closed. In addition, Westbound Morris Ave. from Green Lane to the train bridge was down to a single lane. At the time, university police advised commuters to plan an alternate route to campus.
Two vehicles were involved in the accident, a 2007 Dodge Ram with two passengers, driver, Louis Fleurinord, resident of Union, and his son. The other was a 2017 BMW X3 with one passenger, Michael Karafin resident of Linden.
The 2007 Dodge Ram was in the right lane while the 2017 BMW X3 was in the left lane.
In a report from Union Police, Fleurinord said he felt as though something was pushing his car into the left lane. When Karafin realized Fleurinord was getting too close, he honked his horn which then led Fleurinord to swerve to the right and hit the curb.
A not to scale Motor Vehicle Crash Diagram.
Photo by Kelly Contreras
Witness Shamila Craig said she was driving behind both vehicles and saw Fleurinord swerve to the left, then to the right and lose control.
“It appears that driver one panicked after driver two honked his horn and lost control of the vehicle and stepped on the gas instead of the brakes,” Officer Michael Cocca wrote in the police report. “Tire marks show that vehicle one was accelerating before it hit the pole. There were no signs of stopping.”
According to the report, the speedometer was stuck at approximately 52 mph on the 2007 Dodge Ram. The scene was marked with paint and photos were taken in case further investigation is required.
PSE&G responded to the scene and both vehicles were removed by Sisbarro Towing.
You must be logged in to post a comment.