EAST BRUNSWICK - New Jersey State Police are investigating an accident on Saturday night which killed a 29-year-old Hamilton man when his motorcycle collided with a four car pile-up on the New Jersey Turnpike.
According to State Police spokesperson Sgt. Philip Curry, the accident occurred at 10:17 p.m. on the southbound side of the turnpike on the outer roadway at milepost 78.8.
The preliminary investigation found that a Mitsubishi Outlander was traveling south in the area of milepost 78.7 when the driver attempted to avoid debris in the roadway and lost control of the vehicle. That first vehicle was involved in a single car collision and became disabled partially in the left lane and left shoulder.
The Mitsubishi was then struck by a Toyota which became disabled partially in the center lane and left lane, Curry said.
The Toyota was then struck by a BMW X3. This was followed by a BMW 330i which encountered the disabled three vehicles in its path of travel and it came to a stop in the left lane.
Tyler Ford was operating a Suzuki GSX-R600 motorcycle directly behind the BMW 330i. The Suzuki struck the left driver side of the BMW 330i and the right side of the Mitsubishi. Ford was ejected from the vehicle during the collision sequence and sustained fatal injuries, Curry said.
No additional injuries were reported on scene, he added.
The left and center lanes of the southbound outer roadway were closed for approximately three hours resulting in minimal traffic congestion.
The crash remains under investigation, Curry said.