Teens ‘horsing around’ in car led to crash, police say

Fairfield Police say a group of teens horsing around in a vehicle resulted in a crash on the evening of Dec. 26.

In a press release on the police department's website, Deputy Chief Anthony Manna said the accident happened at about 8:35 p.m. Police were notified that a vehicle had "left the roadway while traveling on Route 46 east near mile maker 53."

When police arrived at the scene they found a 2012 Huyundai "sandwiched between a Chevrolet Blazer and a dump truck" on the rear of a property on Fairfield Road. The vehicle was being driven by a 17-year-old male from Pompton Lakes. In addition, theere were three passengers including 16-year-old Pompton Lakes boy and two 16-year-old girls from Boonton.

"Investigation revealed that the males were allegedly fooling around when the front seat passenger grabbed the steering wheel, forcing the driver to lose control of the vehicle and leave the roadway," Manna said.

The car veered off the road, sliding onto a grassy area where it struck two snow plow blades that were on the ground before stopping between the Blazer and the dump truck.

All four teens managed to get out of the car before police arrived. They all complained of pain and were evaluated by crews from the West Essex First Aid Squad, but all of them refused further medical attention and transport to a local hospital.

The teen driver, who has a provisional driver's license, was issued a careless driving summons. He was also cited for having too many passengers in the car as a provisional driver and for failing to make sure that the passengers were wearing seat belts.

“The fact that no one was seriously injured in this incident is truly a holiday miracle, however, the accident only accentuates the reason why regulations are placed on provisional drivers and just how serious the operation of a motor vehicle actually is," Manna said.

Toniann Antonelli is the digital managing editor at NJ 101.5. Reach her at toniann.antonelli@townsquaremedia.com, or on Twitter @ToniRadio1015.