Four accidents lead to one mess on Route 287

Four separate accidents led to one mess of traffic on Route 287 in Edison on Wednesday morning.

New Jersey State Police Lt. Brian Polite said the chain reaction of crashes began with a hit and run accident at 5:30 a.m. when two cars collided at the bottom of the ramp from the New Jersey Turnpike onto northbound Route 287; one of the cars left the scene.

The second accident was about 100 feet behind when one car side swiped a Ford sedan according to Polite. A box truck came up behind them and struck the Ford; the other car involved with the second accident also took off said Polite. The fourth accident involved a Chevrolet Suburban SUV hitting the box truck.

The driver of the box truck was taken to JFK Hospital in Edison for back pain while the driver and passenger in the Suburban were hospitalized for minor injuries.

Polite said that a plow did come in for additional removal of snow from the area but an investigation into whether or not conditions played a factor in the accident continues. Meteorologist Dan Zarrow said the temperature in the area was "way above freezing this morning."

Cleanup and investigation of the accident kept several lanes closed until about 8:50 a.m. The approaches to Route 287 from the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike were backed up for several miles for much of the morning commute.