NJ Transit bus driver dies in crash with garbage truck

MAPLEWOOD — An NJ Transit bus driver died on Tuesday after his bus struck a garbage truck head-on.

Driver Larry Wiley, 65, was the only one on board the bus when it struck the garbage truck in front of NJ Transit's Hilton Garage on Springfield Avenue around 12:35 p.m., according to acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert D. Laurino. Wiley was taken into surgery for his injuries at University Hospital in Newark, where he died late in the afternoon.

Laurino said the driver and passengers on the garbage truck were also transported to University Hospital, where they were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

The Prosecutor's Crash and Fire Investigative Unit and the Maplewood Police Department are investigating the cause of the crash, according to Laurino.

"One of the nicest guys I ever met," former ATU/NJ Transit chairman Ray Greaves wrote in a Facebook post. "Today the ATU/NJ Transit family mourns the loss of our brother Larry Wiley. Rest In Peace Larry and may God bring comfort and strength to your family and friends."

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or on Twitter @DanalexanderNJ.

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