By Matthew Sockol
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – A 17-year-old girl from Marlboro was ticketed for careless driving after the vehicle she was operating struck a utility pole on Route 9 and caused utility poles on both sides of the state highway to collapse.
The accident at 5:48 p.m. July 21 brought northbound and southbound traffic to a standstill on Route 9 and subsequently led to traffic jams on local roads that lasted for several hours.
Freehold Township Police Sgt. Scot Hall said the teenager was driving a Honda Odyssey north on Route 9 when her vehicle struck a utility pole. The accident occurred just north of the traffic light at the highway’s intersection with Route 33/Manalapan Avenue.
The sergeant said there was a 13-year-old girl in the front passenger seat and an 11-year-old girl in the back seat of the Honda.
Hall said the collision with the utility pole on Route 9 north caused utility poles to collapse on both sides of the highway. Three vehicles on the northbound side and one vehicle on the southbound side were damaged by wires that came down from the utility poles, and the Honda flipped on its roof, he reported.
Freehold Township police responded to the scene and both sides of Route 9 were closed as employees from Verizon and Jersey Central Power & Light worked to repair the downed utility lines. The Freehold First Aid and Emergency Squad and the East Freehold Fire Company also responded to the scene.
Route 9 was reopened at 9:53 p.m. and police officers remained on the scene until 10:48 p.m.
Two vehicles on the northbound side, including the Honda Odyssey, were towed from the scene. Hall said the 17-year-old driver had minor abrasions and the 13-year-old girl had minor lacerations, but both refused medical treatment.
Hall said the teenage driver was issued summonses for careless driving and for violating her probationary license by having more than one passenger in her vehicle.
