Train Hits Truck: 3rd Accident This Winter At Cedar Ave. Crossing

MIDDLESEX BOROUGH, NJ — For the third time in a little over a month, there was an incident at the Cedar Avenue railroad crossing in Middlesex borough: This time, an NJ Transit train struck the back of a truck Tuesday morning.

The accident happened at 6:35 a.m. Tuesday, when the Raritan Valley line train hit the truck, tearing open the back. Nobody was injured in the accident, said a spokesman for NJ Transit, who provided that photo above.

The rear of the trucks was on the tracks when it was hit, said NJ Transit spokesman Jim Smith.

However, this is the third time now in just over a month where a train hit something — be it a car, truck or person — on the tracks at the Cedar Avenue rail crossing. The Cedar Avenue crossing is where the NJ Transit tracks cross over Cedar Avenue/Possumtown Road in Middlesex borough.

The Raritan Valley line and freight trains use those tracks, so there are two sets of tracks there with a patch of asphalt in between. The asphalt is big enough for a car to fit on. There are gates that come down and warning signs when trains are passing through.

However, a resident in the area said it is very easy for cars to get stuck in the middle piece of asphalt, especially when traffic is backed up — such as during the morning and evening commute.

Three people were killed in the other two incidents:

On Jan. 22, a 17-year-old teen from Middlesex borough was hit by a train while walking on the train tracks at Cedar Avenue. He was hit at 11:10 p.m. by a Raritan Valley line train.

On Jan. 3, two women were killed when an NJ Transit train hit their car directly while it was on the tracks. Both women, New Brunswick and Middlesex borough residents, were killed. Florence Obado, 73, of New Brunswick was the driver of the car. Her passenger was Susan Mazurek, 44, of Middlesex borough. That fatal accident happened just past 8 a.m. on a Friday.

In that instance, an NJ Transit spokeswoman said their car went around a "no crossing" gate while it was down.

In January 2011, a man driving a tractor trailer was killed after his trailer was hit by a Norfolk Southern freight train at the Cedar Ave. rail crossing, according to MyCentralJersey.

"I heard a loud bang," local resident Harry Zierdt told News 12 about Tuesday morning's crash. "That's not the first time I heard that here. It's a very busy intersection and very dangerous between the light and the tracks here."

Ongoing Patch coverage of the Cedar Avenue rail crossing:

Middlesex Boro Teen ID'd As Person Killed By Train (Jan. 24, 2020)

Women In Car Killed By NJ Transit Train Identified (Jan. 3, 2020)