Three people were killed and two others are hospitalized after a horrific one-car accident in Hillside, N.J.
The car crashed around 2:30 a.m. Saturday on Route 22 East near the Hillside-Newark border, police said.
The car, which was traveling around 100 miles per hour, took a curve and the driver lost control, police said. The car flipped over and smashed into the pole of a billboard sign, splitting the vehicle into pieces.
According to police, 22-year-old driver Luis Dossantos of East Newark and a still unidentified front seat passenger were both killed. The three people sitting in the backseat were ejected from the car. Robson Pinheiro, 21, of Kearny was killed. The two other backseat passengers are at University Hospital in Newark with serious injuries.
"There is some evidence to believe that excessive speed was the cause of the accident,” Hillside Police Chief Robert Quinlan said. Route 22 is notorious for accidents.
The car came to rest near a cross, candles and flowers that were left as a memorial to another recent accident victim on that road.
Hillside police have requested in recent years that state DOT officials do more to enforce slower driving in the area. The speed limit in the area is 45 miles per hour.
"We have asked the State of New Jersey several times to put more warnings down there. As of yet, we haven’t seen that happen. We would like to see specifically flashing signals,” Quinlan said.
