Distracted Trucker Eating Sandwich Rear-Ends Car on New Jersey Highway: Police

An alleged distracted trucker eating a sandwich plowed into the back of a car on a New Jersey highway Tuesday morning, injuring the driver and causing that vehicle to crash into another car, police say.

The tractor-trailer carrying U.S. mail was traveling southbound on Route 1 in South Brunswick when traffic slowed, and it rear-ended a 2013 Toyota, according to police. 

The Toyota was sent flying into another lane, hitting a 2013 BMW that was forced off the road onto the grass shoulder, police said.

The driver of the Toyota was taken to the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro for neck and back pain. The BMW driver did not appear to be seriously injured. 

The 43-year-old truck driver from Delaware told police he was traveling about 35 to 40 miles per hour when he took his eyes off the road to eat a sandwich, and didn't realized traffic had stopped when he ran into the back of the Toyota. 

The truck driver was issued a summons for careless driving and following too closely.

One lane of Route 1 was closed for about a half-hour while the crash was cleared.

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