New Jersey (NewYorkInjuryNews.com) — New Jersey police said that a man from Warren County died on his 59th birthday due to a car accident involving only one car in the Old Bridge off the Parkway of Garden State. The man has been identified as Michael Panter from Greenwich.
According to Sgt. Stephen Jones, at about 10:30 pm, the victim lost control of his car while driving in the north-bound lane near the milepost 121.6. A rail struck Panter’s left shoulder after which he crossed 3 lanes, and careened 150 feet in the woods where his car got over-turned and he was partially ejected out of the driver window, said police. Maureen, his wife, who was also sitting in the vehicle, was thrown out through the car’s sunroof.
The police said that Panter was pronounced dead on the scene. His wife, Maureen, was taken to the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick by way of a Northstar helicopter. The police said that the physicians treated her for compound fractures in her leg and declared her condition to be stable. The Fatal Accident & Crime scene unit of the state police also acted in response to this accident. The circumstances causing the accident are still being investigated.
Until the next morning, the details about the crash were quite sketchy and blurred. The local north bound lanes were closed down and the traffic was slowed down in the express lanes, however, the traffic of south-bound lanes remained unaffected. There have been estimates that possibly the man had a heart attack behind the steering wheel due to which he lost control of the car, the vehicle went off the road and flipped over. It is conjectured that he might have died at the wheel.