Saturday, February 14, 2015

TWO WOMEN SURVIVE 60-FOOT SUV FALL FROM NEW JERSEY HACKENSACK RIVER BRIDGE WHEN THE SUV HIT A SNOW BANK AND BECAME AIRBORNE. SPEED WAS A FACTOR. SLOW DOWN DURING WINTER TIME, YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT.





Elizabeth Wolthoff, 23, of Bergenfield, apparently swerved to avoid hitting a truck on the Route 80 Hackensack River bridge Friday morning, causing her Toyota Rav4 to hit a snowbank, become airborne and plunge to the ground below. She and passenger Rebecca Winslow, 25, had to be cut from the vehicle by firefighters, but they were alive and coherent, according to reports.

FEBRUARY 13, 2015

HACKENSACK, NEW JERSEY:
Two women survived a 60-foot death-defying dive when their SUV plunged from a New Jersey bridge Friday morning, according to reports.

The driver, Elizabeth Wolthoff, 23, of Bergenfield, apparently swerved to avoid hitting a truck on the Route 80 Hackensack River bridge around 7 a.m., NJ.com reported.

Wolthoff’s Toyota Rav4 hit a snowbank, went airborne and plummeted to the ground below, police told the website.

Miraculously, the car landed upright, in an empty lot just 20 feet from the nearby frozen river.

“When the (SUV) hit the snowbank, it acted almost like a ramp and catapulted that vehicle right over the wall of the highway,” Hackensack Police Director Michael Mordaga told NJ.com.

Arriving firefighters found Wolthoff and passenger Rebecca Winslow, 25, trapped inside the crumpled car, according to officials.

First responders had to cut the pair from the mangled vehicle, and they were amazed to find the women alive.

“You're thinking the worst-case scenario, but you”re hoping for the best,” said city fire Lt. Justin Derevyanik to the website. “They were completely coherent. They just kept asking how long it was going to be to get them out.”

The women were taken to Hackensack University Medical Center to be treated for neck and back pain, according to authorities.

Diane Wolthoff, Elizabeth's mother, told NJ.com her daughter was undergoing back surgery and suffered several broken bones.

“They were really lucky,” Wolthoff said. “I was blessed today.”

The crash remained under investigation, although in similar accidents speed has been the main factor.  If the driver was going slower, she should not have become airborne.   

As we always advice, it is better to go late in your destination, than to go in a hurry in your final destination.