Eight hospitalized after near deadly Ridgewood traffic collision

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Police are investigating a traffic collision that occurred late Saturday night at the intersection of North Pleasant and East Ridgewood avenues. According to witnesses, the driver of a blue Scion lost control of the vehicle while speeding along East Ridgewood. After careening into a yard, the car struck a fire box and bush before crashing into a minivan waiting at a red light on North Pleasant Avenue. Several of the injured people were admitted to Hackensack University Medical Center immediately following the car accident. The posted speed limit on East Ridgewood Avenue is 25 m.p.h. However, residents of the area claim that vehicles frequently travel through the area late at night driving 40, 50, or even 60 miles per hour. Residents also point to the inevitability of the accident, citing "weekly fender benders" and several injurious crashes in the past several months. Emergency vehicles were immediately dispatched to Saturday's traffic accident, and the fire department was forced to extract one person from a vehicle involved in the crash. East Ridgewood Avenue was closed for several hours as emergency workers assisted those at the scene. None of the injuries were life threatening, with one adult complaining of a knee injury and bleeding from his head. Multiple children were traveling in the minivan, but none of them were reported injured at the scene. No charges have been filed against the driver of the blue Scion, and police are reluctant to release details of the car accident until the ongoing investigation has concluded. Source: Ridgewood Patch, "Update: Out-of-Control Vehicle Slams Into Minivan, Sending Eight to Hospital," James Kleinmann, Sep 18, 2011.