Motor Vehicle Accident Slows Traffic on Route 202/206 South

Traffic was backed up for hours, but no one was seriously injured, on Route 202/206 South Saturday after a Dodge Durango spun off the road and hit a utility pole around 10:28 a.m., police said.

Melvin Rogers, 51, of New York, told police he was in the right lane when another vehicle cut him off and he lost control of his car, said Bridgewater Township Police Officer Gerard Nunery.

According to Nunery, Rogers' vehicle struck the west side of the curb and went off the roadway, striking a road sign before spinning back across the road and hitting the curb. From there, Nunery said, the vehicle began to spin clockwise and struck a guard rail, before coming to a stop after it hit a utility pole head on.

"He said he lost control of the car," Nunery said. "He had to overcorrect his steering to avoid hitting others."

The pole, Nunery said, snapped at the base but did not fall, and the street sign was knocked down.

"The momentum kept carrying the car, then it hit and went back across the road," he said. "It was swirling around."

A witness, Nunery said, reported seeing the vehicle hit the side of the road and the pole, but did not know what caused the accident.

Nunery said no other vehicles were hit.

According to Nunery, Rogers had cuts to his arm, but was not given medical treatment. Nunery said four of the six passengers in the vehicle were transported to the Somerset Medical Center with cuts.

Traffic remained backed up around the accident site for several hours while everything was cleared.