Deadly SUV crash into tree along Route 70; driver not wearing seat belt
MANCHESTER — A 60-year-old woman was killed on Route 70 Thursday afternoon after her car drifted across the road and smashed into a utility pole and tree.
Capt. Todd Malland said Lynda Brown, of Brick, was not wearing a seatbelt when her westbound 2012 Ford Escape crossed the center line near Beckerville Road.
Police said the car went off the shoulder on the eastbound side and landed in the woods. The front and side curtain airbags deployed.
Brown was declared dead at the scene.
A cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Route 70 was closed for several hours for an initial investigation.
It is the third fatal crash on Route 70 in 2020, according to State Police fatal accident statistics. One person was killed in a crash on Route 70 in Toms River near Route 9 on Feb. 28 and another on Oct. 11 in Pemberton Township near Route 72.
Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ