GWB fully reopens after truck crash, monster traffic jam
FORT LEE (WABC) -- The truck driver who died Thursday morning on the George Washington Bridge in a collision between two tractor trailers has been identified.
According to the Port Authority, Joao DaPonta, 59, of North Plainfield, N.J., died when his truck crashed into one in front of him. Around 2 a.m. just east of the New Jersey tower, the tractor trailer driven by DaPonta and registered to a company in North Brunswick, N.J., smashed into the back of another truck on the upper westbound span near the New York tower side.
The driver of the other truck, a 63-year-old man, was taken to Englewood Hospital for evaluation, then treated and released. He plans to return home to North Carolina. The truck he was driving, a 2011 Kenworth, was registered to Daryl Trucking in Siler City, N.C. No other injuries were reported.
The investigation will include accident reconstruction, weighing and measurements, and determining whether the driver who died suffered a medical condition and lost control. The rear driver was hauling the electronics, and the surviving driver was hauling poultry.
The wreck resulted in an hours-long traffic jam for thousands of commuters.
Officials reopened one eastbound upper lane several hours after the accident, but the other three lanes remain closed while officials worked to separate the trucks, remove the victim's body and clear the scene. The vehicles remained at the scene for nearly nine hours, mostly due to the fact that the two tractor-trailers were fully intertwined with each other.
After the trucks were towed, Port Authority crews sanded the roadway before it could be reopened.
Traffic leading up to the location also was at a standstill and at one point hadn't moved at all for hours near the Fort Lee toll plaza. Authorities closed the southbound Palisades Interstate Parkway at exit 2; the approach reopened around 11 a.m. Delays at the Lincoln and Holland tunnels grew to as long as 45 minutes as the full morning rush got underway.
Once the bridge's lower lanes and westbound lanes were open, drivers were warned to expect major delays around the toll plaza. Even though traffic on the roadway was moving, drivers reported delays of up to three hours on the various approaches to the bridge.
According to the New York City Fire Department, DaPonta was dead when they arrived. That truck, a 2012 Volvo, is registered to Hermann Leasing in North Brunswick, N.J. Hermann had no comment.
A spokeswoman for the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission said that Daponta was in good standing with the commission. He held the highest endorsement for a commercial vehicle available in New Jersey. In total, he has had 10 accidents, and had received a violation for only one, according to commission records that go back to 1995.
Minutes before the fatal crash, a driver abruptly stopped his car in traffic on the westbound upper level, near the New York tower side. He then ran to the railing and jumped over. His body has not been recovered.
He is the ninth suicide on the GWB this year.
Investigators will now talk to the driver of the first tractor trailer to determine if the suicide is related to the crash.
