Sheriff: Speed seems to be cause of deadly Route 3 crash in North Bergen

NORTH BERGEN, N.J. (WABC) -- Three people were killed when their car careened off a highway in New Jersey early Thursday.

The vehicle went off Route 3 at the Interstate 495 merge in North Bergen around 5:40 a.m.

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"A little bit disturbed. It's not the first time it happened," said Jose Garcia, a Passaic resident.

For those who commute and work along Route 3 in North Bergen, they've seen a crash like this one too many times.

Police say a Mercedes Benz station wagon took the curve too fast just before 6 a.m. Thursday, flew in the air, hit a pole, and split apart.

"At this time we believe that speed was an attributing cause to the crash. Our accident reconstruction team has determined that the vehicle, a white Mercedes station wagon, struck the guard rail on the merge of Route 3 East bound and 495 sending the vehicle into the air. It landed on the driver's side door and slide approx. 153 feet before striking a light pole. The car broke into pieces after striking the light pole. The matter is still under investigation at this time," the Hudson County Sheriff said in a statement.

The same thing happened twice last year, in August three men in a Dodge Charger were killed and in September, a 25-year-old man in an SUV died.

"It reminds me of the exact same thing last year. Last year, three people died, this one's a little worse," said Mondo Pagnozzi, a Lyndhurst resident.

An early morning commuter took a picture of the sun rising over the accident scene where three people died. She was so shaken she talked to her co-workers about it.

"She was in the bus going to work and she saw the police covering some bodies," Garcia said.

Two of the victims have been named; 34-year-old Miguel Barreto of Massachusetts and 32-year-old Margarita Santiago of Passaic, NJ.

Police say the station wagon first hit the guard rail, then a light pole, before it broke apart.

"I got to work at 5 and around 6, I saw all the traffic and fire department and the police department around 6 o'clock," said Marco Cardoza, a New York City resident.

"That's one tragedy man, three people dead, can't even tell what kind of car was it. My prayers go out to the family," said Wilson Rojas, a Weehawken resident.

The victims were pronounced dead at the scene.

Eastbound lanes of Route 3 were closed for the morning commute, snarling traffic for hours.