Carneys Point Township, NJ — October 19, 2025, Yaakov Kilberg, Aharon Lebovits, Shlomo Cohen and Chaim Grossman were killed in a truck accident at about 12:40 a.m. on the New Jersey Turnpike.
Authorities said a Dodge pickup was driving the wrong way near mile marker 1.3 when it collided head-on with a Mazda SUV. The SUV subsequently was hit by a Freightliner semi-truck.
Mazda driver Yaakov Kilberg, 19, and passengers Aharon Lebovits, 18; Shlomo Cohen, 18; and Chaim Grossman, 18, were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, according to authorities.
The pickup driver was seriously injured in the crash, while the truck driver was not hurt, authorities said.
Authorities have not released any additional information about the Salem County crash at this time. The accident is still under investigation.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
When people hear about a wrong-way crash on the highway involving a semi-truck, one of the first questions they naturally ask is: How does something like this even happen? The reports say a Dodge pickup was traveling the wrong way on the New Jersey Turnpike when it struck an SUV head-on, which was then hit by a Freightliner 18-wheeler. That sequence leaves us with several unanswered questions, and depending on the details, responsibility could lie in more places than most folks might expect.
The most obvious question is: How did the wrong-way driver end up in that position in the first place? Was it driver error, intoxication or confusion due to poor signage or road layout? None of that is clear from the available information. But even once we get those answers, there’s still a lot more that needs to be understood, especially about the role of the 18-wheeler.
We know the Freightliner hit the SUV after the initial head-on crash. What we don’t know is how quickly the truck arrived on the scene, what the driver saw and how they responded. Was the truck following too closely? Could the driver have swerved or slowed in time to avoid a second impact? Depending on whether the truck struck a disabled vehicle in the road or plowed into an already chaotic scene, the legal implications are very different.
Getting answers to those questions requires real evidence, starting with the truck’s engine control module (ECM), which logs data about speed, braking and throttle in the moments before a crash. If the truck had in-cab cameras, they could show what the driver saw and how quickly they reacted. And if the driver was on their cell phone or distracted at the time, phone records will reveal it. Without that kind of forensic investigation, we’re all just guessing.
That’s why it’s not enough to assume the trucker was just a bystander to someone else’s mistake. I’ve handled cases where a truck driver appeared uninvolved at first glance, only for the data to show that they were speeding, distracted or not properly trained to handle emergency situations. In one case, the truck driver involved had bounced around from job to job, fired repeatedly for safety issues, and yet was still put back on the road by a company that chose to ignore those red flags. The crash in that case didn’t just come down to one person’s bad judgment. It reflected failures at every level of hiring, training and supervision.
To be clear, none of that may apply here, but until investigators review the available data and dig into the background of the drivers and the companies involved, it’s impossible to know.
Key Takeaways:
- The cause of the pickup’s wrong-way driving is still unknown and central to understanding this crash.
- It’s unclear whether the truck driver could have avoided hitting the SUV; black box data and dashcam footage will be key.
- Even if a truck hits a vehicle already involved in a crash, its role must still be carefully evaluated.
- Cell phone records, ECM data and hiring records can uncover factors not visible at the crash scene.
- Getting accountability means going beyond surface-level facts to see what the full evidence reveals.
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