Three die in state's first snow storm of the season

Sussex County - New Jersey roadways made treacherous by a mix of snow and freezing rain early Sunday claimed the lives of three and had police up and down the state scrambling to keep up with hundreds of minor collisions being reported. Numerous accidents, mostly spinouts with minor injuries, were being reported along the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway, as well as secondary and local roads around the state. State police spokesman Steve Jones said troopers in the northern third of the state had been called to 100 accidents by noon Sunday. Slick, snowy roads made driving hazardous well into Sunday, as the first measurable snowfall of the season blanked the state. The speed limit remained a reduced 45 mph along the entire length of the Turnpike Sunday. ``People really overestimate their ability to drive in these conditions,’’ Turnpike spokesman Joe Orlando said, urging drivers to heed reduced speed limits. Three people died in two separate single-car accidents overnight. Two people in Hamilton Township, Atlantic County, died after the vehicle in which they were riding lost control and hit a tree at about 4 a.m., Jones said. Two other people in that vehicle were hurt in the crash along the Atlantic City Expressway. The names of the dead and injured were not immediately available. The third fatality happened an hour earlier in Bordentown. A driver who lost control of his vehicle on the Turnpike died after getting out of his car and being hit by another vehicle, said Turnpike spokesman Joe Orlando. Jones said the driver, whose identity had not been made public, was standing on the right side of his vehicle, which had become disabled on the left shoulder. A charter bus carrying 25 passengers skidded off the Turnpike in South Brunswick about 9 a.m. Sunday. The driver was thrown through the window, but did not suffer life-threatening injuries, Jones said. Five passengers suffered minor injuries. The bus, which hit a guardrail and was leaning on its side, was towed from the roadway around noon, after a replacement bus arrived to pick up passengers who weren’t hospitalized by the mishap, Orlando said. Orlando said the Turnpike remains slick, even though maintenance crews worked throughout the night salting it. Plows are ineffective unless there is at least 2 inches of snow has fallen, he said. Snowfall totals varied widely from trace amounts in Atlantic City to a high of 4 inches reported in Ewing Township, Mercer County. The average snowfall statewide was 2 inches, according to the National Weather Service in Mount Holly. The mid section of the state saw about 3 inches of snow; totals in northwest New Jersey varied from 1 to 3 inches; and the southern counties saw 0 to 2 inches. Forecasters advise Garden State residents to keep their snow shovels handy. A front scheduled to arrive Monday night is expected to bring more white stuff with it, though weather-watchers aren’t ready to predict how much yet.