Union County authorities are actively investigating the official cause of a collision that killed a Middlesex County man on a highway that borders Elizabeth and Newark Saturday morning.
According to a preliminary statement released by Elizabeth Spokeswoman Kelly Martins, the confirmed head-on crash happened in the northbound lanes of Route 1&9 just before 7:25 a.m.
Spokeswoman Martins said the driver of a 2020 Chevy Silverado was driving southbound in the northbound lanes when he slammed into a two-door 2005 Honda Civic fatally injuring the driver Mr. Punkaj Shama, 29, of South Plainfield.
Spokeswoman Martins said the driver of the Silverado told police that his Waze navigator system advised him to stay left at the fork in the road at the McClellan Street bridge, which apparently put him on the wrong side of the highway.
”There have been no charges or arrests at this time but the Port Authority Police issued the driver the following citations: reckless driving, driving the wrong way and driving while suspended”, spokeswoman Martins said.
”Drugs and alcohol did not seem to be a factor but police are waiting on blood results”.
There were no other injuries reported.
**CORRECTION NOTE:** During our original report on Saturday, we misstated the location of the collision after Elizabeth officials reported that the crash did not occur in the city but referred us to The Essex County Prosecutors Office. A spokeswoman for Essex confirmed the fatality but later said it was a Union County incident. The crash was just at the border of both counties. We apologize for the confusion.