Two teenagers were fooling around and one seized the steering wheel, causing the car to veer off the road and land between two unoccupied vehicles, police said.
FAIRFIELD -- A car veered off Route 46 Saturday night when two teenagers were fooling around and one grabbed the steering wheel, police said.
Police found the 2012 Hyundai sandwiched between an unoccupied Chevrolet Blazer and a vacant dump truck on the rear property of 47 Fairfield Road around 8:35 p.m., said Dep. Chief Anthony Manna.
The car had been traveling east on Route 46 and left the roadway around mile marker 53, Manna said.
The four occupants of the Hyundai got out of the car before police arrived, according to Manna.
He said the car was driven by a 17-year-old male from Pompton Lakes. The other passengers were a 16-year-old male from Pompton Lakes and two 16-year-old females from Boonton, Manna said.
The males were messing around when the front-seat passenger grasped the steering wheel, and the driver lost control of the car, according to Manna. The car then slid on the grass, hit two snow plow blades that were on the ground and came to rest between the Chevrolet Blazer and the dump truck, he said.
The West Essex First Aid Squad responded. All of the car's occupants complained of pain but refused further medical treatment, Manna said.
The driver received a summons for careless driving, for having too many passengers in a car operated by a provisional driver and for a provisional driver not assuring that passengers were wearing seatbelts, Manna said.
"The fact that no one was seriously injured in this incident is truly a holiday miracle," Manna said in a press release. "However, the accident only accentuates the reason why regulations are placed on provisional drivers and just how serious the operation of a motor vehicle actually is."
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