Driver Fatigue May Have Led to Fatal Single-car Crash on Route 70

Manchester Police say driver fatigue may have been a contributing factor to a fatal single-vehicle crash involving a Jeep Wrangler on Route 70 around 2:00 am Saturday morning.

Officers found the Jeep overturned in the wooded area near mile marker 35.5 along the left lane and shoulder of the highway.

Margaret Palilonis, 22, of Woolwich Township was heading west on Route 70, police said, when she veered off road and onto the shoulder where she drove along a grassy area, was able to get back on the road and re-entered the roadway but as she did the vehicle overturned multiple times before coming to rest on the other side of the road.

Palilonis was then ejected from her vehicle and suffered fatal injuries as a result of the crash.

Police said that Palilonis was also not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.

The crash is currently under investigation by Ptl. Michael Anderson of the Manchester Township Police Department’s Traffic Safety Unit but police add that their preliminary information has determined that driver fatigue was a contributing factor to the cause of the crash.

Manchester Police were joined on scene by firefighters from both the Whiting Volunteer and the Joint Base Fire Departments, EMTs from the Manchester Township Division of Emergency Services and paramedics from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital as well as detectives from the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigations Unit and the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office.