SUV Flips in 5-Vehicle Accident on 287

Two Massachusetts women suffered minor injuries in a five-car accident involving one minivan, two SUVs and two tractor-trailers at the split of Routes 17 and 287 South Friday afternoon, Mahwah Police said.

The two women were driving a red Toyota minivan off the NYS Thruway South at about 12:47 p.m. Friday when they “apparently decided too late they wanted to continue driving on Route 287 South, not Route 17,” responding Officer Bill Hunt said.

The duo attempted to change lanes from the center lane, and grazed an SUV that was driving on 287 South, Hunt said. They then lost control of the minivan, hit the guardrail and hit a Toyota Rav 4 that was also on the road, causing the Toyota to flip over, Hunt said.

Two tractor-trailers driving down the roadway after the accident then crashed into the cars on each side of the road, leaving the five vehicles strewn across the highway, police said.

The two women suffered only minor injuries, and were transported to Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, N.Y., via Mahwah Ambulance, Hunt said. The driver of the flipped SUV refused medical attention and no one else involved suffered any injuries, police said.

Route 287 South was closed for about an hour Friday afternoon as police and ambulance crews responded to the accident. It reopened shortly before 2 p.m.

The crash is the second on 287 in Mahwah to make headlines this week. Earlier in the week, a double tractor-trailer crash left one driver in critical condition.

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