A box truck and a sedan ended up at the center of a viral road-rage incident on a New Jersey highway earlier this month, with bystander video appearing to show the truck pushing the smaller vehicle down Route 280. The New Jersey State Police have confirmed the crash, though there are few additional details. The driver of the Infiniti sedan involved suffered minor injuries.
The crash was first reported as a collision between a Peterbilt box truck and an Infiniti passenger car, both heading west on Route 280. State police did not initially describe it as a road-rage incident. Then the video surfaced.
Recorded by another driver and posted to TikTok, the clip drew widespread attention and led to the “road rage” framing that has dominated coverage since. New Jersey State Police have confirmed only what they could describe from the crash scene itself. However, they haven’t announced whether charges have been filed.
What the video shows is not what every crash looks like, of course. The state police can publicly confirm the smaller piece of the encounter, however. There’s a bit of a gap between the accounts that make it hard to believe what may have happened.
What State Police Say Happened
@habibi_ak_201what is going on in New Jersey 😫♬ original sound – habibi a.k. 201
According to New Jersey State Police, troopers responded to a crash on Route 280 westbound near milepost 14.4 at about 9 a.m. on Friday, May 15. A preliminary investigation determined that a Peterbilt box truck and an Infiniti passenger vehicle had both been traveling westbound on the highway and that the truck struck the Infiniti in the area of milepost 14.4, Trooper II Christopher Postorino said. The driver of the Infiniti suffered minor injuries. No other injuries were reported at the scene.
What the Actual Video Shows
A video of the encounter posted on TikTok by user @habibi_ak_201, recorded by a passing driver on Route 280, appears to show the box truck continuing to push the Infiniti sedan down the highway after the initial impact. The video has since been picked up by multiple New Jersey outlets as it’s made its way across the internet. It’s the basis for the road-rage framing that has shaped most of the coverage of the encounter.
New Jersey State Police haven’t characterized the encounter as a road-rage incident in their official statements. They also haven’t publicly named either driver and haven’t said whether any charges have been filed in connection with the crash. Though there aren’t any additional details available at this time, we’ll be sure to update our article as they emerge.