Driver Killed In Accident On Deadly N.J. Highway

A deadly New Jersey highway has claimed yet another life. One person is dead after crashing his car into a tree on Route 55 north at mile marker 21.3 in Maurice River Township just before 8 a.m. Friday morning, state police said.

The driver, 31-year-old Kenneth Fulgham of Woodbury Heights, lost control of his car and veered off the road into a wooded area, police said. His Toyota Corolla struck a tree, and he was pronounced dead on the scene. He was the lone occupant of the vehicle, and no other cars were involved in the crash.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation. The road was closed for about three hours while the scene was cleared.

The accident came one week after a man was killed after being hit by two cars on the same road, in Maurice River Township. Laron Washington Jr., 22, was killed near mile marker 20.8 in the early morning hours of May 26, according to nj.com.

At least six people - including a former Miss New Jersey - were killed in 2016 on Route 55. The accidents included:

• Cara McCollum, a 24-year-old news anchor for SNJ Today and a former Miss N.J., died earlier this year after her car ran off northbound Route 55 and hit several trees in Pittsgrove, said New Jersey State Police.
• A woman died in January in Gloucester County in a crash on Route 55 northbound at mile marker 47, police said.
• A prisoner transport van crashed into a truck on Route 55 in January, killing one inmate and injuring three other people, New Jersey State Police said.
• A 31-year-old man was killed in April when his pickup truck flipped on Route 55, police said.
• State Trooper Frankie Williams and one other person were killed in a head-on crash in December.

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