January 23, 1996 (~estimated)

Icy stretch of road site of 2 crashes

Woman in guarded condition following head-on collision

By John McGourty

Staff Writer

PRINCETON TOWNSHIP — A Hamilton Township woman was thrown from her car yesterday morning following a head-on crash on an icy patch of Route 206 that police said has been a problem area for years.

At the same location during rush hour last night, there was a three-car collision, Lt. Mario Musso said.

As a result, the state will start today on long-promised repairs to the road, Musso said.

Marytrine DeCastro, 22, of Lamont Avenue, Hamilton, was traveling south on Route 206 between Ewing Street and Arreton Road at 7:27 a.m. when her car went out of control on a 112-foot-long ice slick. Her car slid into the northbound lane where it struck head-on a car driven by Doreen P. Stettner, 29, of the 100 block of Hempstead Road, Hamilton.

Both women were taken by the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad to The Medical Center at Princeton. Stettner, who was wearing a seat belt, was treated and released, a hospital spokeswoman said. Musso said DeCastro, who was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown through the rear window of her car. Arriving police cars found her lying in the roadway, he said. She suffered a head injury, Musso said, and was in guarded condition in the intensive-care unit last night, the hospital spokeswoman said.

Sources said DeCastro was scheduled to be married tomorrow. Attempts to reach family members were unsuccessful.

In a second accident at the same location, Samuel S. Mitchell, 43, of the 600 block of Fairhill Avenue, Morrisville, Pa., was southbound on Route 206 at 5:13 p.m. when his car went out of control and crossed into the northbound lane where it struck a glancing blow to a car driven by Delores Jacukowicz, 62. of Somerville. Her car slid into the southbound lane where it was lightly struck in the side by a third car driven by Martin F. Lucash, 32, of Balsam Drive, Lawrence, Musso said.

Mitchell and Jacukowicz were treated at the hospital and released while Lucash said he did not require medical assistance, Musso said.

“We have had a drainage problem there for years and they’ve done various things that have not corrected it,” Musso said. “We don’t know if there is a spring under there or if the ground is simply saturated but the water is bubbling up through the pavement and breaking up the surface. As the cars drive through the water at freezing temperatures, it just increases the length of the ice slick.” He said he talked with state Department of Transportation officials last night and they promised immediate action.