NJ Transit bus driver dies in road mishap

MAPELWOOD, NJ — An NJ Transit bus driver died hours after a head-on crash with a garbage truck on February 19 in Maplewood.

The No. 25 bus driver, Larry Wiley, 65, was pronounced dead shortly before 6 pm at University Hospital in Newark, where he was initially undergoing emergency surgery.

The garbage truck driver and three passengers were being treated for non life-threatening injuries at University Hospital, according to the prosecutor.

Officials did not immediately release more details about the investigation, which was being handled by local police and the prosecutor’s office crash and fire Investigative unit.

An autopsy was planned to determine the cause of the driver’s death, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Wiley was the sole occupant of the bus when it was involved in a crash with the truck around 12:35 pm near the Hilton bus facility on Springfield Avenue, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert Laurino said in a statement.