Street Lamp Crashes Into Car After Driver Backs Into Pole

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) - A giant street light fixture crashed through a car window in South Brunswick, New Jersey this week, and while no one was hurt, there were questions as to how it could even happen.

The incident took place at around 2 p.m. Tuesday on Somerset Court in South Brunswick.

The driver told CBS2's Ali Bauman she was backing up and tapped the lamp post, causing the lamp to plunge through the rear window of her car.

"It directly fell down. I don't know if it was just bad luck," Anu Brasher told Bauman. "I think that maybe that car touched that pole a little bit, and the loose thing fell down."

Brasher was driving alone to pick up extra homework from her daughter's tutor at the time and was not hurt – there was not even damage to the bumper. But as the mother of three examined the broken glass on the back seats of her car, she wondered what would have happened if her daughters had been inside.

She called the incident "very dangerous."

Brasher said backing out her driveway is a maneuver she's made almost every day for the past 12 years. She claims she wasn't going fast, and didn't even realize she had hit the pole.

"You can see the lamp is still at 90 degrees -- it not bended or anything -- so what I feel is maybe that thing was loose," Brasher said.

Bauman tried shaking the same post next to it. That light also seemed loose.

CBS2 set out to find out who checks the posts and how often. The property management office said over the phone that the light posts are "maintained by PSE&G in their entirety -- we have nothing to do with them."

Bauman also wanted to know if the town had any safety regulations to make sure more of the lamps don't fall. The deputy mayor and town managers were out, so Bauman went to the Public Works Department, whose representative said posts on private developments are not their responsibility.

"If there's a problem or if they're out, they call PSE&G," she said. "Nobody goes around for any kind of maintenance program."

PSE&G later told CBS2 the post was installed two months ago and "PSE&G does not survey its outdoor lighting facilities."

"In the future, I'll take more caution when backing up," Brasher said.

But with shaky safety regulations, Bauman reported, cautious driving only goes so far.

PSE&G said it does not consider the post dangerous, and will reinstall the lamp as well as check on nearby poles.