Photos: Driver Critical After SUV Slams Into Route 17 Sign Pole In Paramus

PARAMUS, N.J. -- A driver was hospitalized in critical condition after wrapping his SUV around a sign pole Sunday afternoon outside a southbound Route 17 store.

"The seat belt must have saved him."
Photo Credit: *DAILY VOICE PHOTO: Roy Zarokyan*

The driver was hospitalized in critical condition, police told Daily Voice.
Photo Credit: *DAILY VOICE PHOTO: Chad Seligman*

The aftermath.
Photo Credit: *DAILY VOICE PHOTO: Kimberly Raffaele*

The SUV wrapped around the sign pole.
Photo Credit: *DAILY VOICE PHOTO: Chad Seligman*

Jerry DeMarco

04/24/2016 10:30 p.m.

"He was unconcious but breathing," Roy Zarokyan of Ramsey told Daily Voice after the 2:11 p.m. crash between A&S Drive and Midland Avenue. "He had a nasty gash on his head.

"He had his seatbelt on -- it must've saved him."

The driver was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center in critical condition, Police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg told Daily Voice. His identity was being withheld pending next-of-kin notification.

All lanes of southbound Route 17 were closed at A&S Drive for several hours.

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