Fatal George Washington Bridge accident backs up traffic

An early morning accident on the George Washington Bridge that killed the driver of a car and injured his passenger had traffic at a standstill for nearly four hours, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey said Wednesday.

A tractor trailer and a car crashed on the upper level at about 5:20 a.m., a Port Authority spokesman said, killing the driver and injuring the passenger. The passenger was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center. Her condition is unknown.

Westbound traffic on the upper level was stalled until about 9:15 a.m., when all lanes were opened, the Port Authority said. The accident backed up lower-level traffic on the bridge too because of the higher volume of vehicles.

Some westbound bridge traffic used a detour at West 181st Street, and trucks were sent to the Tappan Zee and Verrazano bridges.