the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ramsey NJ, according to Ramsey Police Chief Bryan Gurneya a 20-year-old Mahwah man died Thursday after being struck twice on Route 17 in Ramsey.
The crash had shut down part of Route 17 north Thursday morning.
Erik Eidner was struck at around 1 a.m., first by a bobtail truck, and then again by another vehicle near the Wendy’s on Route 17 north.
Eidner was born in Ridgefield and went to Mahwah High School, where he was a varsity wrestler.
Benjamin Wagman, the wrestling coach at Mahwah, posted a message of remembrance under Eidner’s online obituary.
“Erik, you will always be part of the Mahwah wrestling family,” Wagman wrote. “I still remember your first varsity win against Old Tappan. While as a team we didn’t win, everyone was going nuts when you pinned your opponent.”
I am sorry for this young mans life being taken so young but I don’t understand why he would be walking in the highway as if he had a death wish. This is the fifth person that I have come across or that I read or hear about walking in highways in the wee hours of the night. I just don’t get it. More traumatic is for the drivers out there that don’t see them in time to stop and have to live with the guilt of taking a life not with intent to do so. In my field of work I have seen these reports and investigation photos of the scene of accident and I cannot comprehend the mind of the individual who puts themeslves in harms way by choice. I just don’t get it. May this young mans RIP.