Teenage driver killed in crash had no license

A 16-year-old boy killed early yesterday in a violent Camden County car crash was driving without a license in a borrowed car when he slammed into a tree, authorities said.

Matthew Hart, 16, of Lumberton, was too young to be driving legally in New Jersey, police said.

Why Hart was at the wheel after midnight, 30 miles from his home, continued to puzzle investigators last night.

The freshman at Rancocas Valley Regional High School was speeding down Route 130 at 1 a.m. in a Mercury Mystique when he lost control of the car and slid sideways across three lanes of southbound traffic in Brooklawn.

The car became airborne after striking a curb and smashed into a tree near Haakon Road, said Sgt. Steven Saymon, spokesman for the Brooklawn police.

Hart, who was wearing a seat belt, had to be cut free by rescue workers. He was taken to Cooper University Hospital in Camden where he later died.

"Initially we didn't know who the victim was," Saymon said. "He wasn't carrying any driving credentials."

Police called the vehicle's owners, who rushed to the hospital. Once there, they were shocked to learn the driver was not their son, Saymon said.

They identified the dead boy as Hart, their son's best friend.

Police did not know how Hart had gotten the car.

Because the teenagers had been out together earlier in the evening, police returned to the crash site to scour the area for the other boy.

"We had to make sure there was no possibility of ejection," Saymon said, adding the father called police later to say his son was all right and had not been in the crash. Hart's family told police they did not know why their son would have been in Camden County.

An autopsy was performed yesterday and the results of toxicology tests are pending, Saymon said.

"We have no indication there were any drugs or alcohol involved," he said. "Without being an expert, I'd think speed appears to have been a factor in the crash, along with him being unfamiliar with the area, and just inexperienced."

Skid marks visible in the three-lane road trace a 40-yard path from the left lane to a curb about 20 yards from the tree Hart struck.

In New Jersey, 16-year-olds with a student learner's permit cannot legally drive without a supervising adult in the vehicle.

The state Motor Vehicle Commission had no record of Hart and was unable to confirm the boy had been granted a learner's permit, spokesman Kevin Cranston said.

Even when accompanied by an adult, a learner cannot legally drive between 11:01 p.m. and 5 a.m., Cranston said.