Fatal Interstate 78 accident victim is longtime Lafayette College lacrosse coach

William Lawson, 79, coached Lafayette College lacrosse for 31 years, winning more games than any other lacrosse coach in the school's history.

The winningest lacrosse coach in Lafayette College history died in a car crash this afternoon on Interstate 78 in Hunterdon County.

William Lawson, 79, of Easton, was driving west at 2:54 p.m. when he veered off the right side of the highway in Clinton Township, New Jersey State Police spokesman Sgt. Adam Grossman said. Lawson then swerved left across three lanes before his 1999 Toyota Corolla was struck on the driver’s side by a westbound Subaru, Grossman said.

Lawson was pronounced dead at Hunterdon Medical Center, Grossman said.

Lawson spent 31 years coaching Lafayette lacrosse from 1972 to 2002, returning in 2007 as a volunteer assistant coach, according to the college. College sports information director Scott Morse confirmed the man killed was the coach.

"It's a terrible day," Lafayette Athletic Director Bruce McCutcheon said. "All that knew him and loved him so much are just stung by this news. ... No matter what kind of day you were having, you'd have a smile on your face after Bill Lawson stopped by to you see you."

Lawson was also a swimming and diving coach for the college and hosted youth swim camps, teaching McCutcheon's three children to swim. McCutcheon called him "a terrific human being" whose "family was at his core."

The driver of the other car, Dorothy Brittain, 65, and her passenger, Frederick Brittain, 66, were treated at the hospital for injuries that were deemed not critical.

Traffic was tied up as state police at Perryville, the Clinton First Aid Squad and a state police fatal accident team responded near mile marker 17.8.

It’s the second fatal crash in as many days on Interstate 78 in Clinton Township. Early Friday morning, a tractor-trailer driver crashed into a flatbed truck on the shoulder of the highway.

Lloyd King Jr., 42, of Middletown, Pa., died in that crash, which was about four miles west of today's crash.