An 80-year-old driver was charged with hitting a township police officer with his car on Monday while he was directing traffic on Route 35, authorities said. Roland Eckstein, of Middletown, tried to pass vehicles in the shoulder of the road at around 11:10 a.m. when he struck Patrolman Thomas Hughes at the intersection of Route 35 and Pine Street, Lt. Stephen Dollinger said in a release. Hughes was taken to Riverview Hospital in Red Bank where he was treated for a hand injury, he said.