New Jersey Accident and Injury Law Blog : New Jersey Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Law Offices of Scott D. Grossman : Serving Monmouth County, Bergen County

A report in Bloomberg effectively illustrates the point that medical malpractice lawyers have supported all along - that controlling malpractice premiums could be done more successfully by cracking down on errant doctors, making it harder for them to practice their brand of medicine.

The report gives the example of a Los Angeles surgeon who has lost two medical malpractice claims, and has had his privileges at the Western Medical Center of Santa Ana suspended, but continues to perform surgeries at another facility. The Medical Board of California has not found it necessary to suspend his license even though it is aware of the two malpractice cases amounting to $528,552 that he lost, as well as the little issue at Western Medical Center.

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Jersey City authorities have been outraged after a 51-year-old pedestrian was severely injured in an accident involving a pickup truck driver who then proceeded to simply travel right on as if nothing had happened. The driver has now been arrested.

Surveillance video released last week shows 51-year-old Ricardo Torres walking on a crosswalk, and being struck by a black Ford pickup truck. The truck then traveled right on, as Jersey City Mayor Jeremiah Healy put it "as if he ran over a rat or something". Torres had the right of way at the time of the crash. Now, Jersey City Police say they have arrested a suspect. Police have arrested 19-year-old Bayonne resident Anthony J. Pane, and have charged him with assault by vehicle, leaving the scene of the accident and endangering an injured victim.

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Improper parking by commercial trucks on highway shoulders and other areas is a less frequent, but important cause of accidents in New Jersey. In a tragic example of this, an Edison man was killed in a fatal truck accident on Interstate 78, when his car struck a parked tractor trailer.

Jose Rodriguez was driving a passenger vehicle when he apparently lost control of the car, and crashed it into a tractor trailer that was parked on the right highway shoulder. Rodriguez's car bust into flames on impact. He suffered severe head trauma and died.

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A new study by sleep scientists at Harvard University indicates that there is a strong link between obese truck drivers, and sleep apnea. The study also indicates that mandatory screening of these truck drivers could prevent the risk of accidents.  Up to 20 percent of truck accidents are believed to be caused by drivers who doze off at the wheel of the truck.

Sleep apnea causes persons to have disturbed sleep when there are interruptions in breathing during sleep. Because of such interrupted sleep, persons who suffer from sleep apnea may suffer from drowsiness in the day time. That’s a dangerous situation when you are talking about a person who is at the wheel of a massive truck.

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As a Bergen County personal injury lawyer, I have followed the Robert Higbee case with interest, and have discussed it earlier on this blog. A jury has now cleared the New Jersey State trooper in charges resulting from a car accident in Cape May County in 2006. Higbee was accused of running a stop sign while engaged in a pursuit with his light and siren off, resulting in a fatal collision with a van.

On September 27^th 2006, Higbee was on duty racing through an Upper Township neighborhood in pursuit of a speeding car. He was driving at over 79 mph when he allegedly ran a stop sign. His car crashed into a van containing Jacqueline and Christina Becker. The teenage girls suffered massive head injuries in the car accident, and died. Robert Higbee was charged with death by auto. Higbee denied ever having been seen the stop sign that he allegedly ran. He testified that his concentration was focused on the speeding car that was pursuing. If convicted, he could have faced  five to ten years in prison. 

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A new legislation that would raise weight limits on commercial trucks is already meeting strong opposition from  truck accident lawyers and victims' families.

Attorneys and victims are joining hands to fight the legislation that would allow large trucks to carry heavier loads than they do now. The efforts against the legislation called the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act of 2009 have involved the families of victims who have lost their loved ones in truck accidents. At least one activist Joan Clay Brook has set off a petition drive mobilizing opinion against the bill that is moving through Congress.

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A Bergen County Student died in what appears to be a drowsy driving accident last week. Daniel Buckiewicz died when his car struck a tree as he was on his way back home to Howell. It was the last day of his semester at Ramapo College in Mahwah. Crash investigations indicate that he most likely dozed off behind the wheel. He was airlifted to the Jersey Shore University Medical Center, but died soon after.

Daniel was a former Patriots team captain, and Freehold Township honored his memory by recording a win against St. Rose seven days after his death. Buckiewicz was an example to his peers even in death – all his organs were donated. At the game, Freehold players and coaches wore green, rubber ”Donate Life” bracelets in his memory.

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Image Courtesy: Flickr-Timbishop01

The parents of a teenager who was killed in a car accident in Southampton Township, Burlington County are channeling their grief into effecting real change in New Jersey law. They want legislation that will make it mandatory for drivers in fatal car accidents to undergo testing for alcohol and drugs.

In July 2007, seventeen-year-old Anthony Farrace was in a Mercedes Benz driven by his girlfriend, Danielle McLaughlin. She seems to have lost control of the car as she attempted to pass a big rig, crashing the Mercedes into a tree. Farrace died almost instantly. McLaughlin suffered injuries. Over the next few months, she pleaded guilty for charges of careless driving, and ended up paying a fine of $200 dollars and having her license suspended for about six months.   Anthony’s parents John and Claudia Farrace believe that McLaughlin should have been tested for alcohol and drug use. 

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There's something unspeakably sad about an elderly person dying in an accident. A 75-year-old man was killed earlier this month when he was struck by a car while trying to cross the road near the Young Israel of Aberdeen temple in Aberdeen Township. Phillip J. Shiffman had been on his way home from a synagogue.  He was rushed to the Bayshore Community Hospital in Holmdel, but died a short while later.

Now, residents are calling for the installation of a crosswalk at Lloyd Road near Idlewild Lane where the pedestrian accident took place. Aberdeen Township authorities have contacted Monmouth County authorities to look into the installation of a crosswalk and other safety precautions in the area. The area doesn’t have heavy pedestrian traffic, but it does have an elementary school.

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