More Pedestrian Accident Deaths in Monmouth and Ocean County
Two fatal pedestrian accidents, one in Tinton Falls in Monmouth County and the other in Point Pleasant in Ocean County, have been reported. In the Tinton Falls accident, 21-year-old Patrick Ryan was killed when he was hit by a truck in the middle of the night. According to the driver of the box truck Charles Luckey, Ryan was wearing dark colored clothing and he saw him only when it was too late to avoid hitting him. Ryan was rushed to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, but was declared dead. In the other accident in Point Pleasant, a 53-year-old woman was hit while crossing route 88. The accident occurred on a Sunday night, and the victim Virginia Byron was rushed to Ocean Medical Center in Brick where she was declared dead. According to the driver of the car that struck Byron, she was wearing dark colored clothing and he did not see her until the pick up truck hit her. In both cases, Monmouth County and Ocean County teams are investigating each accident.
We’ve seen a series of fatal pedestrian accidents in New Jersey recently. Several of these accidents have taken place during the night time, but many have occurred in the bright day light when pedestrians were walking on the sidewalk or crossing on designated cross walks, when motorists who were driving responsibly should have been able to see the pedestrians and been able to avoid hitting them. While wearing dark colored clothing at night is undesirable behavior for a pedestrian, I’ve seen my share of accidents in my New Jersey personal injury lawyer practice where the pedestrian was entirely in the right, and still got hit anyway. According to statistics from the non profit group Tri-State Transportation Campaign, the fatality rate for pedestrian and bicyclists each year in New Jersey is 150, which is 20% more than the national average. In 2007, pedestrians made up 11% of all accident related fatalities in the country. In New Jersey, the figure was 21%.
A big reason for this is may be that more people seem to be walking to work in New Jersey than in many other states in the country. According to US census statistics, 26% more New Jerseyans walked to work from 2002 to 2006 while in the rest of the country, the increase in the number of people walking to work had only risen by 7%. Rising gas prices and global warming concerns have lead to more numbers of people taking to walking as a means of getting around. It also doesn’t help that New Jersey has the highest population density among states in the US. The state has been spending more on increasing pedestrian safety, but the number of programs that need funding far outnumber the dollars available.
