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

A new rule which goes into immediate effect, bans commercial truck drivers and bus drivers from sending and receiving text messages while driving. The new rule was announced by the Department of Transportation this week, and aims to cut down on the risk of accidents from truck drivers distracted by texting at the wheel.

The ban is a part of efforts by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to deal with the problem of distracted driving. . Secretary LaHood has taken up the issue with great enthusiasm, and has been responsible for a number of recent steps that aim to eliminate these risks.

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The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration held a series of sessions to gather public input on the hours of service rules for truckers that are being revised. The fourth session was held Davenport, Iowa on the 25^th of January. The first 3 had been held in Arlington, Virginia; Dallas, Texas and El Segundo, California. The FMCSA had invited commercial truckers, trucking companies, owners,  operators; truck safety groups, researchers and other people to discuss issues that impact truck safety. These issues include rest time, on duty time, sleeper berth use, loading and unloading times, and others. 

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Any time there’s a truck accident in New Jersey, people are typically quick to jump to the assumption that it’s the tractor trailer driver who is at fault. The fact is that many truck accidents are caused by motorists. In fact, according to a New Jersey Department of Transportation study, motorists were at fault in 56 percent of truck-passenger vehicle accidents in 2006.

That situation has law enforcement officials focusing on educating motorists about safe driving around 18 wheelers. In April of this year, New Jersey State Police received a grant from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The $800,000 grant will be used to fund a truck safety public awareness campaign that will focus on educating motorists in order to reduce truck accident rates. The program should launch by December, and will include $300,000 to be spent on radio advertisements, and $500,000 on trooper enforcement efforts. The campaign, which will run through September 2012, will also include distribution of education material and enforcement of safety rules. 

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Bowing to pressure from trucking safety groups and labor unions, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has taken a decision that New Jersey truck accident lawyers have been waiting for.  The agency has agreed to revise the rule that extended the number of hours that a trucker can drive at a stretch, to 11 hours in a shift.

The Bush Administration in its last days, reinstated a rule allowing truckers to drive for 11 consecutive hours, increased from the earlier 10. That rule also cut down the number of rest hours that a trucker could expect, increasing the overall number of hours a trucker could spend driving each week, by 25 percent.

Trucking safety groups had opposed the rule and challenged it, because the administration failed to take into consideration the accident risks from allowing truckers to drive an extra hour per shift.  Earlier this week, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration finally reached an agreement with these groups. The agency has agreed to revise the rule within the next 9 months. 

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As a New Jersey truck accident lawyer, I have been very concerned about the high prevalence of sleep apnea in the commercial trucking community, and the lack of serious efforts to screen drivers for the disorder, and treat it. Driver fatigue is one of the leading causes of tractor trailer accidents in New Jersey, and sleep apnea is a major contributing factor to fatigue, drowsiness and listlessness behind the wheel.

Finally, the National Transportation Safety Board has acted to take note of the problem. It has sent a letter to the Federal Carrier Motor Safety Administration, advising that commercial truck and bus drivers be screened for sleep apnea to diagnose the condition. 

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Last week, President Obama’s choice of nominee for head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration began confirmation hearings, and as a New Jersey trucking accident lawyer, I am concerned about Anne Ferro's past as a trucking industry lobbyist.  Ferro served as a lobbyist for the Maryland trucking industry for six years. Her nomination not surprisingly, has been criticized by trucking advocates, including the Truck Safety Coalition.  

Every year 5,000 people are killed in fatal truck accidents across the US. In New Jersey, 47 people were killed in 2008 in accidents involving large trucks. Last year, Bergen County had three accident fatalities, Monmouth County had six, Ocean County had four and Passaic County had one trucking accident fatality. Salem County had the worst ratio of truck accident fatalities with an average of  3.02 people killed per 100,000 persons. With statistics like these, it becomes imperative that we have an FMCSA head who prioritizes truck safety above all else.

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The trial of the truck driver accused of causing a fatal accident in 2008 is expected to begin in November.

Kenneth A Middlebusher is a resident of Deptford in Gloucester County. According to police reports, Middlebusher was driving a truck on route 9 in Woodford in Vermont in April 2008 at high speeds, when the tractor trailer overturned and crashed into two other cars. Two occupants of one car were killed instantly, while the driver of the other car died in September. According to police, the tractor trailer driver had been operating the truck at excessive speeds that were too high for prevailing road conditions. Besides, the truck was hauling loads of paper rolls that were not secured properly. Police believe that shifting of the loads may have caused the tractor trailer to overturn.

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A former mayor and prominent member of the Fairfield Township community, was killed earlier this month in a "freak" truck accident. According to reports, Kennard Hildreth Jr. was driving his pickup truck on route 49 in Stow Creek Township with an employee. A tractor trailer driver on the same route failed to keep control of his truck as he negotiated a curve, the truck overturned on to Hildreth’s car. Hildreth was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, and his 17-year-old passenger sustained serious injuries. 

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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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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 tragic truck accident on the New Jersey Turnpike involving multiple vehicles, has left five people dead. The five victims included Salvatore Urbano and Jeanette Urbano from Passaic County, and Anna, Rose and Francis Kane from Kearny County. The Urbanos were a couple, and the three Kanes were Jeanette Urbano’s siblings.

Apparently, the five who were all in their 70’s, were on their way to a family wedding. Their Buick had stopped in traffic in the right southbound lane when a tractor trailer crashed into the stopped car. That set off several other collisions involving at least 6 other vehicles. The Buick burst into flames with the five still strapped inside. At least three other people in another car sustained injuries in the accident. At least one of them is reported to be in a critical condition.

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This may not come as much of surprise, but lobbying groups from trucking companies are furiously opposing a bill sponsored by New Jersey Senator Frank R Lautenberg, which aims at preventing truck accidents and preserving the highways.

Earlier this month, I discussed the Safe Highways and Infrastructure Preservation Act of 2009, a bill introduced by Senator Lautenberg and Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA- S). The bill would extend current size and weight restrictions on large tractor trailer trucks to the entire National Highway System. Current limits are 53 feet  in length and 80,000 pounds in weight. These limitations however, are only enforced on interstate highways, and individual states are free to set restrictions for roads that come under their jurisdiction. If the bill is passed, these restrictions would apply to trucks across 160,000 miles of that National Highway System.

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A new bill announced by Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-New Jersey) promises to not just reduce the truck accident rate around the country, but also contribute to the preservation and maintenance of our highways. The bill, called the Safe Highways and Infrastructure Preservation Act of 2009 will extend weight limits on triple trailers to the entire National Highway System, all 160,000 miles of it. That includes smaller national highways and interstate highways. Currently, restrictions on truck size and weight - which are 53 feet for length and 80,000 pounds for weight - are in place for the Interstate Highway System which stretches about 44,000 miles.  If the bill is passed, tractor trailers which extend those weight and size limits, will not be allowed on 160,000 miles of highway.

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At least one person was killed and several others injured in an accident involving a truck, a car and a van on Interstate 80 near Roxbury. The accident that took place last week is currently under investigation.  The deceased was an occupant of the car involved in the crash. According to police, he was ejected from his seat when the accident occurred.

The crash involved a tractor trailer, besides the car and a 15-commuter van, and ended with the tractor trailer flipping over. The trailer was loaded with steel beams, and these were strewn all over the highway although we don’t know yet if the other two vehicles struck the tractor trailer or the steel beams. No one in the van seems to have suffered serious injuries.

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A truck driver who was reportedly high on marijuana during a truck accident when he drove his truck into incoming traffic in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and caused a series of accidents that killed three people, has been arraigned. 

Sheraz Khan is accused of being under the influence of drugs on September 11, 2008 when he allowed his 18-wheeler to get out of control and veer across several lanes of traffic and into the outbound lanes of Interstate 295 in Cherry Hill. The tractor trailer struck a Volkswagen driven by Texas resident Lawrence M. Wright, and a refrigerator box truck driven by Philadelphia resident Juma Rajab. Both were killed in the crash. Also killed was Renee Lesenko who was a passenger in the box truck. The tractor trailer was hauling heavy machinery at the time of the accident. Khan did not suffer any injuries in the crash. Camden County prosecutors claim that Khan was speeding at the time of the accident, as reported by witnesses. He also didn't seem to have made any effort to slam the brakes just before he struck the first car. Khan was arrested in January of this year.

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 A seemingly minor problem, but one that can cause serious injury to New Jersey motorists driving in the vicinity of an 18 wheeler in winter, will be dealt with by a new bill released by the Assembly Transportation Committee.

The bill, S520 will require all motorists to remove snow and ice from their vehicles before they begin to drive. Sponsored by Senator Nicholas J. Saco (D) the bill applies to both commercial as well as non commercial vehicles, and allows police to pull over motorists whose vehicles are not snow and ice free. Motorists will be required to remove snow and ice from the hood, trunk as well as the roof the vehicle. Although the bill is targeted at all motorists, it is especially relevant in the case of large trucks, like 18 wheelers. A single inch of snow on the roof of an 18 wheeler can weigh as much as 2000 pounds, and the consequences for motorists around the big rig, who are unfortunate enough to suffer the impact of falling ice and snow from the big rig, can be serious. Large slabs of ice falling off a semi could be not only heavy enough to cause vehicle damage, but also injury to drivers and passengers in these smaller cars.

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More than 48 hours after a seven-vehicle accident along Interstate 78 on Monday that was triggered off by a dump truck, New Jersey state police are continuing their probe into the crash that killed two women. 

The chain reaction crash, was apparently set off when a dump truck, for as yet unknown reasons, crossed the center divider and over from the westbound to the eastbound lanes, eventually toppling over. As the dump truck rolled over, it struck a tractor trailer, and mounds of dirt from the truck began to spill across the lanes. A tire from the tractor trailer got dislodged, and its tire struck an incoming Hyundai. The driver of the Hyundai, Northampton resident Laura Hibbler was killed in the crash. The driver of a Toyota Corolla that also collided against the truck, East Brunswick resident Janet Adamko sustained fatal injuries in the multi vehicle accident. Adamko was returning after spending the 10^th anniversary of her older sister's death at her parent's place. For her parents, the two-day period between 11^th and 12^th of January will now mark the deaths of both their daughters. It's an unimaginable tragedy, and my heart goes out to the Adamko family, and the Hibblers.

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New Jersey welcomed the onset of winter with ferocious weather that was linked to several car crashes and  truck accidents, as well as a plane crash near Linden.

The morning of the 21^st saw a multi vehicle accident on the New Jersey Turnpike that left at least 17 people with injuries, none of which fortunately, were serious ones. The crash involved at least two buses, and a total of 90 passengers. Across northern New Jersey, dozens of other accidents were reported, all as a result of the blizzards that rushed in over the weekend. In another weather-related crash that could have turned into a disaster, four police troopers had a narrow escape when a tractor trailer smashed into an accident scene they were at on Interstate 80 in Hope. The officers were responding to the scene of a crash involving a spin out. A tractor trailer approaching the scene lost control, and skidded into another vehicle before slamming into the fire truck that was stopped nearby. The truck protected the troopers from taking the direct impact of the tractor trailer. 

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The Bush administration has finalized an FMCSA drafted rule that upholds the same number of hours a truck driver can work as previous regulations, but truck safety advocates say it will do nothing to stop the number of truck accidents in the country. The rule will limit the number of consecutive hours a truck driver can work to 14, and stipulates that 11 hours of these be spent behind the wheel. The administration says reverting to the old rules that limited the number of work hours that truckers could drive to 10 daily were not feasible, as they were contributing to a yearly loss of $2.4 billion for the trucking industry.

As the administration tries to push through these regulations in a mad rush before it vacates office, truck safety groups and trucker groups continue to worry that these long hours on the job are not good for truckers nor for highway safety. The administration claims that studies have proved that accident rates have declined since the longer work hour rule was introduced.    

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We all know that drinking and driving often results in death, serious injury or the destruction of life.  A recent local news story reported an accident in South Jersey recently sent several innocent grocery shoppers to the hospital. A car spun out of control and slammed into 3 people - two of them were in wheelchairs. The police are saying the driver was intoxicated when she crashed into pedestrians on a Shoprite sidewalk in front of the store.

 As a Monmouth County and New Jersey car accident attorney I have represented hundreds of victims that suffered critical injuries because of alcohol related car accidents.  This news story above highlights a all too common scenario whereby alcohol appears to have impaired this driver’s sense of judgment. The alleged intoxicated driver may have destroyed the lives of these innocent grocery shoppers who never would have imagined that they would fall victim to a drunk driver while going through their normal every day routine of pushing their grocery carts at their local supermarket.  Drinking and driving frequently leads to victim's extreme suffering.  I have witnessed first hand clients that have suffered at the hands of drunk drivers’ : traumatic brain injury, loss of limbs, spinal cord injuries including paralysis fractures, herniated disc injuries leading to spinal fusion or inter-body fusion surgery and a myriad of other life altering injuries and even death.  So as a seasoned New Jersey and Monmouth County accident attorney lawyer I can attest unequivocally that alcohol mixed with driving of motor vehicles, motorcycles or trucks many times equates with the total destruction of innocent life and also destroys both individuals and their families.  We can significantly reduce the number of serious injuries and fatalities in New Jersey by never ever driving while intoxicated or in any way impaired.  

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New Jersey traffic accident related fatalities have statistically decreased by 17 percent over the past 12 months however, the actual number of deaths remains at an unacceptable horrifying 207 between January 1st and May 17 of this year. These statistics were reported in a recent Today’s Sunbeam article that interviewed New Jersey State Police Colonel Rick Fuentes. Fuentes stated…“ As alcohol related crashes make up a large percentage of fatalities, the focus of our communities must be first devoted to both deterrence of drinking and driving and secondly to the enforcement of DWI related offenses. 

State Police Deputy Superintendent of Operations Juan Mattos said, "Four of the seven fatal motor vehicle accidents on Memorial Day 2007 were alcohol related. This is a pointless waste of lives we will attempt to avoid by relentlessly pursuing intoxicated drivers." Superintendent Fuentes added "We can only do so much to encourage safe behavior. In the end, New Jersey's drivers must decide to act responsibly."

As a Monmouth County and New Jersey auto accident lawyer attorney, I have witnessed over the past decade the horrific shattering of lives far too often as the direct result of alcohol consumption while driving cars, trucks and motorcycles. Obviously, we should never ever drink and drive. More safety tips can be found at The American Society of Civil Engineers link and I hope this information will be useful and if applied may even help to reduce the number of traffic related fatalities and severe injuries.

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The results are in! The AAA Clubs of New Jersey biannual transportation survey published the results which revealed that the top five safety issues on our roads are:

1. impaired drivers
2. text messaging while driving
3. big trucks that tailgate
4. aggressive driving
5. using a hand-held cell phone while driving.

New Jersey motorists surveyed also identified the top five driver distractions:
1. reading
2. using a PDA or Blackberry
3. personal grooming
4. talking on a cell phone
5. eating or drinking.

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In New Jersey, as a general rule if you are injured while occupying or driving a motorcycle, moped, commercial vehicle, taxi cab, chauffeured rentals or bus you will not be able to seek PIP no-fault benefits for payment of your medical bills. That's right, if you have private health insurance your medical bills may be covered as long as your policy does not contain any specific exclusions for treatment you receive as a result of an accident while driving for example a motorcycle.  

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