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

When Governor Jon Corzine signed the Red Light Camera Running program into law in January last year, New Jersey became one of 33 states to use traffic cameras to monitor the kind of red light violations that frequently result in automobile accidents. The program includes 12 municipalities who will have to get the camera systems installed. On Tuesday, the Brick Township Council awarded a contract to an Arizona-based company for the installation and operation of the cameras at two of Brick’s most troublesome intersections.

The cameras work by taking pictures of cars that run red lights, allowing police to send tickets to the registered owners of these cars. Intersections that fall within the program have been chosen based on the number of violations, and only after the town was able to prove that ticketing motorists for violations has been unable to prevent traffic accidents. The municipalities that are part of the program are required to monitor the effectiveness of the system, and report data annually to the New Jersey Department of Transportation. Red light violations are a major problem contributing to car accidents, and it is proved by Department of Transportation statistics. At one Mercer County intersection, there were 159 red light violation-related accidents between 2005 and 2007, while another intersection in East Brunswick saw a total of 161 accidents traced to red light violations. In Jersey City, the number of collisions at one particularly troublesome intersection crossed 1500 during the same period. 

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A 58-year-old construction worker from Passaic County was killed in an excavator accident in Monmouth County on Monday afternoon. Juan Rivera was run over by an excavator while he was working at a house in Holmdel.  The house was being renovated after it suffered extensive damage in a fire last year.  Rivera and another worker from Teaneck, Bergen County were involved in the installation of a septic system. The Teaneck worker was in charge of operating an 11 ton hydraulic excavator. According to police, it appears that the operator was backing up the excavator when Rivera walked right behind it. Both men were employed by a Franklin Lakes, Bergen County landscaping company.

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Image Courtesy: Flickr - Mlcastle

A man and a woman were killed in two separate pedestrian accidents in Freehold Township and Carteret last month. In Carteret, Kimberly McMickle was killed when she was crossing the street with her friend. In Freehold Township, Toribio Garcia Jiminez, was struck on Route 9. Both accidents continue to be investigated, but it's probably time to step back and see how we can reduce our chances of becoming one of New Jersey's pedestrian accident statistics. It seems that those road safety lessons that our parents taught us are still as valid now as they've always been. In other words: 

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Image Courtesy: Flickr - Gwaar

Last Thursday, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that a club in Burlington County that served alcohol to a guest was not liable for any civil claims arising out of an accident, because he was not visibly intoxicated at the time of leaving the venue.

In Aril 2002, Stephen Mikalic was a passenger in a car driven by John Kinnerman. The two had just left the Happy Hour Social and Athletic Club in Maple Shade, where they had been drinking. The car crashed into a van killing both men, as well as two other passengers in the car. Kinnerman's blood alcohol level at the time of the car accident was .018.   Mikalic's widow filed a wrongful death claim against the club, stating that the club hosted a picnic where guests imbibed drinks from a beer truck at the venue. Her claim was that the staff at the club had a duty to monitor the level of intoxication of guests. The Court has now unanimously ruled that there was no negligence on the part of the club because of witnesses who testified that Kinnerman didn’t appear to be intoxicated as he left the venue.

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A pedestrian accident in Franklin Township, New Jersey brought home once again how much in danger pedestrians are as they use our streets. Israel D. Hernandez D. Garcia was crossing the road when he was struck by a car. By the time paramedics arrived at the scene, he had suffered massive head trauma. Paramedics were unable to revive him, and he died at the scene of the accident. Investigations into the accident, by both the Franklin Police Department as well as the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office Collision Analysis Reconstruction Team, are ongoing.

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The mother of a South Brunswick man who committed suicide at a Trenton hospital has been awarded a wrongful death settlement of $600,000. Michael Janicki was undergoing treatment for schizophrenia at the Trenton Psychiatric Hospital when he managed to walk out of the hospital one day and slash his wrists. The verdict is interesting in the way Janicki's "services" as a son were calculated to arrive at a settlement.

Michael Janicki stabbed his father Ortwin to death in July of 2002. He claimed that he had heard voices that his parents were going to die, but he could save his mother if he killed his father.   He was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and was sentenced to treatment at a psychiatric hospital. By 2005, he was believed to have been making progress at the Trenton Psychiatric Hospital. However his mother claims that his progress began to decelerate when staff at the facility delayed their plans to move him to a less restricted facility after he told one of the staff members that he wanted to kill himself because of his guilt at murdering his father. His privileges to wander about the facility campus freely were restricted, but the hospital failed to change his keycard. On August 30, of 2005, Michael walked out of the hospital and onto the grounds with his old expired card. No one saw him again until September 6 when his badly decomposed body was found in the hospital grounds. 

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Denver Nuggets star J.R. Smith  won't have to face a grand jury indictment for his role in a fatal Millstone car accident that killed his passenger – a Monmouth County jury has decided not to indict the basketball star, who continues to be as reckless on the streets as he was before the fatal crash of June 2007.

The accident occurred when Smith allegedly ignored a stop sign, and drove around a car that was stopped, and into the path of an incoming vehicle. Both Smith and his passenger Andre Bell were ejected from the car, and Bell sustained serious head injuries. He died a couple of days later at the hospital. Smith received citations for improper passing and failure to stop at a stop sign.

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It's the kind of nightmare you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy - a 22-year-old resident of Cranbury, Middlesex County was killed in a skydiving accident when equipment problems had him falling out of his harness and plummeting to the ground.

The accident reportedly occurred at Skydive Sebastian, a recreational center in coastal Florida where Daniel Kulpa was enjoying an adventure vacation with some of his friends from New Jersey. Kulpa was a graduate of the Scotch Plains Fanwood High School right here in New Jersey, and was studying electrical engineering at the Mercer County Community College. He worked part time at a Cranbury technology firm, and even ran his own telecommunications company. He had discovered the thrills of skydiving a couple of years ago, and since then had completed more than 100 jumps.   So the question is, how did a fit, young skydiver with plenty of jumps on his record meet with such a tragic accident?

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 A New Jersey go-go bar has lost its appeal to hold on to its liquor license in the aftermath of an automobile accident that killed two people back in 2000. The bar, Cheerleaders located in Brooklawn, had its appeal overturned, and an earlier decision to repeal its license by the Alcoholic Beverage Control division in New Jersey, was upheld. Cheerleaders has about six months to sell off its license, and pay a fine to ABC.

The case goes back to April 2000, when a patron at the bar, 23-year-old Humberto Herrera-Salas was served alcohol even after it was obvious that he was intoxicated. Other regulars at the bar were quick to notice that Herrera-Salas was already drunk as he walked into the bar, and drunk driving experts later calculated that his blood alcohol level had to have been at least .18 by the time he entered Cheerleaders. At the bar, Herrera-Salas went on to down three shots of tequila and three beers. When it became obvious that he was too intoxicated to be hanging around the bar any longer, employees forced him outside, and even called a cab to drop him home. 

 

What happened next seems to have been the crux on which the appellate court upheld the decision to repeal the bar license. The employees should have made sure that Herrera-Salas was safely inside the car, and on his way home. Instead, they left him to his own devices, and went back inside the establishment. Herrera-Salas, too drunk to care, simply got into his car, and sped out of the parking lot.  A few minutes later, he was driving south in the northbound lanes of Route 130. The car accident when it did occur, was devastating in impact. Herrera-Salas' car crashed head on into a vehicle carrying a couple from Gloucester City. Patricia and Robert Reed were killed in the crash, and at least two passengers in their car were seriously injured. 

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Motorcycle accidents and related fatalities and traumatic injuries is a serous problem in both New Jersey and our neighboring states. A recent article from The Express-Times reports a 27 year old was recently riding his motorcycle south on Route 611 about 2 a.m. when he veered into the northbound lane and crashed into a curb apparently suffering serious injuries. The police do not know what caused the rider to crash into the curb and the crash is under investigation.

 As Monmouth County and New Jersey motorcycle accident attorney I have witnessed first hand the devastating life altering effects of motorcycle crashes. In this particular situation there could be many factors that made the rider swerve into the opposite lane leading him to strike the curb. What ever the cause of the accident may be, drivers on the road have to make sure they are careful around motorcycle riders. A simple act of having your high beams on can blind a driver and when the driver is a motorcycle rider they can more easily lose control and crash. One way to simply lower the motorcycle fatalities is to always keep a safe distance between your vehicle and the motorcycle and always proceed with caution before entering into a turn or a lane change. Motor vehicle drivers can do their part by being more responsible on the road and hopefully motorcycle riders will do their part by taking the right safety precautions.

 

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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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Late last week, a friend of mine called the office to tell me about a co-worker who fell victim to the ever-increasing incidence of pharmacy error. The co-worker, let’s call her “Janet,” hadn’t been feeling well and visited her physician, who diagnosed a common infection and prescribed a course of antibiotics. Janet filled the prescription at her local chain pharmacy located in Western Monmouth County. Within a day or two after starting the medication, Janet was feeling increasingly sicker, and at one point, thought she was having a stroke, as one side of her body lost all sensation. Janet’s husband rushed her to the emergency room; at first, the ER doctors thought she was suffering from a rare allergic reaction to the antibiotic, but soon learned that the pharmacy filled the prescription with the incorrect dosage, double the dosage originally prescribed by the doctor! Continue Reading...

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Tonight's 20/20 program (see "Tragic Mistakes") sheds light on what can only be called a silent epidemic of the occurrence of pharmacy errors across the nation. The segment featured the tragic story of a young mother who gave her four-month old daughter who was born prematurely what she thought was an anti-seizure medication. What she actually gave the infant was an adult dose of a diabetes medication, which left her daughter permanently disabled, unable to talk, walk or feed herself. Walgreen's, the national pharmacy chain, was responsible for the dispensing error, this act of negligence that caused irreparable harm.

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Wrongful death is the term used when someone causes the death of another person. The death may be caused by the actions of someone or by their failure to act (neglect). Wrongful death is a civil action rather than a criminal action. Since the person killed (decedent) cannot file suit or collect damages, it is the family or representatives of the estate that do so. The intent is to recompense family members who have suffered monetarily and emotionally from the death. Damages can be assessed for lost wages and benefits, loss of companionship, and emotional pain and suffering caused by the trauma. If you believe that someone you love died resulting from the actions (or lack thereof), please contact The Law Offices of Scott D. Grossman, LLC at (732) 625-9494 or toll free at (888) 899-9494.

 

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Every year millions of people are injured in motor vehicle accidents. Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of injury in the United States for people ages 1-34.

Many vehicle manufacturers have made safety improvements to their vehicles including air bags, rollover bars, reinforced frames, better tires, etc. Additionally, many states have passed tougher drunk driving laws. As a result, many lives may have been spared. However, with an ever increasing number of vehicles on the road, motor vehicle accidents still occur with alarming frequency. In fact, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, every 10 seconds someone in the United States is involved in a car accident.

If you have a young driver in your family, or a young person preparing to obtain his or her first driver's license, take a few moments with your child to obtain some really useful information from the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission.

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