New Jersey Accident and Injury Law Blog : New Jersey Injury Lawyer & Attorney : The Grossman Law Firm : Serving Monmouth County, Bergen County

 Driving under the influence of prescription medications is on the increase, and it poses a serious threat to motorist safety. The large numbers of Americans, who are on some kind of medication means more numbers of people driving under the influence of medication side effects, many of them which they are not aware of. It doesn't make it easier that there are new prescription drugs coming out every year in the US, and that doctors may not be aware of many of the side effects of using these. It means motorists driving under the influence of impaired judgment, enhanced risk taking impulses, inability to judge distances, delayed response times, drowsiness, fatigue and a whole range of other side effects.

According to the New York Times, there are far too many challenges involved in cracking down on drivers impaired by medications. There are not enough drug detection officers who can detect the presence of these drugs, and not enough technical resources to determine that a person is driving under the influence of these drugs. Sometimes, there may be more than one prescription drug involved, which taken individually might be safe, but in combination, may create side effects that impair driving. Patients are not always aware of the ingredients of the medications they are using, and the side effects of these. Besides, lack of patient awareness about the right ways to take medications, is another factor. There may be errors in dosage, and mistakes made while combining these drugs with certain kinds of foods or other medications. All these errors may impact the person’s ability to drive. Obviously, these are great challenges for New Jersey accident lawyers and law enforcement agencies.

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For many parents, it's one of the biggest dilemmas they will ever face. Buying a first car for your teenage motorist is a major decision. For a parent, the statistics are sobering. Auto accidents continue to be the number one cause of death for teenagers between 15 and 19 years of age. 44% of all teen deaths every year occur during accidents.

With facts like this, you need to make a safe, informed decision that considers your child's safety first and foremost. The best thing you could do for your child is to ignore his preferences while making a decision. Teenagers tend to like fast, high performance cars, and these are not the ideal vehicles for them. So, what should you look for while choosing a car for your teenager?

However, some experts warn that buying a new car for your teen could encourage speeding and reckless driving. They believe a used car is a better option. Still others believe that a teenager should only be allowed to use the family car. This allows you to maintain control over his driving. Ultimately, it comes down to your teenager's personality. You know your child best, and if you feel he or she would be safer in a slower, used car, by all means make that decision.

Fortunately, new cars come with enhanced auto safety features. Electronic Stability Control systems, side air bag systems and antilock brakes are just three features that can keep your child safe in an accident, and that are increasingly available on many models.

The American Automobile Association as well as Consumer Reports suggests a passenger car as a teenage motorist’s first car. These cars are easier to handle, unlike sports utility vehicles and pickup trucks which may be your child's favorite, but are at a high risk of rollovers.

Before you make a decision, check the car’s safety ratings on the websites of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety as well as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Scott Grossman is a New Jersey injury lawyer, representing injured victims of auto accidents across New Jersey.

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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. 

Reducing the number of hours that a trucker can drive is important not just for the health and safety of truckers, but also the safety of motorists who share the highways in New Jersey with these large trucks every day.

Every year, an approximate 5,000 lives are lost in trucking accidents, many of which involve fatigued drivers sleeping at the wheel. Ask trucking unions, and they will tell you how truckers these days are under tremendous pressure to drive more hours, which ultimately increases profits for the employer. A trucker who is tired and drowsy and not at his sharpest and most alert behind the wheel, is a danger not just to himself, but also to other motorists. As a New Jersey truck accident lawyer, I would like to applaud the efforts of Public Citizen, and the Teamsters union that were responsible for getting the FMCSA to agree to revise this dangerous rule.

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The Department of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) earlier this week released a list of the top 10 most frequent workplace violations of 2009. OSHA presented the list at the annual Congress and expo of the National Safety council.   As a New Jersey construction accident lawyer, I was deeply concerned, but not too surprised, to see that the list contained several construction accident hazards.

Leading the list of violations is one that typically involves poor installation or lack of proper safety gear for workers. Scaffolding violations were the most frequent in the US in 2009, with a staggering 9,093 violations. These accidents are easily prevented, by providing workers fall protection systems, following proper procedures for scaffolding installation and training of workers.

Following scaffolding violations on the list are 6,771 fall protection violations.  These are again very easily preventable, through proper worker training and providing sufficient fall protection systems.

Hazard communication violations numbered 6,378. These violations are seen in the chemical industry, when manufacturers and importers often fail to meet OSHA standards for evaluating the risk of the chemicals they handle.

Respiratory protection violations numbered a total of 3,803 this year. These kinds of failures can expose workers to harmful debris, particles, vapors and gases increasing the chances of development of lung diseases and cancer.

Rounding off the list were 3,321lockout-tag out violations, 3,079 electrical wiring violations, 3,072 ladder violations, 2,993 powered industrial equipment violations, 2,556 electrical violations and 2,634 machine guarding violations.

The construction site is one of the most dangerous workplaces in the US. With the kind of violations the industry racks up every year, that isn't so much of a surprise.

Scott Grossman is a New Jersey construction accident lawyer representing injured victims of crane and forklift accidents, trench collapses, scaffolding accidents and other construction accidents around the state of New Jersey. 

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The results of a study released earlier this month, show that the number of fatalities from unintended injuries increased by 11 percent between 1999 and 2005. Most troubling of all has been the sharp increase in the number of people killed in accidental falls and poisonings.

Researchers at the John Hopkins School of Public Health say that there were approximately 20,000 more deaths from unintentional injury in 2005, compared to 1999. Approximately 89 percent of the increase in fatalities could be traced to two causes –

• Accidental poisonings in the age group of 15 to 64
• Fall accidents in those above 45 years of age

Poisoning death rates seem to have risen among all racial groups, but have doubled in Asian and Native American men. Among whites, the increase in poisoning deaths has been dramatic - there has been a 104 percent increase for men and a 172 percent increase for women. Most poisoning deaths, according to the researchers, can be traced to the abuse of prescription drugs. The spike in poisoning deaths has been easy to explain. During the study period, the use of opioid analgesic increased, enhancing the risk of addiction and abuse. 

In the case of deaths from fall accidents, the increase has been the most significant in whites above the age of 45. Drilling down further, the increase was much sharper for women than men. Rates for white women dying in fall accidents increased by 64 percent in the 45-64 age group, and 48 percent for women above 65 years of age. The researchers are at a loss to explain the increase in the number of fall accident deaths, and say further studies are necessary to identify the reason for this increase.

Scott Grossman is a Bergen County slip and fall accident attorney, representing victims of slip and fall accidents in Bergen County, and across the state of New Jersey. 

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Monmouth County investigators have zeroed in on the driver of the box truck that allegedly struck and killed a 59-year-old man last week.

The body of Thomas Kovacs was found on route 33 last week. He lived at a residential care facility in the area. Investigators from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, who evaluated the debris at the site of the accident, were able to determine that the vehicle that struck and killed Kovacs, was a box truck. They were also able to pinpoint the kind of damage that the box truck might have sustained in the crash. The truck was found this week in a commercial parking lot in Freehold Township. The driver of the box truck, Dinesh Kumar Patel has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident.  

Very often, tracing the driver in a hit and run pedestrian accident can be hard. There may be no witnesses at the scene. Even if there are witnesses, they may not have been able to note down enough details like the color and model of the car, the appearance of the driver, and the license plate number. Without these important details, investigators find it hard to trace a suspect. Eric Kerecman, who is the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office detective, was assigned the task of finding the hit and run driver here. He deserves kudos for the excellent job he has done, and the speed with which he has nabbed Patel.

Last week, I expressed concern at the high rate of pedestrian accidents in New Jersey this year. So far, in the first 8 months of 2009 alone, we have lost 103 pedestrians in accidents. These numbers are higher than they were at the same time last year. New Jersey authorities have been implementing a decoy program to catch crosswalk violators red-handed. Enforcement is very important, but there also needs to be greater awareness of the rights of pedestrians.

Scott Grossman is a New Jersey pedestrian accident lawyer representing victims injured in accidents in Monmouth, Bergen, Passaic and Ocean Counties, and across New Jersey.

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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.

According to the NHTSA, there are several reasons why drivers may have to park their vehicle on the highway shoulder. The driver may have to pull over if the vehicle suffers from a mechanical failure. Truckers who have been working long hours and need a break may feel the need to pull over to take a rest break. There may be other reasons for the driver parking his vehicle in such a manner. For instance, some of these trucks may need to make early morning deliveries, and when they reach the delivery site earlier, may have to park the vehicle till the site opens. Alcohol use by the driver is also linked to a large number of such accidents. It’s not surprising that most truck accidents linked to improper parking occur between midnight and 6 in the morning. This particular accident occurred just after 6 in the morning.

Interstate 78 and 287 saw five fatalities in 1994, in accidents involving cars crashing into trucks parked on the shoulder. Following that, rumble strips were installed to alert drivers in danger of veering off the road. The Department of Transportation has considered proposals to install rest stops on both 78 and 287, but opposition from locals has put the speed breakers on these plans. Monmouth County truck accident lawyers see such accidents less frequently than other kinds of accidents. But these are still a significant factor in crashes, which is why we should be more concerned about them.

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Automobile accident fatalities around the country, including in New Jersey are on their way to "significant" lows, a survey shows. In at least 40 states out of the 44 surveyed, the decline in the numbers of  accident related deaths  is up to 10.7 percent on an average.

According to the Governor's Highway Safety Association, the declines can be traced to a widespread use of seatbelts. The practice of buckling up in 2008 stood at close to 83 per cent of the driving population, and this has contributed to large number of lives being saved in automobile crashes. There has also been an increase in efforts made towards traffic safety enforcement. The state with the largest reduction in fatalities was Massachusetts with a 29 percent drop , followed by Wisconsin, Alaska, Hawaii, Virginia and the District of Columbia  where these rates dropped by 20 percent. New Jersey fared well on the list too, with an 18 percent drop in accident fatalities in 2008. Georgia was the other state that saw a double digit drop in accident fatalities with a 12 per cent decline.

Other interesting factors have been cited by the GHSA as contributing to this welcome drop in fatalities. Drivers it appears, are driving slower in an attempt to save on fuel. This means that major-impact crashes that occur at high speeds and very often result in fatalities, have been markedly reduced. Expect safety enforcement programs across various states to use this "fuel efficiency" carrot to encourage drivers to slow down.

The results of the GHSA survey seem to mirror findings from other agencies that have pointed to a drop in fatalities. The Department of Transportation has estimated that the accident death rate for 2008 has dropped substantially. . Of course, these lowered accident rates seem to be coinciding with a slow economy, as well as the gas price crisis last summer, which may explain the drop to large extent. With a meltdown in full swing,, people are less inclined to drive unless absolutely necessary, which has meant fewer people on the roads. We'll have to wait a couple of years to see if these statistics change dramatically once the economy gets back to normal, and people begin their usual driving habits again.

Bergen County Car Accident Lawyers

At the Law Offices of Scott Grossman, our Bergen county car accident lawyers constantly represent victims of automobile accidents. If you have suffered an injury in an accident, contact a Bergen County car accident lawyer at the firm to discuss your options for compensation.

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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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