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

Teenagers comprise just 10 percent of the driving population, but make up 12 percent of the fatalities. These drivers are young, inexperienced, and are very often subjected to serious distractions in the car in the form of loud music, fellow passengers and cell phones.

Last year, Ford introduced the MyKey safety feature in several models of its cars, including the Taurus and Focus. The technology acts like a second parent in the car, placing speed limits and issuing warnings to buckle up, there by keeping teen motorists safer. Those features will become standard on several Ford models expected to roll out this year.

MyKey was developed by Ford safety manager Andrew Sarkisian, himself the father of two teenage girls. Sarkisian wanted a feature that could act like a second parent in the car, and control some teen driving behaviors. MyKey allows parents to set a maximum speed limit level of 80mph, and warns motorists when drivers and front seat passengers are not wearing seatbelts.  The fuel warning system is modified to show low-fuel warnings earlier than on the standard. The audio system can be set at a maximum of half volume, and parents can keep track of their children's mileage.  

Not everybody agrees that MyKey will have much impact on the high accident fatality rates involving these motorists, however. Most teenagers start out with an affordable and used car for their first ride, and may not have access to MyKey. In these difficult economic times, buying an expensive model with the MyKey feature, may not be easy.

Although Ford must be commended for the technology, and for making it available on more models as a standard feature, MyKey won’t compensate for a lack of awareness about the dangers of speeding, not buckling up and other causes of fatalities. We treat driving a car as a rite of passage for a teen driver, but fail to ensure that he is adequately informed about safe driving. The freedom to drive comes with the responsibility to drive safely, keeping the rights of other motorists in mind, and in my opinion, that’s not something that you can buy with any technology.

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

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Binge drinkers cause many of the thousands of drunk driving accidents that take place in New Jersey every year, but a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that the risk from these drivers is far greater than we think.

According to the study, one in every ten binge drinkers has driven off within two hours of drinking heavily. Even more disturbing is the fact that half of these motorists drank at a drinking establishment, like a bar or restaurant. The study surveyed 14,000 binge drinkers (people who drank five or more alcoholic drinks on a single occasion, at least once a month) and measured the chances that a binge drinker will drive off in an intoxicated state. Twelve percent of the respondents said that they had driven a car within two hours of a heavy drinking session. More than half bought their drinks at a pub, bar or other establishment. Half of the drivers who bought the drinks from such establishments, had consumed more than seven drinks, while a quarter had consumed at least ten. The CDC researchers are calling on licensed drinking establishments to be responsible while serving their patrons. 

New Jersey’s dram shop liability laws allow victims of a drunk driving accident to sue the establishment that sold or served the motorist responsible for the accident. Victims can sue for such recklessness by establishment owners, but the laws do not require that these owners monitor the patron's alcohol consumption. Most states have some version of such laws, but enforcement has been poor, because of a resource crunch.

In the absence of aggressive enforcement of these laws, drinking establishments have a greater duty to play their part in saving lives, by exercising responsibility while serving patrons.  

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

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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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