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

Fatality rates in pedestrian accidents in New Jersey have increased alarmingly, and the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety has moved in quickly to act.

Several communities in the state that have recorded an unacceptable increase in pedestrian accident deaths, are seeing enforcement activities to enforce the rules and prevent such accidents. Earlier this month, 17 police agencies in Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Camden, Cumberland and Gloucester Counties have received funding for the program that will run through September 13^th. The program involves plainclothes officers stationed at crosswalks looking for motorists who fail to yield. Motorists who disregard the rights of pedestrians at a crosswalk could face tickets from uniformed officers, who will be just a short distance away. A motorist could be fined $100 besides court costs.

Across the state, pedestrian accident fatalities have increased after a couple of years when there were lower fatalities. In 2006, the Division of Highway Traffic Safety initiated the pedestrian decoy program, aimed at lowering the number of deaths in these accidents by making motorists aware of their duties. That year, there were 164 pedestrian accident deaths.  In 2007, that number dropped to 150, dropping to a further 138 in 2008. However, this year began with a high number of pedestrian accident deaths right from the start, and these numbers continue to rise. So far this year, there have been 103 pedestrian deaths out of a total of 344 car accidents.  Between January and August last year, the number of pedestrian deaths were dramatically lower at 79.

It’s been difficult to understand what has caused the sudden spike in pedestrian fatalities. However, in New Jersey, we have unique challenges in keeping pedestrians safer. We have far too many people packed into a smaller geographical area, and there are too many cars and pedestrians jostling for limited space. There are also increasing numbers of New Jerseyans who are choosing to walk everywhere, rather than using their cars. As a Bergen County pedestrian accident lawyer, I firmly believe that walking on New Jersey streets should not have to be a death-defying stunt for our pedestrians. The fact is that a lot of these accidents can be prevented if motorists would just exercise some patience near a crosswalk.

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Jersey City authorities have been outraged after a 51-year-old pedestrian was severely injured in an accident involving a pickup truck driver who then proceeded to simply travel right on as if nothing had happened. The driver has now been arrested.

Surveillance video released last week shows 51-year-old Ricardo Torres walking on a crosswalk, and being struck by a black Ford pickup truck. The truck then traveled right on, as Jersey City Mayor Jeremiah Healy put it "as if he ran over a rat or something". Torres had the right of way at the time of the crash. Now, Jersey City Police say they have arrested a suspect. Police have arrested 19-year-old Bayonne resident Anthony J. Pane, and have charged him with assault by vehicle, leaving the scene of the accident and endangering an injured victim.

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Jersey City Police had earlier determined that the hit and run truck had been traveling at 35 to 40mph in a 25mph zone. Witnesses have claimed that the pickup truck had swerved either to dislodge the body or avoid running over him again before driving off.  According to police chief Thomas Comey, it was the third such hit and run accident involving pedestrians in Jersey City this year alone. In the two other cases, the pedestrians died. Torres continues to be in a critical condition and is in a medically induced coma, at a Jersey City hospital.

The accident had sparked impassioned pleas by police and city authorities to the public, asking for cooperation to nab the hit and run driver. As police chief Comey puts it, the victim here was "someone else's loved one, someone else's brother and someone else's father.

On this blog, I have discussed a number of recent New Jersey accidents involving pedestrians who had their right of way violated. To New Jersey personal injury lawyers, it appears that there is an unacceptable level of motorist impatience and callousness where the rights of these pedestrians are concerned. Jersey City police and city authorities have been rightfully outraged at the way pedestrians have been struck fatally or seriously this year, while the drivers have simply driven right on without even stopping to look at the results of their actions.

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A father-daughter dinner date in South Orange, New Jersey ended in a tragic pedestrian accident for James Walsh when a car struck him, dragging him at least 50 feet away. Walsh was rushed to the hospital, but he died later from his injuries. He was walking home with his daughter Erin, who escaped injuries.

A witness at the scene of the accident was alert enough to note down the driver's license plate number. Police found the car, a Honda Civic a few minutes later outside the home of the driver, Frank Bradley. Just a few minutes before he mowed Walsh down, Bradley was being pursued by police after he ran a stop sign. There are no details about whether he was speeding at the time of the accident, but this much has been confirmed – Walsh was following all rules of pedestrian safety. He was not jaywalking, and he wasn’t distracted. Yet, he seems to have paid with his life for a motorist's callous negligence.

As a Bergen County pedestrian accident lawyer I see this all too often in an accident involving a pedestrian and a motorist. Even when a pedestrian is following all rules of the road, he could still be in danger of a driver run amok. Usually in these cases, where a pedestrian is not at fault, there is negligence on the part of the motorist, either in the form of speeding or drunk driving that can cause a driver to lose control of the car and ram it into pedestrians on the sidewalk. A speeding driver may be unable to stop in time to avoid pedestrians crossing at a designated crosswalk. Besides, motorists can be distracted talking on their cell phones, or reaching for something in the back seat, snacking, and may fail to spot pedestrians until it's too late. All these are examples of how motorists can fail in their duty to keep roads safe for all. They can also serve as grounds for holding the motorist liable for the injuries he has caused.

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