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

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. 

As of now, no charges have been filed against the truck driver Joseph Singh, but state police are not ruling out the possibility that there may be charges filed here. Soon after the truck accident, police had indicated that there was evidence to believe that Singh was driving too fast as he neared the curve where the truck overturned.

As a New Jersey truck accident lawyer, I know that investigating an accident involving a tractor trailer can be a long and complex process that can take months.  Investigations can include talking to witnesses, poring through the driver's log books, hiring experts etc.

There are so many factors that can be responsible for an accident.

• The truck driver may have been fatigued at the time of the crash.
• He may have been driving at excessive speeds. (That can include driving above the posted speed limits for trucks, as well as driving too fast for traffic conditions).
• There could have been a malfunctioning component on the truck.
• Poor design of the highway or faulty road maintenance could have caused an accident.
• The driver could have been driving under the influence of alcohol.

In some cases, there may be a combination of factors involved in a crash, making it more complicated to name parties in a claim.

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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.

Earlier this year, I had discussed the Safe Highways and Infrastructure Preservation Act of 2009 which could expand current and weight and size limits on trucks to the entire national highway system. We have far too many accidents involving serious injures and deaths involving these massive vehicles and allowing larger heavier trucks will only increase the risk of danger to smaller vehicles when they have to share the road with them.

Victim’s families have taken a proactive role in making their concerns apparent to legislators. These families include the parents of a young woman who was killed when the wheel of the tractor trailer came loose, and crashed through the windshield of her car.

Tractor trailers at their current size and weight are a risk to motorists. These risks may or may not be a direct result of their size and weight.  I see a lot of accidents that are the result of poor truck maintenance, fatigued or drunk drivers and reckless driving. Nevertheless, larger tractor trailers would simply mean that truck drivers would find it even harder to drive these massive vehicles than they do now. Even with the current weight limits on trucks, we have too many cases of big rigs jackknifing and overturning with devastating consequences for motorists nearby.  

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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.

The trucking industry is opposing any such bill. They are instead supporting another piece of legislation called the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act of 2009. This bill will actually increase weight limits to up to 97,000 pounds. Larger trucks for these companies would mean the ability to carry heavier loads, thus saving on transportation expenses. A 97,000 pound truck would require fewer numbers of trips to transport the same amount of cargo. The cost savings for these companies are potentially huge, but the risk of devastating accidents with serious injuries and fatalities is great. Joining the trucking companies in support of the bill is the produce industry, including growers and shippers’ groups.

A large heavier truck is going to be even more difficult to navigate on busy highways. Motorists will be at risk from out of control tractor trailers, a jackknifed big rig or a large truck that’s tailgating. While increasing productivity may be important during a time of recession, Monmouth County truck accident lawyers feel that we need to safeguard public safety too. In any case, the costs resulting from accidents involving these large commercial trucks is far too severe to ignore.

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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.

The bill has already found strong support from the Teamsters Union, the Owner-Operators Independent Drivers Association as well as New Jersey truck accident lawyers.

There are already far too many serious and fatal accidents involving these large commercial trucks on our highways. Many of these result in life altering injuries like spinal cord injuries and brain injuries  that not only rob the victim of his life as it was before the accident, but also end up heavily straining the public healthcare system, and consequently, our economy. Our existing transportation infrastructure is already bursting at the seams, and is in need of substantial renovation and repairs. With a recession in full swing, finding the money to improve existing highways is going to be hard. Allowing heavier and larger trucks into the situation would simply aggravate an already stressful truck traffic situation.

We can expect opposition from the trucking industry which  would like nothing better than to introduce larger, bulkier trucks capable of carrying bigger loads.  Bigger trucks would make more business sense to these companies, and lead to higher profits. However, it would place smaller passenger vehicles around the country at an even greater risk than the one they face now while sharing the road with a big rig. Besides, the bill would contribute to savings in highway repairs, because of the reduced wear and tear on our roads, thereby preventing other accidents as well..

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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.

It's too early to determine the series of events that resulted in this accident. It appears as though the overturned tractor trailer set off the collision of the car and the passenger van. It's easy to understand how that might happen. In an accident involving a tractor trailer, motorists in the vicinity tend to panic and frantically try to avoid hitting the large truck. This can lead to multi-vehicle crashes as drivers around lose control of their cars trying to avoid the massive vehicle. A tractor trailer can also overturn when there is a shift in its center of gravity or when there is loss of control by the driver. There can be a number of reasons why the center of gravity shifts. For instance, a minor collision can cause a shift leading to the truck toppling over. A tire blowout because of defective tires can also send the large truck careening out of control, and eventually overturning. Besides, driving at unsafe speeds can cause the vehicle to flip over. A truck accident can also end up creating an explosive situation when there is a fuel spill after the accident. This places other motorists on the road at an even greater danger.

Police investigating the case are likely to begin by probing the reasons for the truck rollover.  This includes conducting drug alcohol testing on the driver, determining his speed at the time of the crash, and inspecting the truck for signs of improper maintenance. Persons injured in a truck accident caused due to the negligence or reckless driving of the truck driver can claim damages with the help of a truck accident lawyer who can determine the extent of liability.

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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.

As you may expect, the trucking industry has a problem with the rule, like they seem to do with just about any other legislation that aims to make motorists on the road safe from the special dangers these big rigs pose. They argue that it would simply take too much time to clean their large 18 wheelers of ice before a driver begins to operate the vehicle. Besides, they claim, Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules don’t allow drivers to climb aboard a 13-foot high 18 wheeler.

Bergen County truck accident lawyers like me have always been exasperated by the trucking industry's petulance every time any legislation that requires them to make the slightest effort to improve the safety of their vehicles, makes an appearance. Such behavior should not come in the way of this bill being passed.  There are ways for the trucking fraternity to deal with the minor problems they may face enforcing any such legislation, and the industry should  be making efforts to look at how they can best comply with these rules instead of complaining.

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