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

A five-year-old girl sustained serious injuries in an accident on the Garden State Parkway this week. The girl was in an SUV. According to the report, it appears that the driver of the SUV was trying to avoid a massive block of Styrofoam that was on the highway, and the SUV flipped over. There were a total of nine people in the car, including three adults and five children. All the others are also reported to have been injured. However, their injuries don’t seem to have been life threatening.

According to the Ashbury Park Press, it appears that the Styrofoam block had fallen off a vehicle belonging to Railroad Construction Co. Inc. The company is engaged in some work on the Parkway, although it’s not clear if the fallen debris was part of that work.

No one knows yet if the child was wearing a seatbelt the time of the crash. However, a SUV rollover could result in children being ejected from their seats, especially if the child was in a booster seat. My prayers are with this family, which is still recovering from their injuries.

I would wait for the investigation to be completed before commenting, but if the debris fell off a vehicle belonging to a construction company, then the company has a lot to answer for. Unsecured cargo can be a risk in more ways than one, as this tragic accident shows.

Scott Grossman is a Monmouth County injury lawyer representing injured victims of auto and truck accidents in Holmdel, Freehold and around Monmouth County.

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A bus accident involving a hotel shuttle bus and another bus at Newark Liberty International Airport have killed one person, and left three injured.

According to news reports, the shuttle bus which was operated by the Marriott Hotel at Newark Airport, collided with a First Transit bus that was carrying Fed-X employees on Wednesday.  The driver of the shuttle bus sustained fatal injuries. The driver of the other bus, as well as one passenger in the shuttle bus sustained serious injuries, and are receiving treatment.

Bus accidents can involve school buses, public transportation buses, charter buses, tour buses,  contract buses etc. Civil litigation arising out of a bus accident can be complex because of the number of parties who may be liable. Individuals who have been injured or lost their loved ones in an accident are required to file such claims before the statute of limitations, or the time limit to file a claim, runs out. The statute of limitation for auto accidents in our state is two years from the date of the accident.

Injured persons may feel  pressured to settle with the bus owner or operator. In cases of accidents involving public transportation buses that are owned by public agencies, litigation becomes even more complex and takes a longer period of time. It’s important to consult with a New Jersey bus accident lawyer before negotiating with the parties involved.

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According to a report in the Washington Post, you're more likely to die in an accident caused by a defect in the design or maintenance of the road, than by speeding, drunk driving or failure to wear a seatbelt.

A study commissioned by the Transportation Construction Coalition and released last week says that more than 50 percent of the automobile accidents that take place in the country are caused because of a defective or dangerous highway. According to the report, poor roadway design or maintenance was a factor in approximately 22,000 accident-related fatalities annually. These fatalities cost the economy $217.5 billion each year. In comparison, fatalities caused by speeding-related accidents cost $130 billion, speeding related accidents cost the economy $97 billon, and failure to wear seatbelts resulted in costs of $60 billion to the economy. Yet, accident fatality prevention efforts in our country seem to focus heavily on drunk drivers and speeders (which is absolutely necessary) and seatbelt enforcement, with little attention paid to the obstructive utility poles, the lack of barriers, the barely visible signs and other roadway defects that cause most of these accidents.

Much of the problem, the report says, occurs because of defects on older roads and back roads. These roads, which were built for exponentially fewer numbers of automobiles, haven’t kept pace with the rapid growth of populations, and the large number of automobiles on our roads today. The study calls for more investments in infrastructure development, including construction, repairs and maintenance of our back roads.

The Federal Highway Administration agrees that making highway improvements would save lives. With $16 billion from the federal stimulus funds currently tied up  in highway improvement projects around the country, we could see the impact in the form of a drop in accident-related fatalities in the years to come.

In New Jersey, work has already begun on massive highway development projects, involving an expenditure of $389 million. Projects that will be paid for by stimulus money include those in Bergen, Monmouth, Passaic, Essex, Hudson, Somerset Counties etc. As a New Jersey personal injury lawyer who frequently represents victims of accidents in these areas, I couldn't be happier about these investments in safer roads for all.

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As a Bergen County personal injury lawyer, I have followed the Robert Higbee case with interest, and have discussed it earlier on this blog. A jury has now cleared the New Jersey State trooper in charges resulting from a car accident in Cape May County in 2006. Higbee was accused of running a stop sign while engaged in a pursuit with his light and siren off, resulting in a fatal collision with a van.

On September 27^th 2006, Higbee was on duty racing through an Upper Township neighborhood in pursuit of a speeding car. He was driving at over 79 mph when he allegedly ran a stop sign. His car crashed into a van containing Jacqueline and Christina Becker. The teenage girls suffered massive head injuries in the car accident, and died. Robert Higbee was charged with death by auto. Higbee denied ever having been seen the stop sign that he allegedly ran. He testified that his concentration was focused on the speeding car that was pursuing. If convicted, he could have faced  five to ten years in prison. 

The decision to file charges against Higbee had generated strong protests from the police union who have held that the accident was just that - an accident. According to David Jones, head of the main state police union, if Higbee had been found guilty, it would have negatively impacted  law enforcement officers who had unintentional "bad outcomes” in the performance of their duties.

The verdict brought to an end an agonizing trial in which the deaths of the two girls were played out again and again. The girls' mother, Maria Caiafa has voiced her anguish at the decision. Caiafa - who had earlier this year settled for $2 million with the state - believes that the verdict sends law enforcement officers the wrong message – that it’s OK for innocent motorists and bystanders to pay when officers make a mistake.

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There's something unspeakably sad about an elderly person dying in an accident. A 75-year-old man was killed earlier this month when he was struck by a car while trying to cross the road near the Young Israel of Aberdeen temple in Aberdeen Township. Phillip J. Shiffman had been on his way home from a synagogue.  He was rushed to the Bayshore Community Hospital in Holmdel, but died a short while later.

Now, residents are calling for the installation of a crosswalk at Lloyd Road near Idlewild Lane where the pedestrian accident took place. Aberdeen Township authorities have contacted Monmouth County authorities to look into the installation of a crosswalk and other safety precautions in the area. The area doesn’t have heavy pedestrian traffic, but it does have an elementary school.

At Shiffman’s synagogue, worshipers who attend prayer services in the evening have been advised to take precautions to prevent an accident till any safety devices are installed. Aberdeen Township Police Chief John Powers has a few tips for worshipers.

• Wear bright colored clothing while walking in dark areas.
• Cross the roads only at controlled intersections.
• Whenever available, use sidewalks.

As a Monmouth County pedestrian accident lawyer I would like to throw in my tips to the list:

• Always be aware of your surroundings, including the movement of vehicles.
• Avoid distractions, like talking on the cell phone or listening to your iPod while walking.  
• Walking home after having had too much to drink can be just as dangerous as driving home intoxicated.

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There have been no studies to show if drivers who are on a suspended license are more likely to cause an accident than a motorist driving with a valid license. However, a study done last year in Maine revealed that motorists struck by a driver with a suspended license are six times more likely to die than those involved in a car accident with someone having a valid license. Besides, drivers with a suspended license are ten times more likely to indulge in driving under the influence and other reckless behaviors.

At least five percent of New Jersey's 6 million licensed drivers have had their license suspended or revoked at least once in their motoring lives. Far too many of these drivers, as this Star-Ledger editorial discusses, think little of getting back in their car and driving off.

Last November, an East Brunswick accident killed a father of three.  The other motorist in that accident, Steven Osadacz had been driving on a license suspended till 2030. He had a total of six prior DUI offences.  Last month, an East Rutherford resident crashed his SUV into a pick up truck in Morris Township.  That driver Shaun Campbell bill had had his license suspended a total of 78 times, including 12 suspensions for driving under the influence.

It's simply far too easy for drivers who are driving under suspended licenses to go back to their lives after they've been caught. We should be making it harder for suspended drivers to be behind the wheel of a car again. Instead these drivers are free to get back into their cars and drive off recklessly, sometimes with devastating consequences.

There are reasons for this. The state simply can't afford the kind of enforcement necessary to keep these drivers off the road. As a Monmouth county accident lawyer and a concerned citizen, it makes no sense to me that Shaun Campbell's license  had been suspended a total of 12 times for DUI, and he was still able to get back into his car again and drive into a pickup truck. Stephen Fagbewesa, the father who died in the East Brunswick crash was killed by a driver whose license was suspended till 2030. If license suspensions have not been a deterrent to drivers like these and probably hundreds of others who see nothing wrong in driving anyway, then you wonder what use are such toothless suspensions anyway. At the very least there should be more bite in New Jersey's license suspension laws.

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We have to wait till next year to see if Kyleigh’s Law will actually reduce the number of car accidents involving teen drivers, but the legislation has already generated plenty of heat.

Just under two weeks ago, Governor Jon Corzine signed the legislation that will require drivers below the age of 21 who don’t have full driving privileges yet, to display an identifying decal on their vehicles, allowing officers to distinguish them from others. The law is first of its kind to be passed in the country, and the main intent is to make these younger and inexperienced drivers easily identifiable.

The law is named after Morris County teenager Kyleigh D’Alessio, who died in a car accident involving a teenage driver. The decal itself will be a small rectangle affixed to both front and back license plates, enabling police to identify these drivers easily. According to the New Jersey Division of Highway Safety, cops will identify teen drivers violating curfews, or passenger restrictions with the help of the decals.

Not surprisingly, teen drivers have not been too happy about a law they say is equivalent to profiling on the basis of age. One attorney in Rockaway has already filed a lawsuit to overturn the law on behalf of his teenage son and nephew. According to lawyer Gregg D Trautmann who’s suing the governor and state of New Jersey, the law would give police a free pass to pull over and harass young drivers needlessly. Besides, criminals including sex offenders, would be able to identify young drivers through the decals on their cars.

However, New Jersey’s car accident lawyers and law enforcement agencies have wholeheartedly supported the bill. It’s a fact that accidents are the number one cause of teen deaths. According to the Teen Driver Study Commission, there were 55,792 teen-related accidents in New Jersey in 2006. These left 48 teen drivers and 19 teen passengers dead. The Teen Driver Study Commission had made a set of recommendations to Governor Corzine, including the development of an identifier that could mark a vehicle driven by a new driver with a permit or probationary license, and make the vehicle easily identifiable.

We need to be making more efforts to instill safe driving practices among our teen drivers, and if an identifying system helps us monitor and correct teen driving behavior than this Monmouth County personal injury lawyer is all for it.

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This year alone, four people have died in accidents walking on the New Jersey Turnpike or the Garden State Parkway. Only four months into 2009, and the death toll has already touched the number of drivers killed walking on these two highways, the busiest in New Jersey, in 2008. 

The problem is serious enough for the New Jersey Turnpike authority to launch an education campaign asking motorists to remain in their cars when they pull over. Both the turnpike and parkway are New Jersey's busiest highways, and approximately 2 million vehicles use these highways every day. The awareness campaign encourages drivers to stay in their cars, and not step out. It includes warning signs that have been posted on electronic message boards along the turnpike or the parkway. Over the next few weeks, authorities plan to have fliers and signs warning motorists on rest stops and toll plazas.  

MonmouthCounty Accident Attorneys

MonmouthCounty accident lawyers have come across such behavior from motorists. While some get off to inspect a blown out tire or other car problem, others may be under the influence of alcohol when they get hit by a vehicle on the busy highway. In almost all cases, the collision between a pedestrian on the highway and a vehicle is either fatal, or leaves the pedestrian with very serious injuries.

Motorists may either not be aware of how dangerous getting out of your vehicle on a busy highway is, or may be under the influence of alcohol, and simply don’t' care. In some cases, the accident is the result of pure bad luck, while in others, drivers don’t realize the consequences of their actions until it’s too late. Like Barry Gilman, an East Brunswick resident who pulled his car over on the turnpike. The car it appears, was accidentally put in reverse, and drifted off onto the highway. In a panic, Gilman tried to follow his car to stop it. He never made it. He was hit by a tractor trailer, and died.

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Teenagers remain more at risk for a drunk driving accident than older drivers. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, alcohol is linked to at least 24 percent of all accident-related deaths involving a male teen driver. Those may seem like mere statistics, but for New Jersey car accident lawyers who constantly deal with accident victims,  and at least one Hudson County family, those numbers are now all too personal and painful. The Colilla family of Lyndhurst, New Jersey is mourning the death of their 19-year-old daughter who was killed in a drunk driving accident in North Bergen on March 13^th. The driver of the car Tyla was traveling in, has now been charged with death by auto.

Soon after the accident, in which he crashed his car that was carrying two other passengers besides Tyla Colilla, into a support wall, the driver Jesse A. Saquipulla was found to have a blood alcohol level of .12.  The other two passengers, like Saquipulla suffered minor injuries. 

Painful as the Colilla's tragedy is, it's far from unique. While drunk driving accident rates in the rest of the population, have shown a decline in recent years because of better education and greater enforcement, those involving teen drivers have been showing an alarmingly opposing trend. Adding to the problem of teen underage drinking is a host of other factors that seem to compound the problem. For instance, teens are less likely to wear seatbelts than adult drivers, and are also more likely to indulge in other driving behaviors that may mitigate the problem, like listening to loud music, talking with friends in the car, snacking, talking on the cell phone etc. it doesn't help that members of this age group are more likely to indulge in reckless driving, like speeding and tailgating. When you add alcohol use to what is already a combination of risky driving factors, it's easy to understand why there has been such an increase in the number of accidents involving teens.

All is not without hope, however. Studies show that teens whose parents encourage discussions about the dangers of drunk driving at home are less likely to drive under the influence. Also, teens who have been exposed to strong and effective drunk driving awareness campaigns, both in school and outside have a lesser risk of driving drunk. Underage drinking not only destroys the lives and future of these young people, but costs society heavily in lives lost and expensive and long term medical treatment for the severely injured who survive these accidents.

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New Jersey's share of the federal stimulus package funds may well end up lowering the state's accident rates. According to Senator Frank Lautenberg, the funds will be used for repairing deficient roadways highways and bridges. In fact that is probably going to the one of the biggest priorities, if not the biggest one for the administration.

The state is expecting over $1 billion worth of federal money for roadway and railway improvement projects. That’s about a 30% increase in the state's yearly budget for these facilities. Governor Jon Corzine, who has been a vocal supporter of President Obama’s plan has also confirmed that repairing roads and constructing new ones will be a priority. Rebuilding infrastructure using stimulus money is not likely to cause complaints even among opponents of the federal stimulus plan, because of the substantial job generating potential it has. In an economic downturn, as states all over the country begin to chalk out plans for what they are going to do with their stimulus funds, programs that result in job generation will obviously receive higher priority. Infrastructure projects will mean jobs for construction workers, like masonry workers, crane and heavy equipment operators, contractors and several others. 

Most importantly, from a New Jersey car accident lawyer's point of view, these new roads, highways and perhaps sidewalks and crosswalks, will mean greater safety for all citizens. I’m hoping the funds will be used to make roads and sidewalks safer for pedestrians in the state. New Jersey has one of the highest rates of pedestrian deaths in the country. Lawmakers have for too long neglected pedestrian safety concerns in favor of major infrastructure development projects that are geared towards automobile convenience. That mindset has to change. There are more people walking to work now than ever before, and making the streets safer for them must go back to being one of the key points of infrastructure planning.  Recently, a Freehold woman and her two daughters were injured when they were struck by a car as they crossed the road. In New Jersey, we are getting to comfortable with the notion that crossing the street, even on a designated crosswalk is a highly dangerous activity for the pedestrian, and fraught with risk. It shouldn’t have to be this way, and hopefully some of the money is going to trickle down to Monmouth County and Bergen County for safer roads for all.

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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. 

Debate over the red light camera systems, which are currently in place across 300 communities in the country, has raged. Critics have argued that this is just another way for cities to line their pockets with revenues generated from ticketing. There have also been concerns that frequent offenders will simply find a way to cheat the system. Motorists who also intend to run the red light and spot the camera at the last minute may brake suddenly, raising the risk of an accident.

While some of these concerns may be valid, they are minor when compared to the potential benefits of these red light cameras. As far as the system eating into municipality funds goes, much of the cost will be borne through tickets issued to violators. In New York City, which has the oldest red light camera program in the country, there has been a 75% decline in the number of accidents at these intersections. In my Monmouth county, Bergen county, Passaic county , Middlesex County personal injury law firm practice I often represent victims who met with an accident just moments after another motorist ran a red light. There have to be measures implemented to prevent these violations, and the red light camera system, while it may have its imperfections, is definitely a step in the right direction. When violators break traffic rules, they risk the lives of other motorists, and that should be unacceptable to New Jersey car accident lawyers.

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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.

This wasn't a man who was a stranger to runs ins with the law when it came to his driving skills, or lack of them. At the time of the accident that killed Bell, Smith had a grand total of 27 points as well as 5 suspensions on his record. These related to reckless and careless driving, as well as speeding. All of these were accumulated in less than 12 months of driving. In fact, his license had been suspended for 150 days as recently as four months before the accident.

The basketball star promised after the accident that he would clean up his act and take more care on the roads. That doesn't seem to have happened at all. Since the crash, Smith has gone on to collect at least three more suspensions and two more tickets for speeding. In July of 2008, he had his license suspended again, this time for a period of two years. With a grand jury indictment out of Smith's immediate future, he doesn’t have to worry about facing any prison time for his role in the accident, although he will continue to face motor vehicle summonses. 

You can't accuse Smith of not having his priorities right. When asked about his reaction to the decision of the grand jury, he was nonchalant -  

"It was a relief that I get to keep playing basketball"

One of his best friends is dead in a car accident that was caused due to Smith's own rash driving, and wanton disregard for traffic laws, and all he cares about is shooting hoops? Such disdain for the life of others is not only troubling, but I suspect it must also be infuriating to the family of Andre Bell, who've had to ensure a terrible tragedy. 

Unfortunately, all too often, criminal courts may not deliver the kind of justice victims' families need, which is exactly where civil courts and Monmouth County accident lawyers come in.   

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