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

A New Jersey husband and wife, who were seriously injured in a motorcycle accident they blame on a young driver texting at the wheel, are calling for stricter punishments for those who indulge in such distracted driving.

Linda and David Kubert were motorcycling in Morris County when they were struck by a pickup truck. The Kuberts say they saw the driver of the pickup truck using his cell phone at the time of the crash. The two were seriously injured in the motorcycle accident. Both lost a leg each. The 18 year old driver meanwhile, got away with a slap on the wrist. He received three tickets - for using a handheld cell phone, careless driving and making an unsafe lane change.

The Kuberts have now begun a campaign to strengthen penalties for drivers who use hand held cell phones while driving.  They say they are extremely distressed about the light punishments handed out to motorists, who think nothing of carrying out text conversations while driving.

Kubert has written to State Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney, and is planning to write to more legislators to pressure them to increase penalties on drivers who violate the texting ban. The $100 fine that motorists can now expect if they use a handheld phone behind the wheel, is not enough of a deterrent, the Kuberts believe.

As a New Jersey motorcycle accident lawyer, who would like to see harsher penalties for texting while driving, I agree. There is very little point in having laws with no bite. A hundred dollars is not much of a penalty when you consider what the Kuberts have lost. Currently, Utah has something approaching harsh penalties for texting drivers - 3 months in jail and up to $750 in fines. We need to have similar deterrents in New Jersey.

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A jury in Monmouth County has found a Marlboro man guilty in a fatal alcohol-related motorcycle accident that occurred in 2007.  John Lombardo Jr. was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving.

Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mellaci Jr cited Lombardo’s prior record for ordering that his bail be increased to $250,000. Lombardo has one previous drunk driving conviction, besides two other convictions for reckless driving and two convictions for drug possession. On the 22^nd of March, Lombardo was again cited by Brick Township police for driving under a suspended license. The judge also frowned on Lombardo’s attempts to name-drop his way out of trouble. On the night of the accident in which Lombardo struck a motorcycle carrying 39-year-old Teresa Kling and her fiancé Michael Crowell, Lombardo told the police officer who pulled him over, about friends he had in law enforcement.

Kling sustained fatal injuries in the crash. Lombardo was found two miles away from the accident scene, and forensic evidence showed that his pickup tuck had come in contact with the motorcycle Kling and Crowell were riding on. When blood alcohol tests were conducted, they revealed a blood alcohol level of .19 percent.   

Earlier this month, I discussed the decline in alcohol-related car accident fatalities across the country, including in New Jersey. Those trends have been seen for several years now. Tougher laws against drunk drivers, stronger prosecution, and enhanced use of awareness campaigns have reduced our tolerance of drunk drivers, and brought down the number of fatalities in accidents involving these motorists. New Jersey personal injury lawyers, I'd like to believe, have done their bit to hold such reckless motorists accountable in a civil court.

When I come across cases like this however, it becomes clear that we still have a long way to go.

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A fatal motorcycle accident earlier this month in Jackson Township is putting the spotlight on a dangerous road that has been responsible for serious accidents earlier.

The East Veteran's highway was the scene of a motorcycle accident caused when a dump truck driver failed to yield for a motorcyclist. The rider, Ronald Pern Sr. hit the truck, and sustained serious injuries. He died a while later.  Pern apparently had the right of way at the time of the crash.

A similar accident in December involved a vehicle that failed to yield, and five people sustained serious injuries in that accident. According to JacksonNJONline.com, the East Veteran's highway winds several miles with no traffic lights. Residents in the area have complained about the dangerous highway, and even petitioned authorities for enhancements to be made to the highway. They have lobbied for school bus stops along the road. But these appeals have been rejected by the school board. This is in spite of the several fatal accidents that occur on the stretch every year. The County engineering department has blamed the accident on poor enforcement by the Jackson Township Police Department, and reckless motorists who run stop lights in a hurry to get home.

What's happening in Jackson Township is something that New Jersey personal injury lawyers see happening all too often in the state. The city blames the county, the county blames state agencies, and everyone else, while motorists feel encouraged to flout traffic rules without fear from traffic enforcement agencies that are chronically understaffed. In all this, it's innocent people like Ronald Pern Sr. who suffer the consequences.

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Motorcycle accidents and related fatalities and traumatic injuries is a serous problem in both New Jersey and our neighboring states. A recent article from The Express-Times reports a 27 year old was recently riding his motorcycle south on Route 611 about 2 a.m. when he veered into the northbound lane and crashed into a curb apparently suffering serious injuries. The police do not know what caused the rider to crash into the curb and the crash is under investigation.

 As Monmouth County and New Jersey motorcycle accident attorney I have witnessed first hand the devastating life altering effects of motorcycle crashes. In this particular situation there could be many factors that made the rider swerve into the opposite lane leading him to strike the curb. What ever the cause of the accident may be, drivers on the road have to make sure they are careful around motorcycle riders. A simple act of having your high beams on can blind a driver and when the driver is a motorcycle rider they can more easily lose control and crash. One way to simply lower the motorcycle fatalities is to always keep a safe distance between your vehicle and the motorcycle and always proceed with caution before entering into a turn or a lane change. Motor vehicle drivers can do their part by being more responsible on the road and hopefully motorcycle riders will do their part by taking the right safety precautions.

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