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

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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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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Two fatal pedestrian accidents, one in Tinton Falls in Monmouth County and the other in Point Pleasant in Ocean County, have been reported. In the Tinton Falls accident, 21-year-old Patrick Ryan was killed when he was hit by a truck in the middle of the night.  According to the driver of the box truck Charles Luckey, Ryan was wearing dark colored clothing and he saw him only when it was too late to avoid hitting him. Ryan was rushed to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, but was declared dead. In the other accident in Point Pleasant, a 53-year-old woman was hit while crossing route 88. The accident occurred on a Sunday night, and the victim Virginia Byron was rushed to Ocean Medical Center in Brick where she was declared dead. According to the driver of the car that struck Byron, she was wearing dark colored clothing and he did not see her until the pick up truck hit her. In both cases, Monmouth County and Ocean County teams are investigating each accident.

We’ve seen a series of fatal pedestrian accidents in New Jersey recently. Several of these accidents have taken place during the night time, but many have occurred in the bright day light when pedestrians were walking on the sidewalk or crossing on designated cross walks, when motorists who were driving responsibly should have been able to see the pedestrians and been able to avoid hitting them. While wearing dark colored clothing at night is undesirable behavior for a pedestrian, I’ve seen my share of accidents in my New Jersey personal injury lawyer practice where the pedestrian was entirely in the right, and still got hit anyway. According to statistics from the non profit group Tri-State Transportation Campaign, the fatality rate for pedestrian and bicyclists each year in New Jersey is 150, which is 20% more than the national average. In 2007, pedestrians made up 11% of all accident related fatalities in the country. In New Jersey, the figure was 21%.                                               

A big reason for this is may be that more people seem to be walking to work in New Jersey than in many other states in the country. According to US census statistics, 26% more New Jerseyans walked to work from 2002 to 2006 while in the rest of the country, the increase in the number of people walking to work had only risen by 7%. Rising gas prices and global warming concerns have lead to more numbers of people taking to walking as a means of getting around. It also doesn’t help that New Jersey has the highest population density among states in the US. The state has been spending more on increasing pedestrian safety, but the number of programs that need funding far outnumber the dollars available.

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Image Courtesy: Flickr - Mlcastle

A man and a woman were killed in two separate pedestrian accidents in Freehold Township and Carteret last month. In Carteret, Kimberly McMickle was killed when she was crossing the street with her friend. In Freehold Township, Toribio Garcia Jiminez, was struck on Route 9. Both accidents continue to be investigated, but it's probably time to step back and see how we can reduce our chances of becoming one of New Jersey's pedestrian accident statistics. It seems that those road safety lessons that our parents taught us are still as valid now as they've always been. In other words: 

• Walk only on the sidewalk.
• Don’t blindly step out onto traffic without looking around first.
• Obey pedestrian traffic signs diligently.
• Cross on a designated, clearly marked crosswalk.
• That old "look left, then right, then left again" rule? It still makes as much sense today as it did when you were a kid.
• Pay attention to vehicles around you.
• Avoid walking with your back to traffic
• Don’t be distracted. If you have to use the cell phone, stop for a while at a safe spot, finish your conversation, and then move on. 
• Drinking and walking is just as dangerous as drinking and driving.
• Wear sensible clothing and comfortable footwear. Don’t wear dark colors if you're walking at night. If possible, wear reflective clothing in the dark.

Motorists can do their bit to make sure that we see fewer needless pedestrian deaths on our streets. 

• Be aware of pedestrian movements. Look out for pedestrians at particular danger spots, like at a turning or an intersection where many accidents are likely to occur.
• Stay within speed limits.
• Don’t drink and drive.
• Switch off your cell phone. All the above three impair your driving skills, and make it harder for you to spot a pedestrian.

Sometimes, an accident can occur even when a pedestrian plays by the rules. In such cases, the accident can often be traced to the negligence of the motorist, or a design flaw in the road that makes it dangerous for pedestrians. In such cases, there may be more than one party who can be named in a civil liability lawsuit including the motorist, as well as any local agencies that may have been responsible for the road construction and design.   A Monmouth county pedestrian accident lawyer will conduct his own private investigation of the accident scene to ascertain responsibility for the accident. If you or a loved one have been injured in a pedestrian accident, contact a Monmouth County pedestrian accident lawyer at my office for a free evaluation of your claim. 

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A pedestrian accident in Franklin Township, New Jersey brought home once again how much in danger pedestrians are as they use our streets. Israel D. Hernandez D. Garcia was crossing the road when he was struck by a car. By the time paramedics arrived at the scene, he had suffered massive head trauma. Paramedics were unable to revive him, and he died at the scene of the accident. Investigations into the accident, by both the Franklin Police Department as well as the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office Collision Analysis Reconstruction Team, are ongoing.

Pedestrian accidents can sometimes be at least partially the fault of the pedestrian himself, but in many cases, there is negligence and oversight on the part of motorists. In many cases, a pedestrian could be following all the rules of the road, crossing a busy intersection when the signal says Walk, or keeping to a sidewalk, and still be mowed down by a speeding motorist. In other cases, an intoxicated motorist can lose control of his vehicle, ending up on the sidewalk striking pedestrians. Other reasons include failing to slow down for pedestrians at turnings, as well as other sundry distractions like cell phone use. In short, pedestrian accidents, more often than not, are the result of motorist negligence and aggressive driving behavior. Injuries sustained by a pedestrian in a collision with a vehicle can be some of the most severe. Impact can throw a person several dozens of feet into the air, slamming him to the ground with devastating force. In too many cases, instantaneous death, or catastrophic ones like spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injuries result.

Pursuing Pedestrian Accident Claims in New Jersey

Recovering damages for medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering in a pedestrian accident case in New Jersey involves proving that there was a clear negligence on the part of the motorist, and that this negligence resulted in injuries to the pedestrian. That's not always so simple and straightforward. Insurance companies have a vested interest in trying to limit the amount of damages by proving that the accident was the pedestrian's fault. If you've been injured in a pedestrian accident, talk to a New Jersey personal injury lawyer before you talk to anybody else, including the insurers, to ascertain your options for compensation.

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