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

A new rule which goes into immediate effect, bans commercial truck drivers and bus drivers from sending and receiving text messages while driving. The new rule was announced by the Department of Transportation this week, and aims to cut down on the risk of accidents from truck drivers distracted by texting at the wheel.

The ban is a part of efforts by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to deal with the problem of distracted driving. . Secretary LaHood has taken up the issue with great enthusiasm, and has been responsible for a number of recent steps that aim to eliminate these risks.

As a Monmouth County truck accident lawyer, I find this new rule very encouraging and a great start to dealing with the problem of distracted driving. . But the fact is that there are other factors that need to be dealt with as far as truck safety is concerned. Truck drivers continue to be at risk from the use of computers that they use to receive instructions from their main offices. A trucker is prohibited from using these computers while the truck is in operation. However, use of these computers while the rig is in motion happens more often than we like to think about.

Last year, a study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute measured the risk of accidents from text messaging by truck drivers, and found that the risk increased by up to 23 times. The Virginia Tech study also measured the effect of distraction from the computers in the cabs, and found that these increased the risk of an accident by up to 10 times. The Department of Transportation has said that it will take up the issue of the use of computers in commercial trucks very soon.

Scott Grossman is a Monmouth County truck accident lawyer, representing injured victims of truck, tractor trailer and semi truck accidents in Freehold, Howell, Aberdeen, Marlboro and across Monmouth County and the state of New Jersey.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

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.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Improper parking by commercial trucks on highway shoulders and other areas is a less frequent, but important cause of accidents in New Jersey. In a tragic example of this, an Edison man was killed in a fatal truck accident on Interstate 78, when his car struck a parked tractor trailer.

Jose Rodriguez was driving a passenger vehicle when he apparently lost control of the car, and crashed it into a tractor trailer that was parked on the right highway shoulder. Rodriguez's car bust into flames on impact. He suffered severe head trauma and died.

According to the NHTSA, there are several reasons why drivers may have to park their vehicle on the highway shoulder. The driver may have to pull over if the vehicle suffers from a mechanical failure. Truckers who have been working long hours and need a break may feel the need to pull over to take a rest break. There may be other reasons for the driver parking his vehicle in such a manner. For instance, some of these trucks may need to make early morning deliveries, and when they reach the delivery site earlier, may have to park the vehicle till the site opens. Alcohol use by the driver is also linked to a large number of such accidents. It’s not surprising that most truck accidents linked to improper parking occur between midnight and 6 in the morning. This particular accident occurred just after 6 in the morning.

Interstate 78 and 287 saw five fatalities in 1994, in accidents involving cars crashing into trucks parked on the shoulder. Following that, rumble strips were installed to alert drivers in danger of veering off the road. The Department of Transportation has considered proposals to install rest stops on both 78 and 287, but opposition from locals has put the speed breakers on these plans. Monmouth County truck accident lawyers see such accidents less frequently than other kinds of accidents. But these are still a significant factor in crashes, which is why we should be more concerned about them.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

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.  

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

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..

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

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.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link