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

Yet another pit-bull attack in New Jersey resulting in serious wounds.  The Star Ledger recently reported that a 41 year-old woman from Union City was in her son’s apartment when her son’s two pit bulls attacked each other.  The woman and her son attempted to break up the fight when one of the pit bulls attacked them. The son received a minor bite on his hand and did not want to receive any medical attention. However, the woman had several puncture wounds on her right arm and was taken to the Jersey City Medical Center.

As a New Jersey dog bite lawyer, I can say that many of my clients have been attacked by pit-bulls or mixed breeds that likely had some pit bull in them.  However, the attacks also occur from a multitude of breeds and mixed breeds. The leading studies also reinforce this data. 

It has been my experience that the more severe dog bite victims often endure severe puncture wounds, bone crushing or bone piercing injuries of the face, arms, head, legs or other body parts.  Unfortunately, often times it is not just the physical scarring that will endure but the emotional scarring that may have an even more detrimental permanent effect on the victim.    This may occur when the victim of a severe and brutal dog bite attack suffers emotional trauma in the form of post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. 

The victims of severe dog bite attacks experiencing PTSD may lose the ability to cope with normal everyday situations.  For example; the victim may avoid many social situations for fear that a dog could be around.  Even a small non threatening dog could produce a tremendous amount of fear and anxiety to someone suffering from PTSD as a result of a dog attack.    This can be extremely debilitating and life altering.  The most severely affected dog bite victims will actually lose their freedom to just go for a simple walk around their neighborhood for fear of experiencing the horror once again. They relive the attack in their minds and something that may have lasted only a few seconds will seem like the longest moments of their lives. These victims endure their own “Vietnam War”. The PTSD can produce severe changes in the victim’s personality that may destroy their relationships and can even lead to the total breakdown of the family unit. 

After a severe dog bite attack if the victim begins to experience any of the above symptoms, receiving a proper diagnosis by a competent mental health professional is extremely important.  While ongoing long term psychotherapy may work well for some individuals, for others it is just too stressful and anxiety producing to re-enter the darkest and scariest moments of his or her life.       

Keep an eye out for future posts on this blog where I plan on revealing the problems with the laws in the state of New Jersey as they relate to the procedures that are to be taken by the authorities after a dog bite attack. My opinions are based on my experiences in representing victims of dog bite attacks in places like Paterson and Freehold as well as counties such as Bergen, Monmouth, Middlesex, Passaic and Ocean Counties.   

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New Jersey motorcycle riders continue to be involved in many deaths and serious injuries on our densely populated and over crowded roads.  As a matter of fact 87 deaths occurred between 2006 and 2007 according to a Trenton Times article which cites recent NJ motorcycle accident statistics from the New Jersey State Police. The good news is motorcycle fatalities decreased 15.5 percent – from 103 to 87. The bad news is 87 fatalities is the second-highest total recorded in the last 12 years. Furthermore, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2005, 27 percent of all fatally injured motorcycle operators had BAC levels of .08 g/dl. Forty-five percent of fatally injured motorcyclists did not wear helmets. Motorcyclists need to be more responsible with how much alcohol they drink and wearing helmets. Those two irresponsible acts can easily be avoided and help lower fatalities. New Jersey compared with recent national statistics has made some positive strides in reducing motorcycle fatalities but 87 deaths is still too many and we have a long way to go.

Who is at fault for this high number of deaths? Both the motorists and motorcyclists are at fault and need to be careful when sharing the road with each other. Motorists need to make sure they double-check their side and rearview mirrors for motorcycles passing by and motorcyclists need to take higher safety precautions when driving on busy roads.

Furthermore, motorcyclists need to become more aware of highway dangers and avoid making poor decisions. An example of a poor decision would be when there is heavy traffic on the roads so a motorcyclist decides they don’t want to wait in traffic so they drive in between lanes. Let’s say one of the cars decided to make a turn, that would put the motorcyclist in danger and at high speeds could result in a serious injury or even death. Motorcyclists do many things to cause their own danger. Other examples are speeding, making sharp turns, and driving too close to cars. Let’s make a better effort to become more aware of dangers and to make better choices.

While motorists make many mistakes on the road nothing is more deadly then a motorcyclist making a mistake. When driving a motorcycle you need to take extra precautions like driving the speed limit and always being aware of your surroundings.

Motorcycle fatalities have gone down statistically but what can we do to further reduce these incidents of serious motorcycle accidents in New Jersey? One idea is to further educate the public. May is now being recognized as the New Jersey Motorcycle Awareness Month in an effort to remind all motorcyclists and motorists to be responsible when sharing the road. Hopefully education will provide awareness of dangers on the road and what precautions drivers can take. Together we can lower the fatality numbers and make the road a safer place.

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• "Delay, deny, defend" is the battle cry for the auto insurance industry to protect their multi-billion dollar empire. In a recent report filed by CNN's Drew Griffin, he uncovered that this practice is rampant among the nation's auto insurance companies when people are injured in what insurance representatives consider a "minor impact" auto accident.   New Jersey attorneys representing persons who have suffered injuries in auto accidents have long experienced first hand these tactics of the nation's largest insurance companies.  Throughout the past decade I have represented many individuals that were involved in what the insurance company deemed a "minor impact" and as a result of the accident they suffered serious permanent injuries such as a herniated disc. Many times the injuries were so debilitating that after multiple steroid injections, extensive narcotics usage, physical therapy and chiropractic care, spinal surgery became the only option.   The suffering was very real.

 

 

• The auto insurance companies do not want the public to understand the most important of Newton's Laws on Physics.  Energy does not dissapear, it is transmitted to the impacted vehicle and hence to the occupants.  Often times at trial, after years of delays from the insurance company,  defense counsel will blow up a photo of the impacted vehicle that does not show significant property damage. A strategy frequently successful in having jurors draw an inference that the injuries claimed by the plaintiff are either untrue or if true they must have been from some other cause unrelated to the auto accident.  The CNN news story referenced above did an excellent job exposing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to insurance companies doing whatever it takes to put corporate profits above the interests of those very individuals they are supposed to help.  
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  • In New Jersey when you are involved in a motor vehicle accident, your medical bills are supposed to paid for through the PIP, Personal Injury Protection benefits of the injured persons' insurance company without regard to who caused the accident.  So in New Jersey,  the medical benefits through PIP coverage follows the person and not the vehicle.  However, the policy of denial often times happens through the issuance of a medical treatment cut-off or denial letter on the basis that the patient has reached MMI or maximum medical improvement.   This frequently occurs without consulting the treating physician or without even examining the patient.  Often the denial will be on the reccomendation of a physician advisor review.  This means that a physician of like specialty will review some of your medical records and decide for your insurance company, while being paid by that insurance company if you should be cut-of from further treatment regardless of what you may be feeling.  The system is driven to maximize profits by minimizing costs of medical care to insurance companies own insureds.  To add insult to injury, these corporate profits aren't even passed onto the consumer in the form of auto insurance rate reductions.  The PR spin shall continue........Blame the lawyers for your exorbitant auto insurance rates. It works each year after year along with the deeply ingrained favorite phrase of the insurance corporate elite ..."TORT REFORM".   
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  • Please read the CNN article linked above and I invite all who are interested or who have personal stories to tell to respond to this post. 
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