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

The second Distracted Driving Summit will be held in September this year in Washington DC. 

Last year’s first ever Distracted Driving Summit was followed by major advances in combating the effect of technological distractions behind the wheel. Since that Summit in October, the federal administration has banned texting while driving for commercial bus and truck drivers. There is also a national ban on the use of cell phones while driving for federal government employees. The first Distracted Driving Summit also resulted in a lot of media coverage about the problem of cell phone use and texting while driving, and several states have enacted some sort of legislation to tackle the problem.  Besides, there is now an organization dedicated to lobbying against cell phone use while driving. The group is called Focus Driven, and hopes to do for distracted driving what Mothers against Drunk Driving has done for impaired driving. 

The Department of Transportation is currently involved in funding a crackdown on distracted driving in the state of New York. The agency is investing more than $300,000 in these efforts. The campaign involves education, awareness, flyers and enforcement. If the campaign is found to be successful in reducing cell phone use while driving in Syracuse, it could be extended to other cities in New York State, and even the country.

Considering the great strides that have been made since the first summit, New Jersey personal injury lawyers, and highway safety groups will be hopeful that the second summit to will increase momentum on this issue. As a New Jersey car accident lawyer, I would like to see more and tougher enforcement of our own handheld cell phone and texting bans.

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Summer is the time when there are more people riding motorcycles, bicycles and all-terrain vehicles in New Jersey. Wearing helmets can help prevent brain injuries in an accident. However, safety is the last thing on the minds of people who set out to enjoy summer activities without wearing helmets. A group of emergency room physicians is stressing the importance of wearing helmets while riding and motorcycling.

According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, there are more numbers of people biking, motorcycling and riding ATVs at this time of year. It's the right time to reiterate an important safety message - helmets save lives. All it takes is a single accident and a single head injury to kill you, or leave you with a catastrophic injury with lifelong consequences.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, every year more than 300,000 children are rushed to emergency rooms with injuries sustained in bicycle accidents. Out of these, at least 70% of the injuries could have been prevented if the child had been wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. The agency estimates that if all children between the ages of four and 15 wore helmets while bicycling, it would prevent up to 45,000 head injuries every year. The agency also estimates that helmet use could have prevented more than 1,800 motorcycle fatalities in 2008.

When it comes to wearing a helmet while biking or motorcycling, any helmet won’t do. As a New Jersey injury lawyer, I would advise purchasing a well fitting and approved helmet. Look for bicycle helmets that meet or exceed the standards set by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Motorcyclists must look for helmets that are approved by the Department of Transportation.

It's not just motorcycles, bicyclists and ATV riders who must wear helmets. Wearing helmets can also prevented injuries among rollerbladers and skateboarders. 

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The month of May will see two safety campaigns that are especially close to my heart. In May, New Jersey and the rest of the country will mark Motorcycle Safety Month. The other campaign that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is promoting for the month of May, is National Youth Traffic Safety Month.

This year's National Youth Traffic Safety Month is a joint effort in collaboration with the National Organization for Youth Safety. They are a number of events lined up for May, and the NOYS is inviting teen safety groups in New Jersey and around the country to partner with them in their efforts.

Teen motorist safety is an issue that I have a special interest in. As a parent and a New Jersey car accident attorney, I believe that the state should be investing more in teen motorist safety. Not that New Jersey has lagged behind in this area. We have had great success with stricter teen driver laws that have been responsible for a reduction in accident and fatality numbers. We also have a new law that will require young drivers to have an identifying decal pasted on their vehicle. It hasn't been a highly popular law, but I do understand the logic behind it, and support it. In fact, I have blogged about it in the past, and every time, there has been strong reaction from readers who either wholeheartedly support the law, or are strongly opposed to it.

Investing more efforts in teen driver safety is one of the best steps New Jersey officials can take to minimize accident fatality rates further in the years ahead. We have already had dramatic progress in minimizing the numbers of people being killed on New Jersey roadways, and we could do more if we focus harder on developing a generation of teenagers with the right driving skills.

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There has been a spike in the number of highway construction work zone accidents on New Jersey highways, and it's causing great concern to New Jersey car accident lawyers and the Department of Transportation.

According to this report, there were 5,247 construction work zone accidents in New Jersey last year. That was an increase of 8% over the figures in 2008. Bergen County seems to have been hit particularly hard by this spike. It had a total of 631 work zone crashes, and these accounted for three of the 11 fatal accidents across the state. In 2008, Bergen County had 430 such work zone accidents.

Passaic County however, saw a drop however in such accident rates. There were 217 highway work zones accident here in 2009, compared to 959 in 2006. The biggest possible explanation for the drop could simply be that there isn't a lot of construction work going on Passaic County. It's obvious that a higher number of construction projects, results in more numbers of accidents, injuries and fatalities.

The spike in accidents across New Jersey has spurred the launch of two separate studies into the possible causes of these accidents, at what location do these occur and what kind of safety measures could be taken to prevent these. The Rutgers Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation and the New Jersey Institute of Technology are conducting the two studies.

There's a lot that motorists could do to prevent accidents on construction highway work zones. Avoid speeding and tailgating. Don't change lanes randomly in the middle of the work zone, and don’t slow down speeds to look at what’s going on. Be alert to warning signs and flaggers. New Jersey transportation officials must also look at the efficacy of warning systems and signs, and how these can be enhanced to minimize these accident rates.

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A controversial new law that will require New Jersey motorists driving under a permit or probationary license to display a red decal on the license plate, will go into effect on May 1^st.

The law is called Kyliegh’s Law, and is named after Kyliegh D’Alessio , a teenager who was killed in a car accident caused by a probationary driver. It will require all drivers, both new and current, holding a probationary license to place the red decals on the top left corner of the license plate. Probationary license holders will be required to purchase the decals at four dollars a pair. After a teen motorist completes the probationary term, he or she can remove the decals from the license plate. The decals are removable, so if other family members want to use the same car, they can merely remove the decal.

The law has not been without its share of controversy. Critics believe that it discriminates based on age, and filed a lawsuit which was dismissed early this month after a judge ruled that there was nothing unconstitutional about the law. With the new law, New Jersey police will be able to better enforce the state's GDL laws.

It will be a while before the dust settles around this new piece of legislation. Teen motorists are likely to continue to complain. The fact is however, that teen motorists are at a high risk of death in automobile accidents. If a law like this can encourage teen motorists to follow rules regarding the number of passengers they have in their car, or the hours they are allowed to drive, then it’s worth it.

Scott Grossman is a New Jersey accident lawyer, representing injured victims of auto and car accidents in Monmouth, Bergen, Passaic and Ocean Counties and across the state of New Jersey.

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An intoxicated motorist who caused an accident that seriously injured three of his passengers, has been charged with DUI and leaving the scene of the crash. The driver Luis Barrera was driving on the Garden State Parkway in Eaglewood Township, when his car veered off the road, and crashed into a few trees. After the crash, Barrera got out of the vehicle, and pretended to be a witness. He then tried to flee the scene of the crash. He has been arrested and jailed. 

The passengers Ingrid Gomez Reyes, Xikun Zhu, and Walter Torres suffered serious injuries, including broken bones, and had to be admitted to a hospital in Atlantic City.

Every time injury lawyers in New Jersey feel hopeful at the declining rates of drunk driving crashes in the state, comes an accident like the one here.  Incidents like these continue to remind us that there remains a threat from those who believe they have a right to drive when they are a danger to themselves and others.

New Jersey has strong laws that hold intoxicated motorists responsible for their actions. Our dram shop liability laws allowing persons who have been injured by a drunk driver to hold the establishment that served him alcohol, liable for the injuries. We also have strong civil laws that allow victims of drunk driving crashes and families of people who are killed in such accidents to recover compensation for their losses. These help to act as a deterrent to reckless motorists.

Scott Grossman is a New Jersey drunk driving accident lawyer representing injured victims of alcohol-related car accidents in Monmouth, Bergen, Passaic and Ocean Counties, and across the state of New Jersey.

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New Jersey’s dram shop liability laws are involved in a lawsuit involving a man who was served alcohol while he was intoxicated, ended up in a fight and suffered serious brain injuries.   

The lawsuit has been filed by Louis Vozza. In June 2008, his uncle Daniel Vozza drank alcohol at one establishment, the Harley’s Irish Pub, before moving on to another one, Straphanger Saloon where he continued to drink. Then, Vozza got into a fight with the owner of the Straphanger Saloon, who was also intoxicated. During the scuffle, the bar owner apparently grabbed Vozza’s shirt, causing the man to fall on the asphalt and strike his head. Vozza suffered a serious brain injury, which has since left him mentally incapacitated. He suffers from memory loss, among other problems.  The lawsuit names the two establishments, and claims that these two served alcohol to Vozza who was “visibly intoxicated.” The owner of Harley’s Irish Pub insists that Vozza was not drunk when he left the bar on the day of the fight.

Under New Jersey dram shop laws, a drinking establishment like a restaurant, pub, club or bar may be named in a civil action, if the establishment serves a visibly drunk patron who then goes out and injures someone.  Defining whether a patron was visibly intoxicated when the establishment served him more alcohol, can be tricky. Staff members are very likely to insist that the person did not seem drunk at the time.

Unfortunately, even with these laws in place, accidents and injuries from violations of these laws, continue to occur. An establishment’s failure to serve customers and conduct business ethically can leave an innocent person injured or even dead.

Scott Grossman is a New Jersey personal injury lawyer representing injured victims of auto and truck accidents in Monmouth, Bergen, Passaic and Ocean Counties and across the state of New Jersey.

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Last month’s New England International Auto Show displayed a variety of advanced new auto safety features that don’t just minimize injuries in accidents, but also work to prevent crashes, and increase your chances of survival if you are involved in one. What’s more, many of these features are not restricted to high end luxury models, but are being introduced even in mid range and low range models.

For automakers, it makes sense to pump their vehicles with the most high-tech safety features. Surveys show that safety is one of the top most considerations for a car buyer. Even in a recession, car buyers are looking for more than seatbelts and airbags to keep them and their loved ones safe during an accident.

Newer cars are likely to come with some systems that I found have special potential in preventing accidents.

• Lane departure warnings – these sound an alarm when you are beginning to veer off your lane
• Stay in lane systems- these automatically inch the car back into the lane when you begin to veer off
• Heads up displays - these allow you to see your speedometer and gas gauge readings on an upper level display, preventing the need to take your eyes off the road
• Face recognition monitors - these monitor the position of your head while driving, and sound an alarm when you begin to nod off
• Forward collision warnings - these systems sound warnings when you get too close to the vehicle or object in front of you
• Active head restraints - these cushion the back of your head during an accident by protruding a few inches upward.

Of course more and more cars now come fitted with antilock brake systems (ABS) and electronic stability control systems. These are two of the most important collision prevention technologies you could have in your car.  With automakers focusing extra hard on safety, I am confident that the nationwide decline in crash fatality rates will continue over the next few years

Scott Grossman is a Monmouth County auto accident lawyer, representing injured victims of auto accidents in Freehold, Marlboro, Aberdeen, Howell, and across Monmouth County.

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A new law will require all occupants of a vehicle in New Jersey to buckle up. As a New Jersey auto accident lawyer, I am pleased with the law which is the latest one in a series designed to protect New Jersey motorists in the event of accidents. However, it would have been even more encouraging if the law had been signed in with primary enforcement. Currently, the bill comes with secondary enforcement, which means that police must first stop the vehicle for another offense, before handing out a ticket for failure to buckle up.

Rear seat passengers are at a grave risk of injury not just to themselves, but also other passengers in the event of accidents. The impact of an accident can throw back seat passengers against the other occupants of the vehicle, causing them serious injuries, not to mention the injuries to the rear seat passenger themselves.

As a New Jersey car accident lawyer, I would like to see buckling up become a habit for all motor vehicle occupants. You can’t overestimate the kind of protection being in a properly fitted seatbelt can offer during an accident. Along with airbags, seatbelts have been responsible for saving thousand of lives over the years. However, back seat passengers have traditionally had a much lower rate of buckling up than drivers or front seat passengers. This places them at a higher risk of injuries.  Hopefully, this new law will help make buckling up in the backseat as common and widespread as wearing seatbelts in the front seat.

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A highway safety group has awarded top marks to the state of New Jersey for its adoption of highway safety laws that can prevent injuries and minimize fatalities in accidents.

The group Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety has released its 7^th Annual Road Map to State Highway Safety Laws report. The group reviewed 15 basic laws that will contribute to a reduction in fatalities and injuries in highway accidents. All 50 states and the District of Columbia were reviewed based on whether they have adopted all these laws.

States were awarded credits, and given a rating of green, yellow and red. Green signifies that the state has sufficient basic laws in place to prevent highway deaths and injuries, while yellow signifies that the state still has to make more progress, and a red rating denotes failure to adopt basic safety laws that continue to place citizens in danger.

New Jersey, I was very encouraged to note, received 13 credits, the highest among all states.  Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety has some recommendations to further bring down fatality rates and injuries in the state. The group recommends nighttime restrictions and between 30 and 50 hours of supervised driving for GDL holders. It also recommends ignition interlock laws for all DUI offenders in order to minimize drunk driving accident fatalities in the state. The group recommends these devices for all offenders, including first time offenders.

As a Bergen County auto accident lawyer, I have been a strong supporter of ignition interlock laws because of their potential for preventing repeat drunk driving. Too many DUI offenders in New Jersey are able to get back behind the wheel in an intoxicated state, posing a serious danger to other motorists on the road. With an interlock device on all their vehicles, such motorists could be kept off the streets.

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As a New Jersey auto accident lawyer, my days are busy meeting victims of auto and truck accidents in our state, and helping them find the help and resources they need moving forward. That’s why it’s very encouraging when I come across some good news on the New Jersey traffic safety scene. This New Year’s, the state recorded a potential first - the absence of a single traffic fatality over the New Year’s holiday period. State police believe this is probably the first fatality-free holiday on record, since record keeping began in 1996.

My thoughts and prayers continue to be with those who were involved in accidents over the New Year holiday period. Many of these were the victims of drunk driving accidents caused by the intoxicated drivers who flood New Jersey’s streets every New Year’s eve. Unfortunately, the start of 2010 for many New Jerseyans coincides with one of the most traumatic times of their lives. Injuries and fatalities are common during this period, which is the most alcohol-heavy holiday of the year.

While state troopers increase patrolling efforts, there are always going to be more than a few drunk drivers and speeders. The high use of Twitter in New Jersey has also helped intoxicated motorists warn each other of upcoming sobriety checkpoints. Twitter allows you to post short messages that are meant to go out to those in your network. Every time a drunk motorist comes up on a sobriety checkpoint, he tweets about it or sends out a message to his friends, allowing them to take another route and avoid the checkpoint.

Scott Grossman is a New Jersey auto accident lawyer, representing injured victims of auto accidents in Monmouth, Bergen, Passaic and Bergen Counties and across the state of New Jersey.

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Even with New Jersey’s ban on text messaging in place, personal injury lawyers here continue to see several accidents every year caused by motorists texting at the wheel. Many of these accidents are fatal, and most result in serious injuries.

Yet, automakers seem not to have taken notice of these dangers and the severe risks that come with using a cell phone behind the wheel. Many of them are going ahead to introduce infotainment systems in their cars due to roll out this year. These systems include monitors that display everything from fuel levels and the name of the song being played, to restaurant reviews and even website pages. All of these will be available through monitors mounted on dashboards.

The outcry against distracted driving has never been stronger since our lives were invaded by cell phones, than right now. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood began 2010 promising stronger legislative action to ban text messaging while driving. Several states including Kansas and South Carolina are in line to pass their own bans on cell phone use while driving. New Jersey in fact, has a proposed rule that would disallow the use of GPS systems in a moving car. President Obama last year banned the use of cell phones by federal employees driving government-issued vehicles.

As we make more and more progress in reducing the accident risks from cell phone use, it is extremely frustrating to read about these new infotainment systems.  Automakers insist that the more distracting functions that require concentration, like accessing a website, will be only allowed when the car is in park mode. However, reading restaurant reviews, 3-D maps - all of this will be allowed when the car is in motion. At a time when New Jersey auto accident lawyers have been joining hands with legislators and safety groups to reduce the risk from distracted driving, it’s hard to understand why automakers would amp their vehicles with all these distractions. It seems that greed has taken precedence over motorist safety here.

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Automobile accidents are the number one cause of death for young motorists between the ages of 15 and 20. Not only that, they also makeup 1/5^th of all traffic accident fatalities in the country. This is in spite of the fact that these motorists account for just 9 percent of the population of the country. Those facts are included in a new report on young driver fatalities by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The report analyses young drivers (drivers between the age of 15 and 20) and drills down further into each individual state. In New Jersey, there were a total of 114 fatalities in accidents involving these young drivers. Out of these, the young driver accounted for 35 fatalities, while his passengers accounted for 36 fatalities. The number of passengers killed in these accidents was further divided by age group. Two of the passengers who died were below 15 years of age, 31 passengers were of the same age group as the driver (that is between 15 and 20 years of age) and three passengers were above the age of 20.

I noticed in New Jersey there seem to be a very high number of passenger fatalities in teen driver accidents that are between the age of 15 and 20. As a New Jersey auto accident lawyer, I don’t find that information all that surprising when you consider that teen motorists prefer to drive with people their own age.  The risk of an accident also increases dramatically when a young driver has passengers his own age in the car.

While factors like alcohol use have declined in auto accidents involving adult drivers, these continue to be a factor in young driver-related accidents. In 2007, 11 percent of young drivers admitted that they drove drunk at least once during the 30 days before they were surveyed. Speeding was another prominent factor in these accidents.  This was a especially high risk behavior in young male drivers between 15 and 20. Seatbelt use was anther contributing factor to young driver fatalities. Seatbelt use in this age group continues to be low.  In 2007, failure to wear seatbelts contributed to 61 percent of fatalities in this age group.

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Tis the season of good cheer, mistletoe and unfortunately, also a heightened risk of auto accidents in New Jersey. Our state’s already congested highways and roads will play host to an increasing number of intoxicated drivers, especially as the end of the year, nears.

Law enforcement in New Jersey however, will not be waiting till the Christmas Eve to make sure that drivers are aware of the state’s zero tolerance policy toward drunk driving. The annual anti-drunk driving “Over the Limit. Under Arrest” campaign kicked off on the 7^th of December. The campaign will run through the 3^rd of January next year, with hundreds of saturation patrols and DUI checkpoints across the state.

What has always impressed me as a New Jersey drunk driving accident lawyer is that this campaign does not focus only on enforcement activities, but also combines education and awareness initiatives. Across New Jersey, there will be mobile display signs, anti drunk driving posters and banners to alert drivers to the dangers of drunk driving. According to Pam Fischer, who is the director of the New Jersey Division of Traffic Safety, drunk driving increases by nearly 10 percent during the December holiday season.

As a New Jersey personal injury lawyer, I can’t stress the following enough, as you get in to the holiday mood.

• If you intend to spend an evening out drinking, plan how you will get home ahead of time. This can include

1. Having a friend drive you home
2. Hiring a cab
3. Using mass transit to get home
4. Hiring one of the designated driver services that have been cropping up all across New Jersey. Look these up on the internet to find a designated driving service close to you.

• If you are going to be partying someone’s place, see if you can spend the night over to sleep off the alcohol before you get back home
• If you see a drunk driver on the streets, report it immediately. You just might save someone’s life.

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The issue of cell phone use while driving is one that auto safety experts and lawmakers are constantly grappling with. As a New Jersey personal injury lawyer, I don’t believe that an outright ban will be completely effective, if it is not combined with other measures that coax motorists to take steps to prevent them from using their cell phone while driving.

The New York Times is reporting on how cell phone muzzling technologies that block calls when a person is driving, might point the way to a future where cell phone use behind the wheel is less of a risk than it is now. Cell phone manufacturers and automakers have been doing their best to make it safer for motorists to carry on a conversation while driving and still be safe. Hands-free sets are hugely popular, and are allowed in states that have banned the use of hand-held cell phones, including New Jersey. However, as a car accident lawyer I have always been leery about how effective hands-free sets can be in lowering accident risks.

After all, the risk of a crash comes because the driver is so distracted by the conversation he is having, and not so much by the use – or lack thereof – of his hands. Studies have shown that talking on the cell phone while driving makes you four times as likely to meet with an accident, regardless of whether you are using a hands-free set or a handheld phone.

As long as we’re talking of fighting technology with technology, call blocking technologies might be the way forward,. These systems use the cell phone’s own GPS sensors to determine whether the motorist is at driving speed, and then immediately disable the cell phone until the car is stopped. These services may be right for those who simply can’t bring themselves to switch off their cell phones while driving.

An added incentive - insurance companies have begun to offer discounts for customers who sign up for call blocking services. Nationwide Insurance Company has announced a discount of 5 percent for customers who sign up for the service, and State Farm Insurance is also studying the effectiveness of call muzzling technology. Currently, no insurer offers discounts for hands-free sets.

I am all for any technology that does for motorists what they may not be able to do themselves - avoid calls or texting while driving.

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As a New Jersey personal injury lawyer, I have been concerned about the growing use of cell phones while driving by teens, and the tendency to text while behind the wheel. A new Pew survey shows that the problem may be worse then we believe.

The researchers surveyed 800 teens between the ages of 12 and 17 between June and September this year. Seventy four additional teens, who were part of 9 focus groups in New York, Atlanta, Denver and Anna Arbor were also surveyed. While some of the results were not too surprising, the others were extremely worrisome.

The survey suggests that about a quarter of teens aged between 16 and17 years admit to having texted while driving. These statistics were not a shocker,  but what did concern me were the findings that approximately half of the respondents aged between 12 and 17 admitted to having been a passenger in a car with an adult driver texting at the wheel. In fact, these teens frequently saw their parents texting while driving.

Reactions to this behavior were mixed.  While in some cases, teens admitted to being nervous or scared when their parents texted while at the wheel, other teens had grown used to such parental behavior, and thought texting while driving was not a big deal. It’s the second group of teen motorists that I am concerned about. Texting while driving is extremely dangerous, and when a teen sees his or her parent addicted to text messaging while at the wheel, it only helps to develop and foster such reckless behavior in impressionable young motorists.

As a New Jersey car accident lawyer, I believe that parents have as much of a responsibility as schools and law enforcement authorities to develop safe driving practices in children. It’s alarming that so many parents seem to recklessly text at the wheel, unaware or uncaring that their children are observing and learning from them. Parents must step up and contribute to efforts to tackle the texting while driving menace.

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New Jersey, like most of the rest of the country, has seen a drop in the numbers of drunk driving accident fatalities on its streets every year. However, there still continue to be far too many drivers on the streets driving under the influence, in spite of the prospect of fines, jail time or license suspensions.

Between July 2008 and July 2009, police arrested 37,597 people for drunk driving in the state. According to the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, 151 people died in drunk driving accidents last year.

One of the measures that experts suggest to avoid driving under the influence - and one that New Jersey auto accident lawyers strongly support - is to have a designated driver, when you go out in a group. Unfortunately, that idea doesn’t always work the way it’s meant to. Designated drivers may find it hard to keep off the drinks themselves, thereby placing themselves and the passengers who trust them, at risk of an accident.  

Enter a designated driver service. These services are not unheard of in New Jersey. But as this feature report shows,  in some places in South Jersey, where finding a cab at night may be next to impossible, a designated driver service is the only thing standing between an intoxicated patron and a serious accident.  For instance, Camden County, and Cherry Hill in particular, seem to have large rates of drunk driving accidents.  Asking a drunk motorist to take a cab home doesn’t work, because it might take hours before a cab shows up outside a bar. A designated driver service, on the other hand, will drive you home in your own car for a fee.  Another car follows your car, picking up the designated driver to take him back.

As a New Jersey auto accident attorney, I support any measures that can prevent motorists from being drunk and behind the wheel. We lose too many of our citizens ever year to drunk drivers, and if we can keep at least a few of these motorists away from the wheel even for a single night, it could mean the difference between life and death for innocent motorists out there.

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The death of a man in a car accident in 2006 on the New Jersey Turnpike focused attention on the guardrail that caused his fatal injuries. However, three years after the accident, there have been no changes made to the guardrail which continues to remain an injury risk.

In August 2006, 34-year-old Patrick Sweeney was riding a car on his way to Newark airport. On the Turnpike near route 80, the driver lost control of the vehicle, and it crashed into a guardrail. Sweeney sustained fatal injuries when the guardrail pierced the passenger side of the car.

His family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the contractor involved in the road construction, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and others.   They have now settled their lawsuit for 9.7 million dollars.  Their attorney says that the guardrail was installed too close to the road, and on top of a high curb that increases the risk of injury. Three years after the fatal accident that killed Patrick Sweeney, there have been no changes made to the guardrail.

Many times, dangerous conditions for a driver are created not so much by the negligence of other motorists, as by the poor design of the highway. Highway design and construction is a complex process that must include safety of all users of the road. There could be any number of ways a highway design defect could increase the risk of accidents.

• Sharp curves
• Absence of guardrails
• Improperly installed guardrails
• Obstruction of motorist view
• Road surfaces that contribute to skidding, lack of adequate lighting, lack of warning signs.

Any one of these defects can lead to accidents.  In such cases, victims may be able to hold construction companies, contractors, agencies responsible for the highway or other local agencies, utility companies, and maintenance companies responsible for these injuries.

Scott Grossman is a New Jersey wrongful death  lawyer representing injured victims of auto accidents in Monmouth, Bergen, Passaic and Ocean Counties, and across the state of New Jersey.

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