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

As a car accident lawyer in New Jersey, I am pleased with some dramatic new advancements in the field of spinal cord injury treatment. Clinical trials into a new robotic exoskeleton that could help patients with these injuries to walk again, are on at a research center in Philadelphia.

The device has been developed by an Israel-based company, and comprises of a harness, backpack and leg supports. The equipment also includes sensors that can detect and communicate to a computer in the backpack that a step needs to be taken. The person can then walk using his crutches.   The device works with the help of a battery that can be charged for three hours of use. However, in order to be able to use the device, a person must have the use of his upper body.

It is hard to overstate the kind of benefits that this exoskeleton can offer to patients with spinal injury who are unable to walk. As a New Jersey car accident lawyer, I often come across victims of serious auto accidents, who have suffered a spinal cord injury.  I know the kind of hardship these people face as they begin to navigate life without the use of their lower limbs. These injuries can often been seen in major, high-impact car accidents, tractor trailer accidents, or as a result of accidents in the workplace. A serious fall can also cause a spinal cord injury. 

If all goes well, the device could be available as quickly as a few months from now.   Once the clinical trials end, the company Argo Medical Technologies, plans to apply to the Food and Drug Administration for approval. If the device is approved, the device will available in New Jersey and nationwide by late 2010. 

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As a New Jersey car accident lawyer, I have been particularly enthused by automakers equipping their vehicles with newer safety technologies that either prevent accidents, or minimize the risk of serious injuries in a crash. It’s also been fantastic to see consumers willing to spend more dollars even in a hard economy, for cars that include these additional features.

That’s why it was so great to read that Ford Motor Company will introduce new inflatable seatbelts in the backseats of Ford Explorers that are due to go into production shortly.  The inflatable seatbelts begin to fill with air at the time of impact, protecting a person from chest, neck and head injuries. The seatbelts will be equipped in the rear seats, protecting these passengers from serious injuries in front and side impact crashes.

Back seat passengers typically have lower seatbelt usage rates than front seat passengers. Ford claims that these inflatable seatbelts are much more comfortable than conventional seatbelts, and this means that inflatable seatbelt systems could actually become popular with backseat passengers and encourage them to buckle up. That’s always good news!  Ford says it will wait for positive reactions from consumers before making the feature standard across all its vehicles.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been working to require safety features like electronic stability control systems, to be made standard on all passenger vehicles. For instance, by the year 2012, all passenger vehicles under 10,000 pounds must come equipped with electronic stability control systems as standard equipment. The systems are already in place in many popular models, as are side airbags which protect passengers from serious injuries  in the event of side impact crashes.

The development of safety features like these is one of the reasons why auto accident fatality rates in the US have been declining the way they have.  

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

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We all know that drinking and driving often results in death, serious injury or the destruction of life.  A recent local news story reported an accident in South Jersey recently sent several innocent grocery shoppers to the hospital. A car spun out of control and slammed into 3 people - two of them were in wheelchairs. The police are saying the driver was intoxicated when she crashed into pedestrians on a Shoprite sidewalk in front of the store.

 As a Monmouth County and New Jersey car accident attorney I have represented hundreds of victims that suffered critical injuries because of alcohol related car accidents.  This news story above highlights a all too common scenario whereby alcohol appears to have impaired this driver’s sense of judgment. The alleged intoxicated driver may have destroyed the lives of these innocent grocery shoppers who never would have imagined that they would fall victim to a drunk driver while going through their normal every day routine of pushing their grocery carts at their local supermarket.  Drinking and driving frequently leads to victim's extreme suffering.  I have witnessed first hand clients that have suffered at the hands of drunk drivers’ : traumatic brain injury, loss of limbs, spinal cord injuries including paralysis fractures, herniated disc injuries leading to spinal fusion or inter-body fusion surgery and a myriad of other life altering injuries and even death.  So as a seasoned New Jersey and Monmouth County accident attorney lawyer I can attest unequivocally that alcohol mixed with driving of motor vehicles, motorcycles or trucks many times equates with the total destruction of innocent life and also destroys both individuals and their families.  We can significantly reduce the number of serious injuries and fatalities in New Jersey by never ever driving while intoxicated or in any way impaired.  

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