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

A New Jersey husband and wife, who were seriously injured in a motorcycle accident they blame on a young driver texting at the wheel, are calling for stricter punishments for those who indulge in such distracted driving.

Linda and David Kubert were motorcycling in Morris County when they were struck by a pickup truck. The Kuberts say they saw the driver of the pickup truck using his cell phone at the time of the crash. The two were seriously injured in the motorcycle accident. Both lost a leg each. The 18 year old driver meanwhile, got away with a slap on the wrist. He received three tickets - for using a handheld cell phone, careless driving and making an unsafe lane change.

The Kuberts have now begun a campaign to strengthen penalties for drivers who use hand held cell phones while driving.  They say they are extremely distressed about the light punishments handed out to motorists, who think nothing of carrying out text conversations while driving.

Kubert has written to State Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney, and is planning to write to more legislators to pressure them to increase penalties on drivers who violate the texting ban. The $100 fine that motorists can now expect if they use a handheld phone behind the wheel, is not enough of a deterrent, the Kuberts believe.

As a New Jersey motorcycle accident lawyer, who would like to see harsher penalties for texting while driving, I agree. There is very little point in having laws with no bite. A hundred dollars is not much of a penalty when you consider what the Kuberts have lost. Currently, Utah has something approaching harsh penalties for texting drivers - 3 months in jail and up to $750 in fines. We need to have similar deterrents in New Jersey.

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A jury in Monmouth County has found a Marlboro man guilty in a fatal alcohol-related motorcycle accident that occurred in 2007.  John Lombardo Jr. was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving.

Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mellaci Jr cited Lombardo’s prior record for ordering that his bail be increased to $250,000. Lombardo has one previous drunk driving conviction, besides two other convictions for reckless driving and two convictions for drug possession. On the 22^nd of March, Lombardo was again cited by Brick Township police for driving under a suspended license. The judge also frowned on Lombardo’s attempts to name-drop his way out of trouble. On the night of the accident in which Lombardo struck a motorcycle carrying 39-year-old Teresa Kling and her fiancé Michael Crowell, Lombardo told the police officer who pulled him over, about friends he had in law enforcement.

Kling sustained fatal injuries in the crash. Lombardo was found two miles away from the accident scene, and forensic evidence showed that his pickup tuck had come in contact with the motorcycle Kling and Crowell were riding on. When blood alcohol tests were conducted, they revealed a blood alcohol level of .19 percent.   

Earlier this month, I discussed the decline in alcohol-related car accident fatalities across the country, including in New Jersey. Those trends have been seen for several years now. Tougher laws against drunk drivers, stronger prosecution, and enhanced use of awareness campaigns have reduced our tolerance of drunk drivers, and brought down the number of fatalities in accidents involving these motorists. New Jersey personal injury lawyers, I'd like to believe, have done their bit to hold such reckless motorists accountable in a civil court.

When I come across cases like this however, it becomes clear that we still have a long way to go.

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Two separate motorcycle accidents in New Jersey last week killed one person, and left another rider seriously injured.

A Lincoln Park man was killed in a motorcycle accident with a mini van earlier this week. The victim's 2006 Yamaha crashed into a mini van that was exiting a driveway. The occupants of the mini van, including three children below the age of three, did not sustain injuries in the accident. The motorcyclist was declared dead at the scene. According to the Passaic County prosecutor’s office, initial investigations don’t seem to suggest any signs of negligence. Blood alcohol tests have been conducted, and so far, there is no reason to believe that alcohol or drugs were involved.

In the second accident, a motorcyclist was seriously injured in an accident in Warren County. The motorcyclist was going down a steep grade and trying to make a left curve, but crashed into a guardrail. He was ejected from the motorcycle, and suffered serious injuries. 

Earlier this month, I discussed the annual NHTSA report on accident fatalities. The results show an overall decline in the number of accident-related fatalities across all states in the country. Fatality rates across all categories of accidents have decreased, with the exception of motorcycle accidents. While drunk driving and speeding-related accidents and even pedestrian accident fatalities have dropped in 2008, the rates for motorcycle fatalities have actually increased as they have for the past 11 years.

In New Jersey, there were a total of 82 motorcycle accident-related fatalities in 2008. That was down three fatalities from 2007 when it was 85. While ours is one of the few states that have actually seen a decline in motorcycle accident fatalities, those numbers are still too high for comfort.

The NHTSA reported a few years ago about a slow, but steady increase in motorcycle registrations nationwide. That means that there are more motorcycles now competing for space with vehicle on our roads.  While automobile accidents are constantly the focus of enforcements, motorcyclists seem to have lesser attention focused on their safety.

Scott Grossman is a Passaic County motorcycle accident lawyer representing victims of automobile and motorcycle accidents in Passaic, Haledon, Totowa, Clifton, Little Falls, North Haledon, Paterson and other cities of Passaic County.

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Motorcycle accidents and related fatalities and traumatic injuries is a serous problem in both New Jersey and our neighboring states. A recent article from The Express-Times reports a 27 year old was recently riding his motorcycle south on Route 611 about 2 a.m. when he veered into the northbound lane and crashed into a curb apparently suffering serious injuries. The police do not know what caused the rider to crash into the curb and the crash is under investigation.

 As Monmouth County and New Jersey motorcycle accident attorney I have witnessed first hand the devastating life altering effects of motorcycle crashes. In this particular situation there could be many factors that made the rider swerve into the opposite lane leading him to strike the curb. What ever the cause of the accident may be, drivers on the road have to make sure they are careful around motorcycle riders. A simple act of having your high beams on can blind a driver and when the driver is a motorcycle rider they can more easily lose control and crash. One way to simply lower the motorcycle fatalities is to always keep a safe distance between your vehicle and the motorcycle and always proceed with caution before entering into a turn or a lane change. Motor vehicle drivers can do their part by being more responsible on the road and hopefully motorcycle riders will do their part by taking the right safety precautions.

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