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

As the numbers of digitized billboards on our highways has increased, the calls for limiting the use of these billboards because of the distraction risks have also become louder.

Travelers have become used to these billboards that flash advertising messages, news headlines, and sports scores. But exactly how distracting are these billboards? 

The billboard industry insists that there is no evidence to show that these billboards are any more distracting than traditional billboards. However, auto safety advocates are not as convinced. Adding to the confusion is that there have been very few studies into the distraction risks of these billboards compared to conventional ones.  Last year a Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study indicated that these billboards were an accident risk, but did not confirm just how high the risk was. The Virginia Tech study did say, however, that there was a need for more studies into these risks.

It seems to me that anything that can take a motorist’s attention away from the road on a busy highway for enough time to cause an accident, must be considered a serious risk. Some of these billboards change messages every 6 to 8 seconds. These are highly distracting messages that have the potential to cause motorists to take their eyes off the road for several seconds at a time. Motorists who are distracted by billboards are already talking on their cell phones or texting while driving. In short, these motorists can't handle any more distractions.

Efforts to ban these billboards are on, but the industry has been stubborn about its opposition to any such ban. In several states, nonprofit groups are trying to block the installation of more such billboards.

Scott Grossman is a New Jersey personal injury 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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This week, I moved my injury law firm practice in Freehold to a brand new building, under a brand new name. So as of the 1^st of February, the Law Offices of Scott D. Grossman is now The Grossman Law Firm, LLC.  

Monmouth County residents can locate us at our new office:

The Grossman Law Firm, LLC.  

Pinho Professional Center,  

57 Schanck Road, Suite C-13

Freehold

The telephone and fax numbers for the Freehold office remain the same.

Phone:          732-625-9494

Web: www.GrossmanJustice.com

Blog: www.NJinjuryBlog.com

Our Northern New Jersey office remains at its current address in Bergen County.  

The new expanded premises are at a convenient location, and will help Freehold, Manalapan, Marlboro, Howell, Old Bridge, New Egypt and Jackson area residents, who need to consult with an experienced injury lawyer in Monmouth County.  

Those of you who know me on a personal level, or have given me the honor of representing you over the years, know that my objective in starting my own personal injury law firm practice was to help victims of negligence fight for their rights.  Over these years, I have noticed how shattered victims of accidents and serious injuries can be. When a person walks into my office, he or she has been through one of the most traumatic experiences imaginable. He or she has often been seriously injured because of someone else’s negligence, and has been off work for several days. Medical debt will soon pile up and he or she may soon find it hard to meet rent, mortgage payments, utility and grocery expenses.

For most of these people, it is the very first time they have been seriously injured. It is also the first time they have been unable to work and support their families. The strain of dealing with physical pain and financial expenses, and worry over a future that is so uncertain - these are some of the common characteristics I see in so many of the clients who walk in for a consultation at my office.

For me, being a personal injury lawyer in New Jersey is not just about helping these people navigate their way through the complexities of the NJ insurance law, and obtain the compensation they deserve for what is often a life altering experience. It’s also about helping them find the resources they need to move forward again.

While there may be nothing I can do to make injured clients or bereaved ones feel whole again, I am committed to doing all I can to put them back on the road to physical, financial and emotional recovery, all with a very personable hands-on approach.  As I settle down at our new beautiful, state of the art, conveniently located Freehold office, it’s a commitment my staff and I will maintain.

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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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A La Salle University student from Marlboro, Monmouth County will receive $7.5 million in damages in a football accident-related brain injury that left the student severely brain damaged. The basis of the lawsuit was that La Salle University cleared him to return to play without getting him seen by a doctor or properly tested.

On October 4^th  2005, 19-year-old Preston was injured during football practice. He was initially treated by a trainer at the scene, and then by a school nurse. He continued to complain of headaches and dizziness, and was examined at a Monmouth County hospital. After that, La Salle officials cleared him to play.

That led to the second accident and injury on the 5^th of November, 6 weeks after he suffered the first injury. The second injury was extremely serious and Preston went into a coma, and had to undergo emergency surgery.  Since then he has undergone several surgeries and treatment, requires 24 hour care, and experiences speech and walking difficulties. La Salle University has now agreed to pay Preston $7.5 million in damages.

Football players are no strangers to head and brain injuries, but this NFL season has been particularly wracked by injuries.  Several NFL players have fallen victim to head injuries, and the problem has been serious enough for the NFL to announce a special committee to find solutions to limit these injuries.

Scott Grossman is a New Jersey brain injury lawyer representing victims of Traumatic Brain Injury in Monmouth, Bergen, Passaic and Ocean Counties and across New Jersey.

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Last year, the number of fatalities in traffic accidents in New Jersey dropped to record lows, mirroring a nationwide trend in which fatality rates sank to the lowest level in decades. Much of this has to do with an increased focus on the usual suspects like drunk driving.  Automakers have also equipped cars with safety features that not just lower the risks of accidents, but also minimize the severity of injuries sustained in these crashes.

However, resting on those accomplishments might be premature, as this NPR report shows.  Americans still continue to face auto safety challenges.  It seems like with every challenge that we make progress toward eliminating, we are faced with newer problems. Drunk driving for instance, still accounts for about 30 percent of all fatalities, but death rates in these crashes have been on the decline over the past couple of years. However, cell phone use behind the wheel has presented a new safety challenge that transportation officials and law enforcement are struggling with.

As a New Jersey personal injury lawyer, I am very concerned about pedestrian safety on our roads. This year, we have had a spike in pedestrian accident deaths caused by a combination of factors, including motorist negligence, poor road layouts, and bad traffic planning. Another issue of concern is the state of New Jersey’s roads which continue to be a national joke. A recent report on American roads places New Jersey’s streets at Number 50. In a state with a high density of population, we can’t afford to have roads and traffic designs that actually contribute to accidents.

Truck safety continues to be another issue. The trucking industry is lobbying for increasing weight limits on tractor trailer rigs. That means New Jersey motorists will be sharing poor roads with larger, heavier trucks that are possibly even more difficult to navigate. Truck accident fatality rates nationwide have been somewhat stable at around 4000 or so fatalities every year, but that could change if New Jersey’s already congested highways begin to see larger, heavier trucks.

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It has been a bad couple of years for New Jersey’s pedestrians with 135 people killed in 2008 alone. 2009 has not been better.  In fact, pedestrian death rates have actually been higher this year with 121 pedestrians killed in accidents so far this year. That’s a staggering increase of 33 percent over the same period of time in 2008.

New Jersey authorities seem to be picking up on the urgency of the situation. New Brunswick last year received $476, 000 in funding from the Department of Transportation, to make pedestrian safety enhancements. The city has already installed radar-activated speed limit signs, and more numbers of traffic safety signs. Crosswalks and curb enhancement projects are also on the anvil. Older slate curbing is being replaced, and repainted to prevent drivers from parking too close to the intersection.

Pedestrian safety was the focus of a recent report released by Transportation for America, which pointed to the large numbers of pedestrian deaths across the country. The report titled Dangerous by Design, says that every year, 5000 people die while performing what should be the mundane acts of walking on a sidewalk or crossing a street. The researchers developed a Pedestrian Danger Index to denote the dangers for pedestrians. While the overall PDI across the country was 52.1, New Jersey’s PDI was slightly higher at 53.5. Atlantic city-Hammonton had a PDI of 75.5, while Trenton-Ewing had one of the lowest PDIs of 24.3.

In New Jersey, 22.1 percent of all traffic deaths were pedestrians.  That is much higher than the nationwide average of 11.8 percent. For every 100,000 people here, there were 1.67 pedestrian deaths, higher than the nationwide average of 1.53.

Between 2005 and 2008, New Jersey had access to federal transportation funds of $3 billion, of which just 0.5 percent has been spent on making pedestrian safety enhancements. That translates into a royal sum of 47 cents for every person in New Jersey. No wonder New Jersey personal injury lawyers are seeing such a spike in pedestrian deaths in the state.

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These are rough times for New Jersey’s motorists and pedestrians. As a New Jersey personal injury lawyer, I have been following the steep increase in pedestrian accident fatalities in our state, and have seen the wretched state of many of our roads and highways. Our state has some of the worst roads in the nation. This bleak state of affairs looks all set to get worse before it gets better.

The NJ.com blog reminds us that the Transportation Trust Fund which finances New Jersey’s highway development projects, will be bankrupt by 2011 by which time all its revenues will be used to repay debts. That means that there will be no more money to fund the transportation projects that we are in need of.  

NJ.com has 6 points for the new administration to deal with the situation.

• Encourage new Jerseyans to use public transportation. This can be done by maintaining transit systems better, and extending operations.
• Make enhancements for biking and pedestrian safety.
• Create more jobs near transit stations, and allow for more freight to be carried by rail. Enhance port infrastructure.
• Make sensible investments in transportation to cut down on the number of hours New Jerseyans spend driving.
• Abandon Band Aid projects and stop-gap measures. Instead, make smart decisions about where you will spend valuable and limited transportation dollars.
• Keep the public updated on how funds are spent.  The days of high spending to impress citizens is gone, and not merely because there is no more money to spend.

New Jerseyans have waited long for some basic road safety amenities. Walking to work should be encouraged.  Instead, our shortsighted policies have ensured that 20 percent of our traffic fatalities every year are pedestrians. The new administration has a golden opportunity to implement the kind of changes New Jersey is hungry for.

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An intersection in Little Falls in Passaic County is generating a lot of attention because of the high numbers of auto accidents that have occurred here in recent years. Over the past 7 years, there have been 46 accidents at the Clove Road intersection, including a recent one in which a pedestrian was hit by a car and severely injured. In fact, that accident has already resulted in a personal injury lawsuit against the township. 

Even as the lawsuit progresses, there has been no consensus on safety enhancements between the township authorities on one hand, and Clove Road residents on the other. A 2006 report by Passaic County authorities found that the Clove Road intersection was dangerous, and that the road was not properly designed for the kind of traffic it sees. Little Falls mayor Michael DeFrancisci and county officials had discussed plans to make the road safer. These plans included changing the location of retraining walls, and installing a right hand turn lane. However, both these plans have been opposed by residents who believe the plans would infringe on private property.

Making Clove Road safer for all has thus far been a long process. So far, County authorities have presented 7 plans, but none of these have been approved. The few plans that residents have approved have been rejected by emergency responders, who believe that these plans would limit response times.

The route to a safe road is never easy. There are a number of factors to take into consideration. Unfortunately, many roads in New Jersey have been designed with auto safety in mind, and little regard for the safety and rights of bicyclists and pedestrians. The result is situations like this one, where the need for enhancements is clearly visible, but existing layouts don’t allow them.   

Scott Grossman is a New Jersey personal injury lawyer representing victims of injury in Monmouth, Bergen, Passaic and ocean Counties and across New Jersey.

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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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Police are saying that a motorist who struck and seriously injured a bicyclist in Medford on Monday, was texting at the time of the accident. If that wasn’t bad enough, the motorist Robert Sharrer was apparently texting someone about a drug deal at the time of the collision.

According to news reports, the bicyclist Lisa Granert was riding responsibly, following all traffic rules and wearing a reflective vest. Sharrer’s vehicle drifted on to the shoulder and stuck Granert’s bike. The cyclist was thrown to the ground, and suffered serious injuries. She is currently in a trauma unit, where her condition is reported to be stable. Just before the accident, other motorists on route 70, where the accident took place, reported seeing a motorist driving erratically. Investigators say that Sharrer was texting at the time of the crash, and the text had to do with a drug deal.

Earlier this week, I blogged about a new survey that showed that half of Americans between 12 and 17 years of age have seen their parents texting at the wheel. We are in serious danger of raising a generation of New Jersey motorists, who think texting while driving is not a big issue, and it’s definitely cause for concern. There have been several studies into the heightened risk of accidents when motorists are texting while driving. In fact, one study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute placed that risk at 23 times greater than in case of motorists not texting while driving.

Scott Grossman is a New Jersey personal injury lawyer, representing injured victims in Monmouth, Bergen, Passaic and Ocean Counties and across New Jersey.

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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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Last month, a law that requires New Jersey drivers to remove snow and ice accumulation from their vehicles, went into effect. The law will apply to both commercial and non-commercial drivers.  With this, New Jersey becomes the first state in the country to have such a law.

Now, New Jersey drivers must remove snow and ice from the windshield, roof and hood of the car. The law also applies to 18 wheelers - snow must be removed from the cab and the top of the trailer. Drivers in New Jersey who don’t comply with the new law may be fined between $25 and $75.

There will be many complaints about this law, but as a long time New Jersey resident and personal injury lawyer, I strongly believe it’s necessary.  I have frequently seen motorists driving vehicles completely covered with snow and ice, except for a small patch in the front windshield, through which the driver can see the road. Flying blocks of snow and ice can intrude on other drivers around you, distracting them. Large blocks of snow and ice falling from the top of a trailer can weigh more than a ton. These can smash through a car’s windshield and injure the persons inside.

Those, who take the trouble to wipe off snow and ice from their car before they drive, should not have to dodge flying snow from other vehicles while driving. It is a huge distraction to other motorists, not to mention a major injury risk. It would be great if all drivers in New Jersey would do what is necessary, so that there wouldn’t be the need for a law like this. Unfortunately, I have seen too much “peephole driving” during winters in New Jersey to feel optimistic.  

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

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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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For a third year in a row, there has been a drop in the number of teen drivers and passengers killed in auto accidents in New Jersey. This year, the number of teen motorists and passengers killed was 59.  That was a drop from 68 in 2007, and 73 in 2006. Those numbers were announced by the Teen Driver Study Commission at an event to mark National Teen Driver Safety week, which was marked in New Jersey this past week.

There is plenty of reason to be encouraged. According to Commission chairwoman Pam Fischer, four of the 14 recommendations included in the commission’s 2008 report, were enacted. Fatality rates could drop further as Kyleigh’s law goes into effect on the 1^st of May. Under the law, drivers below the age of 21, who hold provisional licenses or permits, will be required to display a decal announcing their status. When the law comes into effect, law enforcement in New Jersey will be able to identify teen motorists very easily. The decals will be displayed on both front and rear license plates. With this, New Jersey will become the first state in the country to require identification decals for teen motorists.

There is more encouraging news on the teen motorist safety front. The Brain Injury Association of New Jersey has launched a new website, which provides parents and teen motorists a wealth of resources to encourage safe driving, and prevent accidents. According to spokespersons for the Association, teen motorists between the age of 15 and 24 are at a high risk of accident-related brain injuries.

As a New Jersey personal injury lawyer, it has been my aim to focus attention on such initiatives, through this blog. I am optimistic that when all recommendations of the Commission are implemented, we will see more reductions in these fatality rates.

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Last week, Press of Atlantic City ran a watchdog report that was a follow-up to a previous report, on a low cost insurance program that has regular insured motorists at risk of heavy financial liability, if they are involved in accidents with motorists covered under the program. I was interviwed by the Press's reporter and expressed my anger at the manner in which New Jerseyans have been left at risk for liability because of these threadbare policies.

In August, I blogged about the Special Automobile Insurance Policy (SAIP) and how it has placed New Jersey motorists who are properly insured, at risk of heavy financial damage in case of collisions with SAIP-insured motorists. The SAIP program was introduced in 2003, and was meant to provide about 600,000 New Jersey motorists, who had no access to car insurance, with some form of cover. At the time, SAIP was meant to provide cover for people who could not afford regular insurance, but still needed to drive themselves around to get to work, go to school etc. 

The SAIP policies involve an annual cost of $365, and low income residents who are eligible for Medicaid cover can avail of these policies. The policies provide for death benefits of $10,000 and up to 250,000 for treatment of injuries. However, they do not include bodily injury liability or property damage.

A follow up to the report has my input on how both SAIP-insured motorists in New Jersey, as well as motorists with regular cover, have suffered because of this short sighted plan. Most customers who sign up for a dollar-a-day policy have no idea how little cover they are eligible for.  It’s only when they are involved in an accident that they realize they would have been better off with no insurance at all. According to the Press of Atlantic City report, there are 22,000 motorists in New Jersey covered under these dollar-a-day policies, and they are involved in approximately 1,100 auto accidents, causing $4.7 million in damages every year. What’s worse, the number of these SAIP drivers is growing rapidly every year

Authorities in New Jersey have been content to allow the numbers of SAIP-insured motorists to thrive, and little thought have been given to how these motorists as well as other drivers involved in accidents with them, will deal with heavy accident-related expenses.

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

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Route 80 in Bergen County is undergoing repair works that are likely to continue till the end of the year. Unfortunately, the highway has already become the scene of two serious accidents, both of which involved fatalities.

One accident involved a multi vehicle collision in Parsippany. Several cars and art least two big rigs were involved in the accident that occurred last week. One person died and several persons were injured.  One day after that accident, another motorist was killed in yet another crash in Passaic County.

The New Jersey of Department Transportation has closed down several lanes on route 80, because of road resurfacing work that is expected to continue through December. The eastbound express lane from east of the Garden State Parkway in Saddle Brick Township to the rest of route 17 in Lodi Borough has been closed, and will remain so for about three weeks. According to the Transportation Commissioner, work will continue round the clock to complete the project quicker, and reduce disruption to traffic. Hopefully, all bridge decks will be ready to use by the first week of December. It is important that work be completed before winter sets in, making projects harder to complete.

Many accidents that occur in a highway construction zone can be avoided if motorists pay attention, and slow down speeds. However, transportation authorities must make sure that zones are marked properly, and that traffic is diverted safely through lanes with minimal disruption.

As a New Jersey personal injury lawyer, I would encourage motorists driving through highway construction zones to:

• Slow down while near a construction zone.
• Be alert at all times.
• Be attentive, and switch off cell phones.
• Have patience, and accept delays while driving through a zone.
• Avoid impatience or aggression - it doesn’t make the commute any shorter.

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A two-day long conference on distracted driving wound up last week in Washington DC. There were transportation officials in attendance, along with members of Congress and auto safety advocates.  As a New Jersey personal injury lawyer, I believe that some of the strongest testimony comes from those who have lost the most from accidents involving distracted drivers. This includes victims of such accidents and survivors of those killed in a collision with a distracted driver. There were several such victims and survivors at the summit. They lost loved ones when their cars were rear ended by motorists who were too busy applying makeup, painting nails, talking on the cell phone or text messaging behind the wheel.

During the summit, attendees heard compelling new data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  According to the agency, close to 6,000 people died in accidents involving distracted drivers in 2008. These accidents left more than 500,000 people injured. That wasn’t the first that New Jersey personal injury lawyers had heard about the dangers of distracted drivers. Earlier this year, a study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute showed that a shocking 80 percent of accidents are caused by driver inattention. The study further found that drivers who use handheld cell phones and communication devices have a risk of being involved in serious accidents that is four times as high as non-distracted drivers. Motorists who are text messaging while driving have a risk of being involved in a serious crash that’s up to four times higher than for non-distracted drivers.

There are more reasons why we should fear distracted behavior behind the wheel, especially text messaging. Teen motorists today are growing up with an addiction to text messaging. In fact, data shows that the average teen text messages up to 5,000 times in a month. We are at risk of letting loose a generation of motorists, who think nothing of texting at the wheel or having a conversation on their cell phone while driving.

It’s good to see that the Transportation Secretary and lawmakers are taking the distraction threat seriously, but we need to see more concrete steps being taken to prevent these accidents.

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At the sentencing where Sean McGuirk was sentenced to eight years in prison, for causing the drunk driving accident that killed a Perth Amboy police officer, the accused broke down and apologized. Unfortunately, his remorse comes late in the day for the widow who was pregnant when her husband was killed, and the little girl who will never know a father's love.

On August 21^st 2008, McGuirk drank at a bar and drove off. He was speeding at up to 50 miles per hour in an area with a 25mph speed limit.  McGuirk ran two red lights and broadsided a police cruiser. In the cruiser, were patrol officers Thomas Raji who was 31-years-old at the time, and Michael Mercurio. Raji died, and Mercurio, suffered severe injuries including brain injuries, and multiple broken arms and ribs.

Just before McGuirk drove off on that fateful evening, he had been drinking for four hours. He also had a stash of alcohol in his car, and swigged more before he left the bar. McGuirk pleaded guilty to charges that included vehicular homicide. A judge has sentenced McGuirk, to eight years in prison.

Raji’s wife, who is also a patrol officer, was pregnant with their daughter Mikayla at the time. She plans to retire from the service in November to look after Mikayla. She spoke at the sentencing, talking of her own personal loss, as well as the void in her daughter’s life.

Every year, federal statistics tell us about the number of people killed in drunk driving accidents the previous year. However, it’s impossible to gauge the depth of loss from these deaths. These are not mere statistics. These drunk driving accident victims leave behind mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, children, brothers, sisters, friends and colleagues. As a New Jersey wrongful death attorney, I know that for the people who've loved and lost, the loss is incalculable and irreparable.

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New Jersey personal injury lawyers and auto safety advocates have been advocating much stronger drunk driving laws to prevent the kind of accidents that are caused by repeat offenders. A motorist who hasn’t learnt his lesson after one DUI conviction, or doesn't find the punishment for DUI in our state severe enough, is too dangerous a motorist to be out freely driving on the streets without any restriction.

In an example of the kind of devastation that are caused by such motorists, a serial DUI offender caused a fatal accident in Lower Township in Cape May County over the weekend. John J. Lawless has multiple convictions for Driving While Intoxicated. His Pennsylvania driving license has been suspended out of Pennsylvania since 2001.  None of that seemed to stop this man, however. On Saturday night, Lawless was on route 9, drunk yet again. He failed to make a curve and entered the opposite lane into oncoming traffic.  His car collided with a vehicle driven by Fredrick H Shelton, who died at the scene of the accident. Shelton's wife was critically injured and the couple’s thirteen year old daughter had to be airlifted to a hospital in Camden.

Police, who responded to the scene of the crash, detected the strong smell of alcohol on Lawless’s breath. They found about his blemished driving history when they ran a computer check on him.   As Lower Township police Chief Edward Donohue later said, “This man should not have been operating a motor vehicle on any highway”. Lawless has had problems with alcohol abuse since 1996, and has spent jail time for it.

His reckless behavior, and the system’s inadequacies that allowed him to be driving when he so clearly should never have been behind the wheel, has shattered a family. 

This year, we've had several accidents that have involved serial DUI offenders. In April this year, a father and his daughter in Morris Township suffered injuries in an accident caused by a driver who had had his license suspended a total of 78 times, including 12 times for DUI offenses. State Senate president Richard J. Codey has since then called for making driving under a license suspended for DUI, a criminal offense. 

How many more lives have to be lost before we can begin treating this problem with the severity it deserves?

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

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New Jersey is one of the few states in the country to ban the use of hand-held cell phones while driving, to prevent accidents. The ban isn’t the strongest step we could take towards preventing cell phone-related accidents, but it is still better than no ban at all. Enforcement hasn’t been as aggressive as New Jersey personal injury lawyers would have liked, and I still see far too many motorists with their cell phones glued to their ears.

The Director of the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, however, believes that change will come to New Jerseyans' driving behavior, but it will take time.  

Pam Fischer has some words of encouragement for those of us who are concerned at the number of motorists who seem to see nothing wrong in using a cell phone behind the wheel. She promises to push for as many high school students as possible to be made to watch a gripping Welsh PSA video, depicting the deadly consequences of texting while driving. The video shows a teenage motorist text messaging just seconds before crashing her car into another, killing four people in all. The video does a great job of driving home the "don’t text and drive" message, and I hope high school students this year in New Jersey cities, including in Monmouth and Bergen Counties, will be made to watch the video as part of their driver education classes. 

 Fischer is also a member of the Governor's Highway Safety Association, which recently called for a nationwide ban on texting while driving for all motorists.  That call was prompted by a study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, which found that a motorist's risk of being involved in a car accident increased by 23 times if he was texting while driving.  

It's not just the GHSA that is concerned about the effects of cell phone use on traffic safety. Later this month, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will convene a special summit dedicated to discussing the dangers of distracted driving, especially distractions from cell phone use.

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Families of two motorcyclists, who were killed earlier this month in separate accidents in a construction zone on I-295,  have expressed their intention of suing the New Jersey Department of Transportation, and state police.

According to New Jersey State Police, the lanes where the accidents took place are under construction. The first motorcyclist Jude Bihari struck a ridge at the construction zone. The bike toppled over, and Bihari slid into the center lane where he was struck first by a BMW, and then, by a Hyundai Sonata. He was declared dead at the scene of the accident.

The same stretch of highway was also the scene of another motorcycle accident, just hours after the one that killed Bihari. The second motorcyclist, Ronald Moss also apparently struck the same uneven pavement involved in Bihari's accident, and lost control of the bike. Moss was thrown off his motorcycle when he struck the uneven pavement. He sustained serious injuries, and died later.

State police insists that in both cases, there was a clearly visible white line separating the lane that was elevated from the other.  They also insist that there were signs warning motorists about construction work going on in the area.

Families of the two victims are considering filing a lawsuit against the state DOT, and New Jersey State Police. The families insist that there was a failure to adequately warn the motorcyclists of the risky road conditions just before the accident that killed Bihari.

Navigating construction zones can be very tricky, and signs may not always be as visible as they would be if the highway was clear. There may be heavy construction equipment like bulldozers around, and several construction workers at the site. There may be heaps of construction debris, making it harder for a motorist or motorcyclist to see a white line.

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

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The crash risks of cell phone use behind the wheel are well known, and now, one federal agency has decided to set an example for the rest of us by imposing a ban on all cell phone use behind the wheel, on its employees.

National Transportation Safety Board employees are now banned from using cell phones and other wireless devices while driving. The new chairwoman of the NTSB announced the ban under which employees are prohibited from using all kinds of cell phones, including hands-free devices, behind the wheel. The approximately 400 employees, as well as board members of the NTSB, will be prohibited from texting or talking on agency-issued phones while driving on duty, as well as during off hours. The NTSB is now the first federal agency to have such a ban in place.

As a New Jersey personal injury lawyer, I have always believed that we need stronger laws to prevent the kinds of accidents that occur because drivers are too distracted by their cell phones. While the state of New Jersey itself has a ban on handheld devices, it has been clear to personal injury lawyers and safety advocates who care passionately about auto safety, that the laws don’t go as far as they need to. We have heard from the National Safety Council that cell phone use of any kind behind the wheel is dangerous. However, no state has acted to completely ban cell phones behind the wheel. Seven states including New Jersey, ban handheld devices, while other states ban cell phones for some groups of motorists, like teen motorists or school bus drivers.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, driver distractions are a factor in approximately 30 percent of all traffic accidents. Cell phone use has quickly become the number one distraction that motorists face.

It doesn’t take super smarts to understand that you can’t be talking on the cell phone and concentrating on the road at the same time. No matter how expert a driver you are, carrying on a conversation even on a hands free set is enough of a distraction to cause an accident.  

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Monmouth County investigators have zeroed in on the driver of the box truck that allegedly struck and killed a 59-year-old man last week.

The body of Thomas Kovacs was found on route 33 last week. He lived at a residential care facility in the area. Investigators from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, who evaluated the debris at the site of the accident, were able to determine that the vehicle that struck and killed Kovacs, was a box truck. They were also able to pinpoint the kind of damage that the box truck might have sustained in the crash. The truck was found this week in a commercial parking lot in Freehold Township. The driver of the box truck, Dinesh Kumar Patel has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident.  

Very often, tracing the driver in a hit and run pedestrian accident can be hard. There may be no witnesses at the scene. Even if there are witnesses, they may not have been able to note down enough details like the color and model of the car, the appearance of the driver, and the license plate number. Without these important details, investigators find it hard to trace a suspect. Eric Kerecman, who is the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office detective, was assigned the task of finding the hit and run driver here. He deserves kudos for the excellent job he has done, and the speed with which he has nabbed Patel.

Last week, I expressed concern at the high rate of pedestrian accidents in New Jersey this year. So far, in the first 8 months of 2009 alone, we have lost 103 pedestrians in accidents. These numbers are higher than they were at the same time last year. New Jersey authorities have been implementing a decoy program to catch crosswalk violators red-handed. Enforcement is very important, but there also needs to be greater awareness of the rights of pedestrians.

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

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New Jersey’s law enforcement agencies kicked off their Labor Day crackdown on drunk driving last week.

The crackdown is part of a nationwide anti-drunk driving enforcement effort, targeted towards the high number of drunk drivers who are expected to hit the road during this period.  States everywhere have stepped up their enforcement programs, and New Jersey is no exception. More than 230 law enforcement agencies are taking part in the crackdown called “Over the Limit. Under Arrest."

The crackdown will last through September 7^th. There will be additional number of sobriety checkpoints and concentrated patrols targeting impaired drivers. 

Last year, 165 people died in alcohol-related car accidents in New Jersey, which was about 20 percent of all traffic fatalities in the state. Just last week, an elementary school teacher in Somerset County was charged with drunk driving for her involvement in a multi-vehicle crash that injured 6 people. The fourth-grade teacher is an example of a growing trend, in which women motorists are showing some of the same undesirable driving characteristics that were the prerogative of men earlier. The woman’s arrest comes just in time for an increased focus on women and impaired driving. This year, the US Transportation Department has announced that the enforcement will target female motorists. While male drivers still continue to be involved in a majority of alcohol-linked accidents, the gap between male and female impaired drivers is fast closing.

In 2008, an estimated 1,600 people were arrested for drunk driving during the Labor Day weekend. Besides, law enforcement officers also issued approximately 14,000 summonses for seatbelt and speeding violations. As a New Jersey personal injury lawyer and someone who travels during holiday season, I would advise travelers to take extra care while on the road during this time. I know that these checkpoints may not always be popular with motorists who have to stop, but these crackdowns help keep intoxicated drivers off the streets, and our roads safer.

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In 2003, then-Governor James E. McGreevy introduced the Social Automobile Insurance Policy that allowed low income motorists to drive with threadbare policies that barely covered their medical costs in the event of an accident. A watchdog report by Press of Atlantic City shows that it's been properly-insured motorists who have suffered.

That’s because when a motorist who is covered by SAIP causes an accident, it’s the victim of the accident and his insurance company who have to foot the bill. This means that motorists may be stuck with a huge bill for car repairs, and a bigger one for injuries in an accident because of the SAIP-insured motorist. Because the SAIP-covered motorist's policy barely covers his own expenses, the other motorist can’t expect to claim any relief. There isn't much point in filing a lawsuit against the driver’s assets, because in most cases these motorists have few, if any, assets. 

SAIP was introduced at a time when insurance companies in the state were in disarray.  Insurers were leaving the state in droves, and the SAIP program was meant to bring some calm into this state of affairs. At that point, there were about 600,000 motorists in New Jersey who had no access to car insurance. SAIP was created to fill this gap, and provide insurance for poor people who needed to get to work, and could not afford regular insurance.

Under the program, an uninsured motorist had to pay $365 per year for the plan, which covers low income New Jersey residents who are eligible for Medicaid benefits. The policy covers up to $250,000 in the treatment of serious injuries. There is also a death benefit of $10,000.  However, there is no cover for property damage or bodily injury liability.

When the program was first set up, officials believed that the number of such policies sold would be too few to warrant any crises. However, the number of people who have purchased such policies has grown dramatically. In 2008, there were more than 18,500 dollar-a-day policies. Currently, there are an estimated 22,000 policies.

Accident Victims Will Continue to Suffer

There is more bad news. As more and more people choose these low cost dollar-a-day polices, experts estimate that these motorists with SAIP cover, and no bodily damage liability, may soon outnumber motorists who have some kind of basic liability coverage. 

Scott Grossman is a New Jersey personal injury lawyer representing victims in Monmouth, Bergen and Passaic Counties, and all across New Jersey.

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It took a tragic accident involving an allegedly drunk woman who drove the wrong way and crashed her car in New York killing herself and seven others, to put the spotlight firmly on a discomforting phenomenon that has grown in recent years - the increasing number of female motorists caught driving under the influence.

Diane Schuler's toxicology reports show that she was under the influence of alcohol and marijuana when she drove her car the wrong way, and crashed into an oncoming vehicle head on.  In the car were her two-year-old daughter and three nieces. All of them and Diane were killed almost instantly. The occupants of the other vehicle were also killed in the crash.

The drama since the tragedy has had sympathy dissipating for the Schuler's family, after her husband continued to deny that Diane had any kind of drinking problem. Family members of the victim in the other car have already indicated their intention to pursue civil lawsuits. 

The accident has drawn huge media and public attention because of the magnitude of the tragedy, and the fact that there were little children involved. It has also focused attention on the increasing number of female motorists who are driving under the influence, and causing accidents.  

According to experts, the incidence of female drunk driving has risen along with female empowerment.  Studies show that while the arrest rates for men for drunk driving have dropped over the past decade, the rates of DUI arrests for women have actually increased. Women these days lead busier and more independent lives. This means that they are constantly under pressure to fit more into their days, to be the perfect wives, mothers and colleagues, and this pressure can increase the likelihood that they'll reach for a drink when they're not supposed to. Besides, women are increasingly mobile, and may be more likely to be involved in car pooling, driving with kids in their cars etc.

As a Passaic County personal injury lawyer, I have followed the developments in the Schuler case with sadness. I also find it disturbing that we seem to target female motorists lesser than men, especially when it comes to DUI enforcement. However, there is some reassuring news on the horizon. The Transportation Department this year is likely to focus its drunk driving efforts on female motorists.

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A new bill introduced in the Senate this week will require states to pass laws banning drivers from text messaging behind the wheel, in new efforts to combat the accident rate from such behavior. .  

The bill comes just one day after a study released by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, which showed that drivers who text message at the wheel have a risk of being involved in accident or near accident that’s about 23 times higher than a driver who is not text messaging at the wheel.

Although Freehold car accident lawyers and auto safety advocates have always known about the dangers of text messaging by motorists, the Virginia Tech study shows exactly how much we magnify our chances of being involved in an accident when we text and drive. The study used cameras installed inside vehicles, to track the movement of drivers' eyes as they performed several tasks that included text messaging. It was found that drivers who were sending text messaging while driving took their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds. When you are behind the wheel and driving at 55mph, taking your eyes off the road for 4.6 seconds is long enough to cause a serious accident. 

The study has come for a great deal of scrutiny, and now Democrats, including New York’s Senator Charles E. Schumer have proposed a bill to prevent text messaging-related accidents. The bill proposes to withhold 25 percent of annual federal funds for highway safety, from states who don’t write laws banning text messaging by drivers.

Currently, New Jersey is one among 13 states that has a ban on text messaging behind the wheel. However, there are signs that our ban may not have been as successful as our lawmakers and New Jersey personal injury lawyers would have wanted it to be. Earlier this month, a survey by the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety and Farleigh Dickinson University revealed that the number of motorists in New Jersey who admitted to text messaging while driving increased by 40 percent over last year. 21 percent of the motorists admitted to texting behind the wheel, an increase from 15 percent last year. 60 percent of drivers below 30 years of age admitted to sending text messages while behind the wheel.  

That all this is happening in New Jersey, which has been at the forefront of efforts against cell phone use by drivers, is of concern to New Jersey personal injury lawyers. Our state was the first to make texting by a motorist a primary offense, allowing police officers to pull over a driver for the mere act of text messaging, even if there were no other violations.  According to the Center for Auto Safety, the problem is actually getting worse.  Even with laws against their practice and enforcement, motorists continue to text while they drive, with potentially dangerous consequences.

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A bus accident involving a hotel shuttle bus and another bus at Newark Liberty International Airport have killed one person, and left three injured.

According to news reports, the shuttle bus which was operated by the Marriott Hotel at Newark Airport, collided with a First Transit bus that was carrying Fed-X employees on Wednesday.  The driver of the shuttle bus sustained fatal injuries. The driver of the other bus, as well as one passenger in the shuttle bus sustained serious injuries, and are receiving treatment.

Bus accidents can involve school buses, public transportation buses, charter buses, tour buses,  contract buses etc. Civil litigation arising out of a bus accident can be complex because of the number of parties who may be liable. Individuals who have been injured or lost their loved ones in an accident are required to file such claims before the statute of limitations, or the time limit to file a claim, runs out. The statute of limitation for auto accidents in our state is two years from the date of the accident.

Injured persons may feel  pressured to settle with the bus owner or operator. In cases of accidents involving public transportation buses that are owned by public agencies, litigation becomes even more complex and takes a longer period of time. It’s important to consult with a New Jersey bus accident lawyer before negotiating with the parties involved.

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According to a New York Times report, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2003 decided to withhold information and evidence that Americans were being placed at high risks of accidents because of the growing use of cell phones behind the wheel.

Documents that were buried years ago have now surfaced thanks to the efforts of two public interest groups, and the NYT has published those documents on its website. The research was apparently withheld because, according to the former NHTSA chief, Congress members didn’t want the agency to pressure states for changes in their driving laws. At the time, the researchers have asked for a more intensive study about the dangers of cell phone use by motorists, but the agency stonewalled any such plans because of political concerns. It’s just another example of the manner in which our safety agencies and law makers fail to do what's right for the American motorist.

The researchers, it seems, had wanted to warn states that a ban on handheld devices would do nothing to eliminate the risk of accidents. Earlier this year, I had discussed how the National Council on Safety had called for a ban on cell phone use by all drivers. That included handheld as well as hands free devices.

Currently, only a handful of states including New Jersey have laws banning handheld cell phones for all drivers. No states ban cell phone use of all kinds behind the wheel. However, teen motorists in many states are banned from using cell phones while driving. With cell phone use being traced to not just automobile accidents, but also trucking and train accidents, it’s clear that we need to revise our approach to handling the problem.

• In Boston earlier this year, a trolley operator texting on his cell phone caused an accident that injured dozens of people.
• Last year, a train accident in California that killed 25 people was traced to operators on both trains involved sending text messages on their phones.
• Motorists using their cell phones are up to 4 times more likely to be involved in an accident than those who are not using their phones.
• Studies have shown that use of a cell phone while driving causes a level of impairment that is equal to that caused by a blood alcohol level of .08 percent.

With all those facts and figures at our disposal, I don’t believe we should be dragging our feet on what is such an essential public safety issue. As a Passaic County personal injury lawyer, I don’t believe that a ban on cell phones behind the wheel will be a highly popular measure, but I do believe that it would be a firm step towards increasing the safety of our motorists.

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There is some good news on the accident fatality rate front, as confirmed by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration's annual report that came out earlier this month.  Accident-related fatalities across the country are at their lowest levels, in decades.

According to the report, there has been a drop of 3,998 deaths from 2007. The fatality number in 2008 is 37,261 from 41,259 in 2007. Most importantly, the decline has been seen across all categories.  Drunk driving accident deaths, deaths related to speeding, pedestrian deaths and even trucking accident fatalities, have dropped significantly. The only category that has not showed any improvement is motorcycle accidents. In fact, for the 11^th year in a row, deaths from motorcycle accidents have showed an upward trend. That’s a disturbing fact, and the NHTSA must probe the reasons for why we have been unable to achieve any success in bringing down motorcycle accident death rates.

It's not just fatality rates that are down.  Injury rates have dropped too. Last year 2.35 million people were injured in traffic accidents, compared to 2.49 million the previous year. In fact, the number of injuries is at its lowest point since the agency began collecting data in 1998. More important, 2008 was the 9^th year in a row that injury rates have dropped.                                 

New Jersey saw a total of 724 accidents in 2007, and those numbers have dropped to 590 in 2008. That’s a drop of 19 percent, and those numbers are very encouraging indeed.

While increased seatbelt usage, safer automobiles and stronger enforcement have all played their part in bringing down the accident death rate, let's not forget that there is a recession on, and that people didn’t travel as much as usual last year. The hike in gas prices last summer also contributed to fewer vehicles on the highway, and consequently, fewer accidents.

We will have to wait for when the recession eases up and gas prices begin to slide again, to see whether the fatality rates still stay the same. Already there are signs that as gas prices begin to stabilize a little, people are abandoning the public transportation and bicycles that they took to during the gas crisis, and are returning to their cars again.

H/t: Gjelblogger

Scott Grossman is a New Jersey personal injury lawyer, representing victims in Monmouth, Bergen, and Passaic Counties, and all over New Jersey.

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A fatal motorcycle accident earlier this month in Jackson Township is putting the spotlight on a dangerous road that has been responsible for serious accidents earlier.

The East Veteran's highway was the scene of a motorcycle accident caused when a dump truck driver failed to yield for a motorcyclist. The rider, Ronald Pern Sr. hit the truck, and sustained serious injuries. He died a while later.  Pern apparently had the right of way at the time of the crash.

A similar accident in December involved a vehicle that failed to yield, and five people sustained serious injuries in that accident. According to JacksonNJONline.com, the East Veteran's highway winds several miles with no traffic lights. Residents in the area have complained about the dangerous highway, and even petitioned authorities for enhancements to be made to the highway. They have lobbied for school bus stops along the road. But these appeals have been rejected by the school board. This is in spite of the several fatal accidents that occur on the stretch every year. The County engineering department has blamed the accident on poor enforcement by the Jackson Township Police Department, and reckless motorists who run stop lights in a hurry to get home.

What's happening in Jackson Township is something that New Jersey personal injury lawyers see happening all too often in the state. The city blames the county, the county blames state agencies, and everyone else, while motorists feel encouraged to flout traffic rules without fear from traffic enforcement agencies that are chronically understaffed. In all this, it's innocent people like Ronald Pern Sr. who suffer the consequences.

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According to a report in the Washington Post, you're more likely to die in an accident caused by a defect in the design or maintenance of the road, than by speeding, drunk driving or failure to wear a seatbelt.

A study commissioned by the Transportation Construction Coalition and released last week says that more than 50 percent of the automobile accidents that take place in the country are caused because of a defective or dangerous highway. According to the report, poor roadway design or maintenance was a factor in approximately 22,000 accident-related fatalities annually. These fatalities cost the economy $217.5 billion each year. In comparison, fatalities caused by speeding-related accidents cost $130 billion, speeding related accidents cost the economy $97 billon, and failure to wear seatbelts resulted in costs of $60 billion to the economy. Yet, accident fatality prevention efforts in our country seem to focus heavily on drunk drivers and speeders (which is absolutely necessary) and seatbelt enforcement, with little attention paid to the obstructive utility poles, the lack of barriers, the barely visible signs and other roadway defects that cause most of these accidents.

Much of the problem, the report says, occurs because of defects on older roads and back roads. These roads, which were built for exponentially fewer numbers of automobiles, haven’t kept pace with the rapid growth of populations, and the large number of automobiles on our roads today. The study calls for more investments in infrastructure development, including construction, repairs and maintenance of our back roads.

The Federal Highway Administration agrees that making highway improvements would save lives. With $16 billion from the federal stimulus funds currently tied up  in highway improvement projects around the country, we could see the impact in the form of a drop in accident-related fatalities in the years to come.

In New Jersey, work has already begun on massive highway development projects, involving an expenditure of $389 million. Projects that will be paid for by stimulus money include those in Bergen, Monmouth, Passaic, Essex, Hudson, Somerset Counties etc. As a New Jersey personal injury lawyer who frequently represents victims of accidents in these areas, I couldn't be happier about these investments in safer roads for all.

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Denver Nuggets guard J.R Smith has been sentenced to 30 days in a jail in Monmouth County jail after he pleaded guilty earlier this week to reckless driving in a 2007 car accident that killed his friend. The judge sentenced him to 90 days in the jail, but suspended 60 days.  He has also been ordered to perform community service.

On June 9^th 2007, Smith with basketball player Carl Marshal and his friend Andre Bell were on their way to his new home in his parent's 2003 GMC Yukon Denali. Smith drove around a vehicle that was stopped at a Millstone intersection, but crashed into another vehicle coming from the other side. Both Smith and Bell were thrown from the SUV. Bell suffered serious head injuries, and died two days later. His mother Wanda Bell has told investigators that she does not want Smith to face criminal prosecution because of her family’s desire for closure. However she will proceed with civil charges in the accident. According to Bell, she is proceeding with her wrongful death lawsuit because Smith has not made efforts to stop his dangerous driving habits which were responsible for the accident in the first place.

Smith has expressed remorse for the accident, and offered his apologies to Bell’s mother. He has even vowed to stop his dangerous driving habits. However, his actions speak otherwise. Between the time of the fatal accident and March of 2008, Smith has allegedly accumulated two more speeding tickets and three more license suspensions. His license is currently suspended for two years, and he will only regain his driving rights in August 2010. At the time of the accident, he had 27 points and five suspensions on his record. Most of the violations seemed to involve speeding.

With Smith setting up temporary residence at the Monmouth County jail in Freehold, do I believe that this fatal accident and the death of his friend will make him change his rash driving ways? I wouldn't bet on it, but hopefully a civil lawsuit will be able to make him see the error of his ways.

Scott Grossman is a New Jersey personal injury lawyer, representing victims in Monmouth, Bergen, and Passaic Counties and all over New Jersey.

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Jersey City authorities have been outraged after a 51-year-old pedestrian was severely injured in an accident involving a pickup truck driver who then proceeded to simply travel right on as if nothing had happened. The driver has now been arrested.

Surveillance video released last week shows 51-year-old Ricardo Torres walking on a crosswalk, and being struck by a black Ford pickup truck. The truck then traveled right on, as Jersey City Mayor Jeremiah Healy put it "as if he ran over a rat or something". Torres had the right of way at the time of the crash. Now, Jersey City Police say they have arrested a suspect. Police have arrested 19-year-old Bayonne resident Anthony J. Pane, and have charged him with assault by vehicle, leaving the scene of the accident and endangering an injured victim.

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Jersey City Police had earlier determined that the hit and run truck had been traveling at 35 to 40mph in a 25mph zone. Witnesses have claimed that the pickup truck had swerved either to dislodge the body or avoid running over him again before driving off.  According to police chief Thomas Comey, it was the third such hit and run accident involving pedestrians in Jersey City this year alone. In the two other cases, the pedestrians died. Torres continues to be in a critical condition and is in a medically induced coma, at a Jersey City hospital.

The accident had sparked impassioned pleas by police and city authorities to the public, asking for cooperation to nab the hit and run driver. As police chief Comey puts it, the victim here was "someone else's loved one, someone else's brother and someone else's father.

On this blog, I have discussed a number of recent New Jersey accidents involving pedestrians who had their right of way violated. To New Jersey personal injury lawyers, it appears that there is an unacceptable level of motorist impatience and callousness where the rights of these pedestrians are concerned. Jersey City police and city authorities have been rightfully outraged at the way pedestrians have been struck fatally or seriously this year, while the drivers have simply driven right on without even stopping to look at the results of their actions.

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As a Bergen County personal injury lawyer, I have followed the Robert Higbee case with interest, and have discussed it earlier on this blog. A jury has now cleared the New Jersey State trooper in charges resulting from a car accident in Cape May County in 2006. Higbee was accused of running a stop sign while engaged in a pursuit with his light and siren off, resulting in a fatal collision with a van.

On September 27^th 2006, Higbee was on duty racing through an Upper Township neighborhood in pursuit of a speeding car. He was driving at over 79 mph when he allegedly ran a stop sign. His car crashed into a van containing Jacqueline and Christina Becker. The teenage girls suffered massive head injuries in the car accident, and died. Robert Higbee was charged with death by auto. Higbee denied ever having been seen the stop sign that he allegedly ran. He testified that his concentration was focused on the speeding car that was pursuing. If convicted, he could have faced  five to ten years in prison. 

The decision to file charges against Higbee had generated strong protests from the police union who have held that the accident was just that - an accident. According to David Jones, head of the main state police union, if Higbee had been found guilty, it would have negatively impacted  law enforcement officers who had unintentional "bad outcomes” in the performance of their duties.

The verdict brought to an end an agonizing trial in which the deaths of the two girls were played out again and again. The girls' mother, Maria Caiafa has voiced her anguish at the decision. Caiafa - who had earlier this year settled for $2 million with the state - believes that the verdict sends law enforcement officers the wrong message – that it’s OK for innocent motorists and bystanders to pay when officers make a mistake.

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There have been no studies to show if drivers who are on a suspended license are more likely to cause an accident than a motorist driving with a valid license. However, a study done last year in Maine revealed that motorists struck by a driver with a suspended license are six times more likely to die than those involved in a car accident with someone having a valid license. Besides, drivers with a suspended license are ten times more likely to indulge in driving under the influence and other reckless behaviors.

At least five percent of New Jersey's 6 million licensed drivers have had their license suspended or revoked at least once in their motoring lives. Far too many of these drivers, as this Star-Ledger editorial discusses, think little of getting back in their car and driving off.

Last November, an East Brunswick accident killed a father of three.  The other motorist in that accident, Steven Osadacz had been driving on a license suspended till 2030. He had a total of six prior DUI offences.  Last month, an East Rutherford resident crashed his SUV into a pick up truck in Morris Township.  That driver Shaun Campbell bill had had his license suspended a total of 78 times, including 12 suspensions for driving under the influence.

It's simply far too easy for drivers who are driving under suspended licenses to go back to their lives after they've been caught. We should be making it harder for suspended drivers to be behind the wheel of a car again. Instead these drivers are free to get back into their cars and drive off recklessly, sometimes with devastating consequences.

There are reasons for this. The state simply can't afford the kind of enforcement necessary to keep these drivers off the road. As a Monmouth county accident lawyer and a concerned citizen, it makes no sense to me that Shaun Campbell's license  had been suspended a total of 12 times for DUI, and he was still able to get back into his car again and drive into a pickup truck. Stephen Fagbewesa, the father who died in the East Brunswick crash was killed by a driver whose license was suspended till 2030. If license suspensions have not been a deterrent to drivers like these and probably hundreds of others who see nothing wrong in driving anyway, then you wonder what use are such toothless suspensions anyway. At the very least there should be more bite in New Jersey's license suspension laws.

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We have to wait till next year to see if Kyleigh’s Law will actually reduce the number of car accidents involving teen drivers, but the legislation has already generated plenty of heat.

Just under two weeks ago, Governor Jon Corzine signed the legislation that will require drivers below the age of 21 who don’t have full driving privileges yet, to display an identifying decal on their vehicles, allowing officers to distinguish them from others. The law is first of its kind to be passed in the country, and the main intent is to make these younger and inexperienced drivers easily identifiable.

The law is named after Morris County teenager Kyleigh D’Alessio, who died in a car accident involving a teenage driver. The decal itself will be a small rectangle affixed to both front and back license plates, enabling police to identify these drivers easily. According to the New Jersey Division of Highway Safety, cops will identify teen drivers violating curfews, or passenger restrictions with the help of the decals.

Not surprisingly, teen drivers have not been too happy about a law they say is equivalent to profiling on the basis of age. One attorney in Rockaway has already filed a lawsuit to overturn the law on behalf of his teenage son and nephew. According to lawyer Gregg D Trautmann who’s suing the governor and state of New Jersey, the law would give police a free pass to pull over and harass young drivers needlessly. Besides, criminals including sex offenders, would be able to identify young drivers through the decals on their cars.

However, New Jersey’s car accident lawyers and law enforcement agencies have wholeheartedly supported the bill. It’s a fact that accidents are the number one cause of teen deaths. According to the Teen Driver Study Commission, there were 55,792 teen-related accidents in New Jersey in 2006. These left 48 teen drivers and 19 teen passengers dead. The Teen Driver Study Commission had made a set of recommendations to Governor Corzine, including the development of an identifier that could mark a vehicle driven by a new driver with a permit or probationary license, and make the vehicle easily identifiable.

We need to be making more efforts to instill safe driving practices among our teen drivers, and if an identifying system helps us monitor and correct teen driving behavior than this Monmouth County personal injury lawyer is all for it.

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Image Courtesy: Flickr - streetsmarts

In March, 18 municipalities across 17 counties in New Jersey, including Bergen County undertook a special two week crackdown on motorists who use their cell phones while driving, thereby increasing their risk of being involved in an automobile accident. The two week crackdown also included the participation of Atlantic, Morris, Union,  Mercer counties and others.

New Jersey passed a law last year prohibiting the use of hand held cell phones behind the wheel.  However, judging by the number of people who continue to use handheld cell phones while driving, many New Jerseyans, including those in Bergen and Monmouth County, still haven’t received that particular message. 

Since the law was passed, more than 108,000 errant motorists have been pulled over and ticketed for talking or texting on their phones. To reinforce these efforts, a special two week crackdown on drivers operating handheld cell phones resulted in hundreds of summons being issued to motorists who were in violation of the law. Disturbingly enough, after the two week crackdown ended, a survey showed that the number of motorists using cell phones after the crackdown was almost the same as those before the special enforcement. Even more disturbingly, 90% of New Jersey drivers are aware that there is a law prohibiting them from operating a handheld phone, and that they can be pulled over and fined for doing so. Also, 80% of the people seem to support it. 

So, what does that mean?  That people are aware of the law, but many of them support it only in theory? There could be other reasons why the law, even though it has resulted in dramatic spikes in the numbers of people ticketed for cell phone use, has still not led to people curbing that itch to reach for the phone when it rings. Law enforcement has had a problem putting enough officers on duty to enforce the law. So, the numbers of motorists who have been able to get away with cell phone use has been higher than Governor Corzine would have liked when he signed the law.

Personal Injury Lawyers Support the Ban

Cell phone use behind the wheel has grown into enough of a driving risk for states across the country to move quickly to enact laws regulating the use of these devices. No state in the country has a complete ban on the use of all cell phones while driving, but many including California and New Jersey have laws banning the use of handheld phones, which includes texting. In New Jersey, the law itself has been controversial with safety experts divided over how effective a ban on handheld devices is. Many MonmouthCounty personal injury lawyers however believe that the ban on handheld devices is a promising first step, and while it may not show the kinds of results we want immediately, it could lead to a more comprehensive ban down the road.

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On January 13^th, a new bill that seeks to establish a Task Force on Underage Drinking in Higher Education was introduced in the New Jersey Senate. If passed, the bill will set up a task force consisting of 20 members who will be responsible for recommendations for effective ways of combating underage drinking in colleges. These 20 members will be sourced from several New Jersey colleges as well as representative of alcohol retailers. The task force will include the chairman of New Jersey Commission on Higher Education and the director of the Division of Highway Traffic Safety, law enforcement agencies, college representatives as well as representatives from Mothers Against Drunk Driving. All members will be appointed by Governor Jon Corzine.

Among other things, the task force will study practices in other states, relating to the kind of collaboration that exists between law enforcement, colleges and other groups to determine the best policies that are helping cub the problem of underage drinking. The legislature will then introduce these most effective policies to state colleges and universities, and put these into practice. There may be additional laws necessary to introduce new bills for the updating of college practices, so that they reflect more effective regulations.

Underage Drinking as a Leading Cause of Teen Car Accidents

Underage drinking continues to be a problem plaguing colleges and universities not just in New Jersey, but around the country. The problem has been brought in the spotlight even more acutely in recent months after a group of chancellors and presidents of colleges around the country launched the Amethyst Initiative. These chancellors and presidents were signatories to a petition calling for a debate on the minimum drinking age law. According to the Initiative, there is a need for informed debate on revising the minimum drinking age which is currently 21 years. The signatories insist that the debate is needed because the minimum age failed to cut down on underage drinking rates, and binge drinking continues to be a serious in colleges in US. More than a hundred presidents of colleges have signed to the petition, and it has fulfilled its purpose in that there has been strong debate on whether lowering the drinking age is really the way to combat the problem.

New Jersey Personal Injury Attorneys

New Jersey personal injury lawyers, a vast majority of college and university presidents, as well as parents had been strongly united in their conviction that lowering the age for drinking legally is not a solution to this complex problem. For instance, the signatories to the Amethyst Initiative have not specified owe they plan to tackle the problem of a lowered drinking age affecting high school students. The minimum age drinking law has been responsible for several lives saved in car accidents every year. Besides, there are other crimes associated with alcohol intake like assaults and rapes that have been kept under control precisely because only adults above the age of 21 can walk into a bar or a retailer and purchase alcoholic beverages. Lowering the age could open a Pandora's Box of new and even more complex problems that we may not be able to deal with.

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As a Monmouth County personal injury lawyer, I constantly meet people with debilitating traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries, but as this report shows, these are not always caused by workplace related accidents or automobile accidents. It's the season for sledding, skiing and skating, and also the time for some extremely serious and life altering injuries, if you're not careful out there.

The American Association of Neurological Surgeons estimates that every year, these winter sports injuries send thousands of men, women and children to emergency rooms around the country. 

According to the CPSC's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, there were more than 6600 head injuries caused during snowboarding, 5700 caused during sledding, 5400 injuries caused during ice hockey and 3700 caused by skiing. A total of more than 1200 head injuries were caused by snowmobiles, toboggans, and snow tubing. Many of these head injuries were caused because the person wasn’t wearing a safety helmet, or because the helmet wasn’t sturdy enough to take the massive impact of a fall or collision. In any case, head injuries at their mildest can cause concussion, or disorientation, and at their most severe, can result in traumatic brain injuries with possibly long term effects. 

When it came to neck injuries on the ice, skiing was the number one risk with 1385 injuries occurring while navigating the slopes. Next was snowboarding with more than 1900 neck injuries, and hockey with more than 600 injuries. The rest of the injuries were caused by snowmobiles, sleds, skating and snow tubing. Most of these injuries are caused because of falls while playing, or colliding against another player or against a hard concrete surface. Spinal cord injuries can have debilitating consequences, at their very worst leaving patients in a quadriplegic state.

Although speed and the accompanying adrenalin rush is a big part of the winter sports experience, it's entirely possible for you to have safe fun on the slopes and ice.  The ASTM has a few precautions for safe sports this winter. Always wear helmets that have the ASTM stamp of approval, and wear protective body clothing that’s appropriate to the sport. Avoid getting too adventurous, and follow all posted signs carefully. Look for any warnings of dangerous curves or posts ahead.

Danger can lurk in the most unexpected places whether you're circling a rink, or racing down the slopes. So, take all precautions, and practice safe sports this winter!

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