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

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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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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Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has announced plans to hold a summit of experts in September to discuss distracted driving and the risk of accidents. The summit will include transportation officials, safety advocates, law enforcement agencies as well as lawmakers, and will discuss the effects of distracted drivers on traffic safety, as well as measures to deal with the problem. Not surprisingly, cell phone use and text messaging while driving are expected to be the focus of the summit.

The summit plans come soon after several reports linking automobile accidents to cell phone use hit the news. Like I discussed earlier, the New York Times had revealed last month  that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for at least 5 years, had access to data that would have placed pressure on states to pass stronger cell phone safety laws, but failed to make these public.  Soon after, that came a study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, which showed that text messaging while driving increased the risk of an accident by up to 23 times. Whether you believe those numbers are not, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that sending text messages when you drive is foolish driving behavior.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the summit is expected to focus on ways to enforce stricter laws banning cell phones behind the wheel. New Jersey does have a ban on handheld devices behind the wheel, but we have seen mixed results with the ban. While cell phone use by New Jersey motorists dropped in the first few months after the ban was imposed, those numbers have picked up since then. That's a troubling fact, and the time is right for New Jersey's legislators to look into why the ban is not working as effectively as it was meant to.

Meanwhile, Bergen County car accident lawyers will be watching the September summit very closely to see if it comes up with any proposals that could add more bite to our cell phone safety laws.

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You don’t have to convince New Jerseyans about the importance of wearing seatbelts to prevent life-threatening injuries and fatalities in an accident. In 2009, 92.67 percent of front seat passengers in the state buckled up, which was an increase of last year's rate of 91.7 percent. Those rates have been steadily climbing over the past 13 years. According to the New Jersey Institute of Technology which conducted the survey that revealed those high seatbelt usage rates, that is an increase of more than 79,000 people in our state who cared to buckle up this year compared to 2008.   

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that an increase of .92 percent in front seatbelt use can prevent up to 7 accident-related deaths, 206 serious injures and more than 150 minor injuries. It can also save the state close to $50 million in accident-related economic costs.

The five counties with the highest seatbelt usage rates this year are Mercer County with a rate of 94.53 percent, followed by Bergen County with 94.45 percent, Hudson County with93.87 percent, Middlesex County with 93.14 percent and Morris County 93.13 percent.  

Passaic County has increased its seatbelt usage by 4.4 percent to touch 92.66 percent this year.

Ocean County seatbelt usage rates are up by 3.9 percent this year to touch 90.05 percent.

The largest improvement has been made in Hudson County which was up by 5.9 percent to touch 93.87 percent in 2009.

Those numbers are very encouraging, and as a Passaic and Bergen County personal injury lawyer, it's gratifying to see so many motorists in these countries responsible enough to buckle up while driving. However, our state's seatbelt laws don’t make it mandatory for backseat passengers to buckle up. The New Jersey Institute of Technology survey shows that seat belt usage by backseat passengers is very low. Just about 32 percent of adults in back seats bother to buckle up.

Over the past 9 years, 259 backseat passengers who failed to wear seatbelts have died in accidents. According to Pam Fischer, the director of New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, at least 200 of these people would have survived if they were wearing seatbelts. Fischer is urging legislators to support Senate Bill S-18, which would make it mandatory for backseat passengers to buckle up.

At a news conference to bring attention to the bill, Dr Bruce Bonanno who is a doctor at the Bayshore Hospital in Holmdel, spoke about the high number of backseat accident-fatalities he sees. According to Dr Bonanno, there has been a huge decrease in the number of accident-related fatalities over the past couple of decades,  but more lives could be saved if we promote back seat belt usage through the “Click it or Ticket Campaign” that has done so much to raise seat belt usage rates in New Jersey.

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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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A tragic truck accident on the New Jersey Turnpike involving multiple vehicles, has left five people dead. The five victims included Salvatore Urbano and Jeanette Urbano from Passaic County, and Anna, Rose and Francis Kane from Kearny County. The Urbanos were a couple, and the three Kanes were Jeanette Urbano’s siblings.

Apparently, the five who were all in their 70’s, were on their way to a family wedding. Their Buick had stopped in traffic in the right southbound lane when a tractor trailer crashed into the stopped car. That set off several other collisions involving at least 6 other vehicles. The Buick burst into flames with the five still strapped inside. At least three other people in another car sustained injuries in the accident. At least one of them is reported to be in a critical condition.

The truck driver could face charges. He was not injured in the crash, and blood alcohol tests have been conducted on him. We won’t know the results till several weeks , however.

Blood alcohol testing on a tractor trailer is routine procedure following a fatal accident. Police are also likely to investigate if the driver was speeding at the time of the crash.Witness accounts are going to be crucial.

Meanwhile, the Urbano family is mourning the deaths of their parents, two aunts and uncle. The Urbanos have been married 48 years, according to press reports. They had been strong members of their community and local church.  The siblings had been extremely close knit. Jeanette and the three Kanes had been part of 9 siblings born and raised in Jersey City. Their community has been shocked at the sudden and violent deaths of five members of the same family.

 If you have questions about your rights after a truck accdeint, contact a truck accident lawyer at my offfice.

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