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

Motorists in New Jersey who fail to respect pedestrian rights, could find themselves coming up against a plain clothes police officer. That's because a program that uses police officers to act as pedestrians in order to crack down on motorists who fail to yield, is now underway. This is not the first time that New Jersey has had a program like this. The results of earlier programs have been successful, and police officers will be looking to cite or ticket motorists who don't yield to pedestrians.

It's important that drivers in New Jersey know that if you see a pedestrian on the crosswalk, you must stop and wait for the pedestrian to finish crossing before you drive on. Failure to do so will likely result in a citation if you're in one of the 13 New Jersey towns that have received a grant to conduct the program. Across the state, 13 police departments have received $8,000 in grants to conduct the pedestrian decoy program. Violators of these rules will be fined $200, plus court fees. They will also have two points on their driving record.

Waiting for a pedestrian on the crosswalk to finish crossing before you drive on, is not a difficult concept to grasp. It's a fairly simple task, but it never fails to amaze me as a New Jersey accident lawyer, that so many motorists fail to respect these most basic pedestrian rights.

This isn't to say however that pedestrians have no responsibility at all while they are walking. Always cross at a marked crosswalk. If you're not in a crosswalk, know that you have to yield to a motorist. If you're jaywalking, you can expect to be fined.

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A motorist, who drove through a group of pedestrians crossing the road just outside the New Meadowlands Stadium, has been charged with driving under the influence.

Nine pedestrians were injured when 21-year-old New Yorker Frank Morocho drove his car through the pedestrians, who were crossing Route 120 just after midnight on Friday. The nine who were injured had just finished watching a soccer game between Mexico and Ecuador at the new stadium. It was the first professional sporting event at the New Meadowlands Stadium, and had attracted a massive crowd of more than 77,000 people. It was obviously an exciting event. Unfortunately, for the pedestrians who were unlucky enough to be in Morocho’s path, it was a terrible end to a wonderful day.  Some of them have been seriously injured in the accident. 

Federal safety officials typically estimate that a pedestrian has a lower chance of being involved in an accident if he's walking in a group. Obviously, it wasn't a case of safety in numbers in this particular accident. The fact is that when it comes to intoxicated motorists, none of the usual rules matter. You could be driving very carefully at low speeds, but you may have little chance to avoid an accident if you're unlucky enough to be around a drunk driver.

Fortunately, we have fewer drunk drivers on New Jersey streets today compared to in the past. Drunk driving is now not the number one killer on American roads. That dubious honor goes to speeding, although it is failure to wear seat belts that is the single most dangerous practice a motorist could engage in. However, as a New Jersey personal injury lawyer, I believe that we need to continue efforts against drunk driving to further minimize these fatality rates.

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New Jersey's share of the federal stimulus package funds may well end up lowering the state's accident rates. According to Senator Frank Lautenberg, the funds will be used for repairing deficient roadways highways and bridges. In fact that is probably going to the one of the biggest priorities, if not the biggest one for the administration.

The state is expecting over $1 billion worth of federal money for roadway and railway improvement projects. That’s about a 30% increase in the state's yearly budget for these facilities. Governor Jon Corzine, who has been a vocal supporter of President Obama’s plan has also confirmed that repairing roads and constructing new ones will be a priority. Rebuilding infrastructure using stimulus money is not likely to cause complaints even among opponents of the federal stimulus plan, because of the substantial job generating potential it has. In an economic downturn, as states all over the country begin to chalk out plans for what they are going to do with their stimulus funds, programs that result in job generation will obviously receive higher priority. Infrastructure projects will mean jobs for construction workers, like masonry workers, crane and heavy equipment operators, contractors and several others. 

Most importantly, from a New Jersey car accident lawyer's point of view, these new roads, highways and perhaps sidewalks and crosswalks, will mean greater safety for all citizens. I’m hoping the funds will be used to make roads and sidewalks safer for pedestrians in the state. New Jersey has one of the highest rates of pedestrian deaths in the country. Lawmakers have for too long neglected pedestrian safety concerns in favor of major infrastructure development projects that are geared towards automobile convenience. That mindset has to change. There are more people walking to work now than ever before, and making the streets safer for them must go back to being one of the key points of infrastructure planning.  Recently, a Freehold woman and her two daughters were injured when they were struck by a car as they crossed the road. In New Jersey, we are getting to comfortable with the notion that crossing the street, even on a designated crosswalk is a highly dangerous activity for the pedestrian, and fraught with risk. It shouldn’t have to be this way, and hopefully some of the money is going to trickle down to Monmouth County and Bergen County for safer roads for all.

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Image Courtesy: Flickr - Mlcastle

A man and a woman were killed in two separate pedestrian accidents in Freehold Township and Carteret last month. In Carteret, Kimberly McMickle was killed when she was crossing the street with her friend. In Freehold Township, Toribio Garcia Jiminez, was struck on Route 9. Both accidents continue to be investigated, but it's probably time to step back and see how we can reduce our chances of becoming one of New Jersey's pedestrian accident statistics. It seems that those road safety lessons that our parents taught us are still as valid now as they've always been. In other words: 

• Walk only on the sidewalk.
• Don’t blindly step out onto traffic without looking around first.
• Obey pedestrian traffic signs diligently.
• Cross on a designated, clearly marked crosswalk.
• That old "look left, then right, then left again" rule? It still makes as much sense today as it did when you were a kid.
• Pay attention to vehicles around you.
• Avoid walking with your back to traffic
• Don’t be distracted. If you have to use the cell phone, stop for a while at a safe spot, finish your conversation, and then move on. 
• Drinking and walking is just as dangerous as drinking and driving.
• Wear sensible clothing and comfortable footwear. Don’t wear dark colors if you're walking at night. If possible, wear reflective clothing in the dark.

Motorists can do their bit to make sure that we see fewer needless pedestrian deaths on our streets. 

• Be aware of pedestrian movements. Look out for pedestrians at particular danger spots, like at a turning or an intersection where many accidents are likely to occur.
• Stay within speed limits.
• Don’t drink and drive.
• Switch off your cell phone. All the above three impair your driving skills, and make it harder for you to spot a pedestrian.

Sometimes, an accident can occur even when a pedestrian plays by the rules. In such cases, the accident can often be traced to the negligence of the motorist, or a design flaw in the road that makes it dangerous for pedestrians. In such cases, there may be more than one party who can be named in a civil liability lawsuit including the motorist, as well as any local agencies that may have been responsible for the road construction and design.   A Monmouth county pedestrian accident lawyer will conduct his own private investigation of the accident scene to ascertain responsibility for the accident. If you or a loved one have been injured in a pedestrian accident, contact a Monmouth County pedestrian accident lawyer at my office for a free evaluation of your claim. 

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