If you drive an automobile in New Jersey, you know that accidents and personal injuries are a daily occurrence and can happen to anyone. It may be your fault. It may be another driver’s fault. It may be a combination of factors. One thing we know is that our roads are congested and people are often stressed and distracted while driving.
In 2017, according to the New Jersey Department of Transportation crash report, there were 270,231 crashes. The highest number of crashes occurred in Essex County at roughly 29,000. Out of those crashes, there were 601 unfortunate fatalities. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 137 of those fatalities were related to driving impaired due to the ingestion of alcohol or substances.
The New Jersey Department of Transportation’s (NJDOT), Bureau of Transportation Data and Safety (BTDS) collects all New Jersey Police Crash Investigation Report forms (NJTR-1). NJDOT reports that there is an average of 320,000 crash reports per received that are processed and data collected from. They use this information to develop safety programs.
According to NHTSA, distracted driving is “any activity that diverts attention from driving” Most people practice some form of distracted driving every day. Talking and texting on your cell phone is a major factor in the causes of distracted driving crashes. NHTSA reports that reading a text forces you to take your eyes off the road for 5 seconds. That is a long time to not pay attention to the road and it can have a serious impact on you and others.
Other examples of distracted driving are reading, eating, drinking, playing with the radio, checking social media, looking for a podcast or simply reaching down to get something,
When you drive a car, you should just simply drive the car. Do not do anything that takes your attention away from driving. According to NHTSA, in 20116, 3,450 people were killed and 391,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers.
Another leading cause of accidents is drunk driving or driving while under the influence of something that impairs your ability to drive safely. Nearly 30 deaths a day occur as a result of drunk driving and approximately 10,000 per year. This means 10,000 deaths could be avoided by not drinking before you get into a car. Drunk driving with accidents also exposes a person to being charged with crimes in New Jersey which are punishable by jail in state prison.
Alcohol impairs brain function, reasoning skills, and muscle coordination, increasing reaction times. It causes a person to drive in an unsafe manner.
Aside from alcohol, there are other substances that can impair your ability to drive. Some common substances are over-the-counter and prescription drugs and illegal drugs such as:
Other common causes of accidents are:
If you drive in New Jersey, you know that there is a great potential for an auto accident and personal injury. You or other drivers are often in bumper to bumper traffic, speeding, slamming on your brakes, rolling through stop signs, failing to obey traffic signals, or just generally distracted. All of the above actions can lead to accidents.
There are many different types of accidents that lead to many different injuries:
In New Jersey, while there are many types of accidents, rear-end collisions account for 48% of all accidents. A rear-end collision occurs when two cars are traveling in the same direction and one crashes/collides into the rear of the car in front of them. Crash statistics and data are collected and evaluated by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT). In 2017, roughly 32,000 rear-end collisions occurred.
Causes for rear-end collisions are often stopped and go traffic, accelerating and then traffic suddenly and rapidly decelerating, or stepping on the break. Often, the car in the back does not keep the safe distance from the car in front and does not have enough time to stop. The occupants in the car that are rear-ended are usually more injured than the car that caused the crash. Whiplash is a common injuring in rear-end collisions.
Normally, the person that caused the collision is legally at fault as they may be determined to be driving too closely or not proving enough time to stop. Sometimes it is not the persons’ fault at all as one person gets rear-ended and then gets pushed into another car and rear ends that car.
Sideswipes collisions account for approximately 13,000 accidents in New Jersey according to the New Jersey Department of Transportation. They represent 18% of all types of accidents in New Jersey. A sideswipe occurs when two cars are traveling in the same direction, side by side, and one vehicle crashes or “swipes” the other. Sideswipes are not usually serious in terms of physical injury but can cause major cosmetic damage to your vehicle.
Side-impact collisions can cause serious physical injury as well as major damage to your vehicle. They are not the most common type of accident in New Jersey but can cause the most damage. A side-impact collision or angle collision is when one car is struck on the side by an object or another car or vehicle. A common sub-type is a t-bone that occurs when the front or rear of a vehicle crashes into the side of another vehicle. Angle collisions represent about 10% of all types of accidents in New Jersey.
Determining who is at fault is often a factor in financial recovery or payment in a legal claim. Our attorneys will review the accident report, police reports, damage to the vehicle and your insurance. Many times a person is injured in a t-bone due to one driving running a red light or not obeying traffic laws.
The remaining types of accidents in New Jersey vary and represent small percentages of overall types. They include:
New Jersey has a number of specific laws that affect drivers, their legal responsibilities in the immediate aftermath of a collision, and their ability to fully recover damages after an auto accident. The most important remembrance if you are involved in an accident is to take care of yourself by seeking medical support immediately at the first sign of injury. Then make sure to stay at the scene of the accident until law enforcement arrives to file a police report and exchange contact and insurance information with each of the involved parties. These basic tips will help keep you safe and legally provided for, just as New Jersey law is designed to ensure a fair and safe resolution to any automobile accident.
According to the New Jersey Statutes section 39:4-130, if you are in an auto accident, you must report the accident to the police. This begins with staying at the scene of the crime. New Jersey law prohibits you from leaving the scene of an auto accident before the local law enforcement agency has been contacted and a police report filed. In some rare cases, local law enforcement cannot make it to the car accident in a reasonable time. If the police do not show up at the scene, you can file a police report online. This must occur within 10 days of an accident.
New Jersey is a no-fault state. This means that after a collision, you will file an initial accident claim to seek recovery for damages to your vehicle and any medical expenses from your own auto insurance carrier, no matter who was at fault in the accident. All drivers in the state by law have at least New Jersey Basic Coverage, which includes Property Damage Liability insurance, used to pay for damages to your property in an auto accident (up to $5,000). The New Jersey Basic Coverage also includes Personal Injury Protection (PIP), an important aspect from which are covered medical expenses for injuries, up to $15,000. In the more rare case that the accident results in severe or permanent spinal or brain damage, PIP will cover up to $250,000 of the resulting medical expenses.
Given the No-Fault laws in New Jersey, generally, the first step many drivers take is to file a first-degree claim, a claim with their own carrier. But then what? What if the accident wasn’t your fault? Can you recover damages from the at-fault driver in New Jersey?
According to the New Jersey Statutes section 2A:15-5.2, the state follows a modified comparative negligence rule. Comparative negligence means that an automobile accident claim will include an investigation of the percentage of fault that both parties had in causing the accident. This modified comparative fault rule explores the percentage of blame each party had in causing the accident. In civil court, the jury calculates the total cost of damages to the plaintiff’s property and body, and then subtract the applicable percentage of fault that the plaintiff had in causing the accident.
“Modified” comparative fault in New Jersey means that if the jury finds that the plaintiff was more than 50 percent culpable for the accident, they will not receive damages. In other states that follow the “pure” comparative fault rule, no matter if you are more than 50 percent liable, you can still recover some financial damages; not so in New Jersey.
The New Jersey Statute of Limitations sets a two-year time limit by which you must file a lawsuit regarding your automobile accident. If you have not filed a lawsuit by this time, it is unlikely the New Jersey civil court system will take up your case; only for extreme exceptions is the Statute of Limitations overridden.
Regardless of the filing of a claim with your own auto insurance carrier, it is important to know how to file a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance carrier, as it could mean the difference between having all of your damages recovered, and only having partial damages paid for.
When you file an auto accident claim with your own insurance carrier, it is called filing a first-party claim, as noted. A first-party claim can be filed with one’s own insurance carrier when you have collision coverage alone or comprehensive coverage (physical damage coverages) as well as Personal Injury Protection (PIP) personal damage coverage. In the case that you file a first-party claim alone, your insurance company will pay to repair your damaged vehicle, or, in the case that damages exceed the worth of your car, they will pay you up to the value of your vehicle. Additionally, they will pay up to the number of medical expenses covered per accident, generally $15,000.
When you file an auto accident claim with the other party’s insurance carrier, it is called filing a third-party claim. This is the kind of claim you will want to file if the other party is at fault for causing the accident. In the case of filing a third-party claim, having the support of an auto accident or personal injury lawyer is essential, because the opposing party’s insurance carrier will only pay the amount for which their client is legally responsible. Sometimes this is less than what is needed to recoup full losses due to the accident. An auto accident attorney will work to ensure that you recover the full extent of damages incurred in the accident while you focus on your own rest and recovery.
If you file a third party claim, the opposing party’s auto insurance company will investigate to learn who was legally responsible for the accident; what the physical and medical damages were directly related to the accident; and, if their client was responsible, to what extent they were responsible. If partial fault is determined as a result of the investigation, the percentage it is found you were responsible will be withdrawn from the financial damages recovered.
If the opposing party’s auto insurance refuses to accept the claim, stating that their client was not responsible for the accident though they clearly were, you can file a claim with your own insurance carrier under Uninsured Motorist Insurance coverage, if you have this additional policy.
If you were the one who caused the accident, you can only recover expenses through your own first-party claim.
At The Montanari Law Group, our experienced team of attorneys is prepared to support drivers in Paterson, Hawthorne, Wayne and across Northern New Jersey in all auto insurance, accident, and personal injury matters, including filing both first- and third-party accident claims.
Our singular approach is geared to handle all communication with our clients and opposing parties’ auto insurance carriers so they may focus on rest and recovery.
Personal injury attorneys atThe Montanari Law Group, have been protecting the legal rights of clients injured in auto accidents across New Jersey including Paterson, Woodland Park, Wayne, West Milford, Clifton, Little Falls, and the greater Passaic County region for many years.
If you have been in an accident, whether it is your fault or someone else’s, contact our firm to discuss your rights. Your insurance company does not represent your legal and medical interests.
We take pride in offering dynamic and personalized legal counsel to fit the unique needs of all our personal injury clients. Contact us online or through our Little Falls office today at 973-233-4396 for a free consultation.