If you fall in a grocery store and injure yourself, you are not necessarily entitled to compensation. The mere happening of an accident is not proof of negligence. McCombe v. Public Service Railway Co. 95 N.J.L. 187; Donus v. Public Service Railway Co., 102 N.J.L. 644. “Negligence is a fact which must be proved; it will not be presumed.” Id. [Read more…]
New Jersey Sidewalk Liability and Residential Landowners
For over 30 years, the Ginarte Law Firm has represented the rights of accident victims in the New York/New Jersey area. Throughout that time, New Jersey courts have continually refined when a landowner is liable for the condition of their abutting sidewalks by the courts. In Stewart v. 104 Wallace Street, Inc., 87 N.J. 146, (1981), the New Jersey Supreme Court held that commercial landowners owe a duty to reasonably maintain the sidewalks abutting their property. Thus, when determining sidewalk liability, courts focus on whether a property is commercial or residential. This is a legal determination which has received much attention from lawyers and the courts. [Read more…]
Who Pays Your Medical Expenses When You Are Injured On The Job?
If an individual is injured at work, they are entitled to medical care. However, the injured worker should be aware that the employer has control of which doctors to send the injured worker. If the medical care that the employer provides is not adequate, the employee’s attorney should file a motion for medical treatment right away. In general, the workers’ compensation court should address the worker’s medical treatment inadequacies within thirty days. [Read more…]
National Crash Statistics Bring Both Good and Bad News
Each year, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration issues a report on increases and decreases in the number of injuries and fatalities on the nation’s highways. With the recent release of the 2011 statistics, there are reasons to celebrate and reasons to be concerned. [Read more…]
New Jersey Woman Killed in Collision with Police Officer
A 21-year-old New Jersey woman was killed Oct. 30 when her Toyota Highlander collided with a Suffolk County Police car at an intersection where a traffic light was not operating, according to a report in the Port Jefferson Patch. The police officer was returning from a call related to Hurricane Sandy at the time of the crash. Three passengers in the Highlander as well as the officer were transported to Stony Brook University Hospital. [Read more…]
Federal Agency Warns Consumers about Counterfeit Airbags
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration warned this month that counterfeit airbags are being sold and used as replacements in vehicles that have been involved in crashes. [Read more…]
Passengers Injured When Toronto Tour Bus Overturns
A chartered bus overturned and slid down an embankment on a Route 80 exit ramp in northern New Jersey earlier this month, injuring 23 of its 57 passengers. The bus was on its way from Toronto to New York City; many on board were heading for a Seventh Day Adventists church event. Some of the windows in the bus burst during the crash, and some passengers were pinned in the frames before they were freed by rescue workers. [Read more…]
When Is It Time to Take Away the Car Keys from Elderly Drivers?
Americans love cars and the freedom that owning a car brings. Not surprisingly, many of us equate losing the ability to drive with losing our independence. But problems associated with older drivers have caused lawmakers to study and debate the question, “When is it time to take away the car keys?” [Read more…]
Good Samaritan Pulls Man Out of Burning Vehicle on New Jersey Turnpike
It seems sometimes as though the news is full of stories about tragedy and crime; however, every once in a while a story reminds us that people can truly do courageous, unselfish deeds. Such was the case recently on the New Jersey turnpike when several good Samaritans risked their own lives to rescue a man from a burning vehicle. [Read more…]
Mail Truck Trial in Fatal Bike Accident Begins in New York
The trial got under way recently for the driver of a mail truck that fatally injured Marilyn Dershowitz last year in Manhattan. If convicted of leaving the scene of a fatal accident, he could face up to seven years in prison under New York law. The charge stems from an accident on July 2, 2011, when Mrs. Dershowitz, who was the sister-in-law of well-known Harvard law professor and defense attorney Alan Dershowitz, and her husband made the fateful decision to stay home and be “tourists” in their own home city. [Read more…]