Remember when your children were little babies? My children were littler than most, since they were born three (3) months premature. You are always watching out for their well-being. Wondering how are you going to teach them to take care of themselves in the world that we have created for ourselves. You figure that you have many years to provide with the wisdom and knowledge to prepare them for the outside world. [Read more…]
Cell Phones: Great Consumer Invention or Another Cause of Physical Injury or Death
The existence of wireless devices can be traced back to as early as 1908. Oakland Transcontinental Aerial Telephone and Power Company claimed to have developed wireless technology but never started production. Wireless networks as we know them today really started in the mid 1980’s. [Read more…]
Slip and Fall Accidents Raise Legal Issue of Whether Landowner Has Duty to Maintain Sidewalks
By John Megjugorac
As you may know, New Jersey imposes upon commercial landowners a duty to reasonably maintain the sidewalks abutting their property. Courts often look at whether the property should be classified as residential or commercial. Accidents that occur on sidewalks abutting residential property present substantial burdens on plaintiff. This is because as a matter of law a residential landowner does not have a duty to reasonably maintain their sidewalks. [Read more…]
Sidewalk Safety
According to the New Jersey Supreme Court, commercial property owners owe a duty to those walking on their sidewalks. Specifically, commercial property owners have a duty to maintain their sidewalks. Stewart vs. 104 Wallace Street, Inc. 97 NJ 146 (1991). [Read more…]
Recovering Damages for an Injury Caused On Public Property
If you have been injured due to the dangerous condition of property owned by the State, a county or a municipal or other local governmental body, you should know that these “public entities” are responsible for injuries caused by the dangerous condition of their property only in accordance with the terms of the New Jersey Tort Claims Act, N.J.S.A. 59:1-1 et seq. [Read more…]
Can Your Statement to Your Insurance Company Be Used Against You in a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
After a car accident, most insurance companies contact their insureds to find out facts about how the accident happened. Many times, these statements are recorded. These recorded statements are often times the subject of motions between plaintiff attorneys and defense attorneys. Plaintiff attorneys want to obtain those statements and defense attorneys fight to prevent their disclosure. [Read more…]
Worker Rescued from Roosevelt Island Tram
A worker who was inspecting cables became stuck in machinery above a Roosevelt Island tram recently and had to be rescued, according to a news report. “His foot got between two of the wheels, the car rolled an inch or two, trapping his foot, pinning it between the wheel and the cable,” a police detective told a New York TV station. The injured worker was transported to a local hospital. [Read more…]
New York Cyclist and Pedestrian Fatalities Decline, But Accountability Hasn’t Changed
Preliminary figures show a slight decrease in the number of cyclists and pedestrians who were fatally injured in the New York City area from 2011 to 2012. However, motorists who are responsible for those deaths too often evade responsibility. [Read more…]
Hurricanes and Personal Injury
Hurricanes and natural disasters are traditionally viewed as Acts of God. If a person is injured as a result of an Act of God, meaning that the cause of an accident was purely a natural force that “could not have been prevented by any amount of foresight and pains and care reasonably to be expected of [a defendant]”, then the injured party cannot recover any compensation. Nugent v. Smith, 1 C.P.D. 423, 444 (C.A.1876). [Read more…]
Bicyclist Killed by Tractor-Trailer on Route 88 in New Jersey
Tragedy struck on the morning of August 16 in Brick, N.J., when a bicyclist was killed in a collision with a tractor-trailer. According to a news report, the bicyclist, a 48-year-old Point Pleasant man, was on the edge of Route 88 when he stopped for a red light. The tractor-trailer, which was headed in the same direction, also was stopped at the light. When the light turned green, the bicyclist proceeded forward; however, the tractor-trailer began a right turn, striking the cyclist. Numerous witnesses, including the driver of the tractor-trailer, tried to help the cyclist, but he was pronounced dead upon arrival at a hospital. [Read more…]