Monmouth County New Jersey Motor Vehicle Accidents Law Blog

You are running late for an important appointment and decide to hurry and call your doctor's office to let them know. Once off of the phone, you try to hurry and finish your sandwich while driving to your appointment. At one point, your drink starts to tip. Your jerk your steering wheel a bit as you fumble your sandwich and try to catch your drink. This is distracted driving and it is surprisingly, more common in New Jersey than many people realize. 

If you are like the majority of people, you may first think of texting when you hear the term " distracted driving." However, there are actually three different types of distracted driving according to Esurance. These include the following:

• Visual: This kind of distraction involves anything that removes your eyes from the road ahead. Examples include looking at your GPS, fixing your child's seatbelt and adjusting the radio station.
• Cognitive: This kind of distraction involves anything that causes a mental deviation from driving. Examples include talking with your passengers, being emotionally affected by work or family issues, and even becoming too thoughtful about the podcast you may be listening to. 
• Manual: This kind of distraction takes both of your hands away from the steering wheel to complete a task. Examples include eating, doing your makeup, programming an electronic or reaching to retrieve something that has dropped. 

When criminals in New Jersey are caught and reprimanded according to the severity of their actions, it is the hope of everyone that adequate measures will be implemented to prevent that same person from committing the same crime again. However, there are times when even with seemingly appropriate consequences, repeat offenders can find a way to get past the radar. Unfortunately, this danger can make subsequent offenses even worse and put the lives of innocent bystanders at risk. 

In a recent accident in Raritan Borough, a mother and her two young children were on a sidewalk walking together when they were hit by a driver who was allegedly DUI at the time. The unsuspecting family was hit while they were on the way to a local park to celebrate the birthday of a 1-year-old being pushed in a stroller by his mother. The violent collision left the baby dead and ended up severely injuring his mother and brother. Investigators concluded that the driver had crossed several lanes of traffic, hit two parked cars, continued driving on the sidewalk, hit three pedestrians, reentered the street and hit a couple more parked cars on the opposite side of the road.

No human being who cares about the welfare of others would act in a way that could hurt someone else. Whether it's out of sheer stupidity or forgetfulness, however, people act in reckless and dangerous ways that put themselves and others at risk of serious harm all the time.

When a driver acts recklessly or wantonly like this, and it does result in someone else getting hurt, that driver will be financially liable for damages, injuries and deaths he or she causes.

You are driving along and almost through your daily commute on your way to work when you witness a bad car accident. Your initial reaction is one of shock. The people involved are visibly shaken and some of them look to be injured. At Escandon, Fernicola, Anderson & Covelli, we have helped many victims of car accidents in New Jersey to work towards receiving compensation for their injuries and lost wages. 

Witnessing a car accident can be scary, but the way you react can be detrimental in providing help to the victims and valuable evidence to the responding authorities. According to Esurance, as soon as the vehicles involved have come to a stop, find a spot to pull out of the way of other moving vehicles. Look for cars and cautiously make your way to the damaged vehicles. Call 911 and provide as much detail as you can about the location of the accident, the appearance of the vehicles involved and the condition of any victims.