New Jersey Injury Attorney Blog

Most residents of New Jersey are highly aware of large trucks playing a leading role in the state’s economy. According to the State of New Jersey Department of Transportation, 75% of the approximate 600 million tons of goods moved each year are transported by truck. While the NJDOT works to enforce and maintain truck safety initiatives and regulations, some truck drivers are not as familiar with truck operation requirements as they should be. It is for this reason and various others that truck accidents take place in New Jersey.

A recent auto accident in Paramus involved a tractor-trailer and a Honda Accord. According to a northjersey.com article, the driver of the Honda had to be extricated from his vehicle by rescuers. He was then taken to Hackensack University Medical Center. Based on the article, road conditions were wet and caused the driver of the Honda to lose control while driving along a curve. The tractor-trailer then T-boned the vehicle on its passenger side after the Honda crossed into the northbound lane. Alcohol was said not to have been an influencing factor in causing the collision, although the accident is reportedly still under investigation.

Continue reading " Paramus Auto Accident Involving Tractor-Trailer Injures One " »

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) provides particular rules and regulations for employers and contractors to follow when teaching employees how to handle and work near flammable and combustible liquids. These safety standards are elaborate and should be enforced, monitored, and maintained to the best of employee and employer ability in order to prevent incidents of explosion or fire and subsequent burn injuries, lung damage, or other serious injury.

An explosion took place recently at a former gas station located on the corner of Vauxhall Road and Millburn Avenue. According to reports, a contractor was cutting tubular metal barriers with a gas-powered saw when sparks set off lingering gasoline vapors in underground tanks. The worker and two others were treated by fire department personnel at the scene of the explosion. The worker was transported to a local hospital with shock symptoms and possible internal injuries which were said to be non-life threatening. The two other hurt individuals suffered minor injuries.

The blast shattered storefront windows at two neighboring businesses, Center Cleaners and Livingston Mart, but no other injuries or structural damage to additional businesses or residents resulted as a consequence.

Continue reading " Gas Station Explosion Injures Construction Worker " »

As the site of a recent fatal auto crash that took place this summer, a few safety improvements will be made by the Thruway Authority on the Exit 15 off ramp. Some of the alterations will include raising the concrete barrier, improving signage, and lowering the recommended speed limit along the curved overpass from 45 mph to 40 mph in one section and 35 mph in another. However, a lohud.com article stated that most of the changes will be made next summer. The ramp joins the Thruway to Interstate 287 and Route 17 in Mahwah, New Jersey.

According to the article, 23 auto accidents have occurred on this overpass within the last three years. And although this does not reflect a high accident rate, it is important for safety improvements to be made to help prevent collisions. Most of the accidents along the ramp resulted from unsafe lane changes, speeding, and motorists following other vehicles too closely. In July of last year, a 44-year-old garbage truck driver was killed after his vehicle changed direction suddenly while speeding. He fell off the overpass, struck the highway below, and plummeted into the Ramapo River.

Continue reading " Safety Improvements for Ramapo Off-Ramp " »

Spinal cord injuries are some of the most catastrophic calamities a person can endure. According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Association, several spinal cord injuries can be prevented if safe practices are used while operating a vehicle, while in the workplace, and while engaging in recreational activities. The Association also mentions a few incidents in which the risk of spinal injury may be probable. These particular cases include, but are not limited to:

• Auto accidents which occur at speeds over 45 mph


• Unconscious trauma or noteworthy neck or head injury


• Helmet damage from a motorcycle crash


• A pedestrians being struck by a vehicle at speeds exceeding 18 mph


• Considerably large falls, especially involving the elderly


• Surfing accident or shallow water diving accident


• Penetrating injury to the spinal region

Continue reading " Help Prevent Spinal Cord Injury " »

A 59-year-old New Jersey resident was recently killed in an accident at Prudhoe Bay’s North Gas Injection Pad in Alaska on November 18, 2009. According to the Anchorage Daily News, the North Slope worker was a BP contractor who worked for MISTRAS Group Inc., a Princeton Junction, N.J.-based outfit in charge of evaluating the structural integrity of energy and industrial infrastructure.

A BP spokesman said that when the fatal accident took place, the man was working on a pipeline inspection crew, marking locations to be examined in a future routine inspection down an elevated line on the gas injection pad. Even though at least one other worker was on the gas injection pad, the BP contractor was by himself at the time of the incident. It appears that the 59-year old worker’s pickup truck rolled up against him and the pipeline, pinning him despite there being no reason as to why or how the truck ended up in such a position. After the other worker along the injection pad found him, he called for help and a medical response team responded to the scene shortly thereafter, declaring the worker dead. The extent of his injuries was not discussed.

Continue reading " New Jersey Resident Killed On the Job in Alaska " »

After an unfortunate sequence of fatal food-borne illness outbreaks involving various food products ranging from peanuts to cookie dough to spinach, a Senate bill, the Food Safety Modernization Act, has recently been approved. However, according to nj.com, even though the bill to refurbish the FDA’s food safety system was unanimously accepted, it may not receive a floor vote until 2010. This may be partly due to the issue of funding for the food safety reform, which would drastically improve and increase Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory powers.

The chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee says the new FDA program may cost almost $4 billion over a period of five years. Considering that the FDA safeguards approximately 80% of the U.S. food supply, which includes imports from over 200 countries, there is no doubt that this bill will greatly help their efforts and is worth the cost.

The reformed safety program would allow the FDA the ability to order a food recall rather than force them to wait for a producer to respond to a recall request. The Senate Bill will also enforce more regulated inspections, especially for high-risk facilities. If passed in 2010, this will be the first major food safety reform since the Great Depression.

Continue reading " Federal FDA Food Safety System Still in the Works " »

Anyone who is trained to operate a public works truck, or even a normal passenger car, knows that there are several potential risks when a collision occurs. Due to the unpredictable nature of items on the road or a driver’s reaction to an accident ahead, multiple vehicles may be involved in a crash. A bayshorenews.com report addresses a recent accident in New Jersey that involved three vehicles, two of which were public works trucks.

It was reported that when one of the trucks made a right turn at an intersection, it clipped a telephone pole. As a consequence, the telephone pole fell down, caused wires to drop onto both the second Public Works truck and a third vehicle which was not identified in the report. All of the drivers were stuck in their vehicles until JCP&L workers arrived at the scene and cut the power on the telephone pole. Fortunately, none of the drivers or any pedestrians nearby were injured, but occupants in the vehicles were taken to a local medical center as a precautionary measure. At the time of the article’s release, the accident was said to be under investigation.

Continue reading " 2 Middletown Township Public Works Trucks Involved in Accident " »

An electrical power plant in Marion, Texas owned by P.S.E.G., a New Jersey-based company, was the site of a high pressure accident which injured two workers on November 19, 2009. According to a woai.com article, this isn’t the first time a P.S.E.G. plant has been the site of an accident reflecting possible safety violations. Apparently in 2005, an employee died after falling from a bucket truck, and recently this summer, P.S.E.G. received a fine of over $7,000 for violating polices related to first aid, medical services, and failing to make available adequate eye and face protection for workers.

As far as the recent incident in Marion, a spokesperson for P.S.E.G. said that while crews were doing maintenance on a generator as a pressure test was being conducted, a small door (manway) blew off after compressed air inside was released. After the door was forcefully projected, it struck the two contract workers employed by Sulzer Ltd. The article mentioned that one of the workers was hit in his chest and the other man endured facial lacerations. Both men were reported to be conscious, able to move their limbs, and were taken to local hospitals. There is no doubt that an investigation will be conducted in order to determine the exact cause of this high pressure accident and who should be held accountable.

Continue reading " Two Workers Injured in Power Plant High Pressure Accident " »