Bridgewater, NJ — A man was hospitalized following an accident with a tractor-trailer in Bridgewater, New Jersey, on Tuesday, January 20, 2015. The accident happened on Route 287, near exit 12.
According to local news reports, the driver of a Freightliner truck attempted to change lanes and crashed into a Nissan Altima. The collision sent the truck off the road, where it crashed into a guardrail and drove down an embankment before hitting a tree.
The driver of the truck was not named. Officials say he received medical treatment at the scene of the accident. Also unnamed was the driver of the Nissan. Paramedics took him to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital.
No one else was reported injured in the accident. Police are still investigating.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary
I’ve seen more accidents like this than I can count. Accidents which seem to have been caused because someone wasn’t paying attention to what was going on around them. Fault seems to be pretty well-established here, but people should remember that being found at fault, even by the police, doesn’t not mean the at-fault party has any legal obligation to make things right with a victim. As a matter of fact, a trucking company is more likely to fight the accident, regardless of whether they’re at fault or not. Proving a case like this takes evidence, and that means an independently-run investigation of the scene. Police reports miss things, and beyond that, the police are only looking to see if any laws were broken. They’ll ticket someone and move on. Making sure a victim is taken care of isn’t their prerogative. An independent investigation is going to focus on why an accident happened, not just how. And that information can be crucial to victims and their families in a situation like this.
— Grossman Law Offices
