South Brunswick, NJ — According to a recent news report, a man from Bronx, NY was injured this past weekend after his minivan was rear-ended by a semi-truck. The man was Troy Claffee, 48 years old, and the accident happened in South Brunswick on the NJ Turnpike.
Claffee was driving his Honda minivan south along the turnpike at about 3:00 a.m. last Saturday morning, November 28, 2015 when he was suddenly hit from behind by 32-year-old Elliot Remi’s semi-truck.
Remi later told police that Claffee was driving below the speed limit, but didn’t explain why he failed to brake in time.
The accident caused a fire to break out in the semi-truck and Claffee was taken to a hospital by responding paramedics. However, Elliot Remi wasn’t harmed.
Map of South Brunswick
How Trucking Company Investigators Conduct Surveillance on Accident Victims Read More >Commentary:
At first glance, it appears that the semi-truck driver here might be in the wrong. After all, rear-ending another car just because they were going slower than the speed limit isn’t a very good excuse, unless there was something else going on. Given the early-morning hour at which this accident occurred, it seems like the trucking company here might have a rather easy time lobbing accusations at the victim.
For example, they might claim that he was intoxicated or sleepy at the wheel. I’ve handled a number of cases where I’ve had to defend clients from those kind of accusations, and people are always surprised by the way in which trucking companies will try and “keep tabs” on them.
In other words, trucking companies investigate and run surveillance on accident victims to see if there’s anything that they might be able to use in their favor should legal action ever be taken. The article above address this more fully, but it’s something more people ought to be aware of.
— Grossman Law Offices