Bergen County attorneys help victims injured by dangerous road conditions
An auto accident is often the fault of a careless driver. However what happens when the road itself presents a danger? At the Law Offices of Richard S. Greenberg, we help victims of traffic crashes caused by dangerous or defective highway conditions. People often fail to consider that the road or highway may be dangerous or defective and cause an accident. We personally handle accident investigations to gather evidence and make sure important details are uncovered.
Who is responsible for highways that cause accidents?
Highways may be prone to cause auto accidents for a variety of reasons, including dangerous design or poor maintenance, including sinkholes and potholes, missing guardrails, broken or missing signals, signs or warnings, poor materials, debris in the roads and construction hazards. A public entity, such as a county or municipal agency, which is responsible for the defective condition may be held liable in a personal injury lawsuit only when you can prove certain elements, such as:
The highway or road was in dangerous condition at the time of the injury.
The injury was caused by the dangerous condition.
The dangerous condition created a reasonably foreseeable risk of that kind of injury.
You must also prove that a negligent or wrongful act by the public entity’s employee during employment created the dangerous condition or that the public entity knew of the dangerous condition and had time to correct it.
Roads in New Jersey prone to cause traffic accidents
In 2011, there were 64,568 total injury crashes on all road systems in New Jersey, 6,877 in Bergen County. There were also another 6,400 injury crashes in Essex County, 3,701 in Hudson County, 4,024 in Passaic County and 868 in Sussex County. Some of the most dangerous routes in New Jersey include Route 17, Interstate 80, the New Jersey Turnpike and the Palisades Interstate Parkway:
Route 17 — The annual average daily traffic (AADT) on Route 17 in Bergen County is more than 94,300 vehicles. This route is prone to auto accidents, with more than 520 occurring in 2011.
Interstate 80 — Interstate 80 has an AADT measure of 92,322, with some sections of the route seeing more than 158,500 vehicles. In 2011, there were 4,119 total crashes, 980 of which resulted in injuries and a dozen of which resulted in fatalities.
New Jersey Turnpike — This turnpike, Route 295, has an annual average daily traffic measure of 63,855 vehicles. In 2011, there were 2,059 crashes recorded, more than 530 of which resulted in injuries and a dozen of which were fatal accidents.
Palisades Interstate Parkway — This dangerous highway runs 11 miles from the George Washington Bridge into New York state. It is limited to passenger cars, motorcycles and permitted buses. Trucks, cars with trailers and commercial pickups are all prohibited. Despite this, accidents still occur regularly.