Lawsuit against NJT for Fatal Grade Crossing Accident in 2013

snavely wrote:Have the lawsuit papers from his attorney been served on NJT yet?

According to this article, a man and his wife were driving in a snow storm, slid on the ice through crossing gates that were down, hit a River Line train and were both killed. Their family is suing.
http://www.trentonian.com/general-news/ ... death-suit" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Administrator Note:

This was split from a thread on a railfan accident of NJT, since it's a different matter.

Is it not the city's responsibility for treating the roads? I cannot see how a properly operating gate and properly operating LRV can result in NJT being liable...... i'm all for justice, but NJT is the wrong party to go after in this case, i think.

25Hz wrote:Is it not the city's responsibility for treating the roads? I cannot see how a properly operating gate and properly operating LRV can result in NJT being liable...... i'm all for justice, but NJT is the wrong party to go after in this case, i think.

I am not a lawyer. This is not legal advice. They are using the standard legal strategy of suing everyone and letting the court sort out who is responsible. If they sue some of the parties and the court determines that the non-sued parties are responsible, the legal costs are higher, the statute of limitations may be up, and the new court could decide that the original parties were responsible.

zerovanity59 wrote:

25Hz wrote:Is it not the city's responsibility for treating the roads? I cannot see how a properly operating gate and properly operating LRV can result in NJT being liable...... i'm all for justice, but NJT is the wrong party to go after in this case, i think.

I am not a lawyer. This is not legal advice. They are using the standard legal strategy of suing everyone and letting the court sort out who is responsible. If they sue some of the parties and the court determines that the non-sued parties are responsible, the legal costs are higher, the statute of limitations may be up, and the new court could decide that the original parties were responsible.

That's pretty much spot on. I am a lawyer and although I only work for one company, the above basically sums up what's happening here. One thing you're missing is that if the attorney fails to pursue certain avenues without getting informed consent from the plaintiff, he or she could face a malpractice suit from the client. That doesn't happen in my line of work, but in this case we're talking about lawyers that cater to trigger-happy plaintiffs. Just remember, Yagoda and Beriya were killed by their client...

For the curious, this is the crossing where the collision occurred.

https://www.google.com/maps?ll=40.19837 ... 35,,0,1.41" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Good, amazing, picture. It doesn't look like a death trap to me.

I don't see a storm drain in the pic,part of claim must be there was ice on the road surface,due
to lack of drainage....
That would be the town's Highway Dept problem,not NJT's

philipmartin wrote:

snavely wrote:Have the lawsuit papers from his attorney been served on NJT yet?

According to this article, a man and his wife were driving in a snow storm, slid on the ice through crossing gates that were down, hit a River Line train and were both killed. Their family is suing.
http://www.trentonian.com/general-news/ ... death-suit" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So let's see...a man and his wife were driving in a snow storm, slid on the ice through crossing gates that were down, hit a River Line train

Normally, I would say RIP in a case like this but....

Are they also suing the good Lord and Accuweather for making it snow that night? Once again, (lack of) personal accountability trumps all aspects of common sense. At 62 years old, this gentleman had certainly driven in winter weather before. The "anonymous" attorneys have a lot too say about nothing, including the recklessness of the driver.

I hope the defendants counter sue.

Backshophoss wrote:I don't see a storm drain in the pic,part of claim must be there was ice on the road surface,due
to lack of drainage....
That would be the town's Highway Dept problem,not NJT's

Moving around in Google Maps street view, there is a drain just around the corner on Rte 129 heading noth. Also a couple of drains about 100 yards back on Lalor at the Hewitt St intersection.

Maybe the drains were clogged. I'm sure we can find somebody to testify that they were. When I was selling tickets at Morristown some years ago, one snowy day someone fell on the outside stairway, and another man was saying that the railroad should have cleared the ice, and then he took off. There wasn't any ice, I took a good look. The injured man had had similar accidents, with law suits against NJ Transit in the past.
Just to make my original post more accurate about the unfortunate couple, the driver died at the scene, and his wife died later.