by NJLawyer | Jul 5, 2015 | Accident Cases
Jeep Grand Cherokee
(Independence Day, July 4, 2015). In June of 2013, Chrylser Auto Group agreed to repair over 1.5 million Jeep Grand Cherokee and Jeep Liberty vehicles because the placement and design of the vehicle’s fuel tank could cause the vehicle to catch on fire. The recall was for Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles made between 1993 and 1998 and Jeep Liberty vehicles made between 2002 and 2007. In November of 2014, Deputy Administrator of the United States Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), David J. Friedman wrote the Chairman and CEO of the Chrysler Group, Sergio Marchionne urging Chrysler to more aggressively seek out vehicle owners affected by the recall of June 2013 as the fuel tanks in those vehicles may rupture if the vehicles are struck from behind leading to fires even in low to medium speed crashes. The letter from David Friedman from the NHTSA was prompted because Chrysler between June 2013 and October 2014 had only repaired 3 percent of the 1.5 million vehicles (only roughly 45,000 vehicles out of 1.5 million vehicles).
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by NJLawyer | May 25, 2015 | Accident Cases
Yellow Cab
(Monroe NJ, May 23, 2015) John Forbes Nash Jr, and his wife, Alicia Nash, of nearly 60 years was killed in a taxi cab crash on the New Jersey Turnpike. Nash was returning to his home in Princeton Junction (NJ) from a trip to Norway having landed at Newark Liberty Airport. Nash was in Norway to receive the Abel Prize for mathematics from King Harald V. Nash received the award along with colleague Louis Nirenberg for his work on nonlinear partial differential equations. Nash, a mathematician at Princeton University, is known for his work on game theory and his struggle with paranoid schizophrenia, depicted in the 2001 film, A Beautiful Mind, starring Russell Crowe.
Nash’s death may focus attention on the use of seat belts by passengers and the lack of seatbelts in some taxi and limousines. Nash’s death comes on the heels of the death of 60 Minutes long term correspondent Bob Simon who died in a Limousine accident in February (2015) in New York City. Both Nash, his wife Alicia Nash, and Bob Simon were unrestrained passengers. (more…)
by NJLawyer | Apr 16, 2015 | Accident Cases
Blue sky Panera Brea
An employee who was killed as a result of an automobile accident after a night out while he was working away from home was held to be in the course of his employment. In the case of Angela Ann Cavalcante versus Lockheed Electronics Company,85 N.J. Super. 320 (1964), the Workers Compensation Court applied a “reasonable” standard in its analysis of the facts to determine that the case was compensable because it was reasonable for an employee working temporarily out of state to seek some relaxation with colleagues after working irregular hours for several days. (more…)
by NJLawyer | Apr 2, 2015 | Truck Accident
Route 280 East Sign for Harrison NJ with Turnpike
In many states, owner-operator truck drivers are independent contractors and thus not covered by the trucking company they are hauling for. In New Jersey, however, an owner operator is considered an employee of the trucking company they are working for.
New Jersey uses two tests to determine whether a person is an employee of a trucking company or an independent contractor. The first test is the “right to control test”. The second test is the “relative nature of the work test”.
Under the “right to control test”, an analysis is made as to whether the person hiring had the right to direct the manner in which the business or work shall be done as well as the results accomplished in order to determine if the person hiring is an employee.
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