Today, most people, before they make an important decision, perform some investigation on the Internet or elsewhere. Are jurors hearing a car accident trial allowed to do likewise?

Surprisingly, the answer is no.

For example, while a case is pending, jurors must not visit the scene of the accident. Why not? Well, for one thing, that area may have changed since the time of the accident.

Jurors Must Not Investigate.

Further, while a case is pending, jurors must not conduct any research or make any investigations on their own about the case. Jurors are forbidden from conducting any investigation or research whatsoever. The courts believe that is not the jurors’ job. Rather, courts hold that the jurors’ job is to decide car accident cases based solely upon the evidence presented to all of them in the courtroom by car injury lawyers and defense counsel.

Accordingly, jurors must not investigate, research, review or seek out information about the issues in the case. Either specifically or generally. This rule applies to any research about the parties, the attorneys, the witnesses, or court personnel.  It applies to traditional formats such as newspapers, books, advertisements, television, radio broadcasts, magazines, or through any research or inquiry on the Internet, or through the use of any computer, phone, text device, smartphone, tablet or any other electronic device.

Jurors Must Not Communicate

Jurors must also not attempt to communicate with others about the case. Or even about general subject matters raised during this case. They mustn’t communicate either personally or through computers, cell phones, text messaging, instant messaging, blogs, or any other form of social media or electronic communication. This includes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or the like.

Jurors must not go on the Internet, participate in, or review any websites, Internet chat rooms or blogs. They must not seek out photographs, documents, or information of any kind that may in any way relate to the case. Jurors must not even lookup in a dictionary or online a definition of a word or legal phrase they hear at trial that they do not understand. Whether from a witness, an attorney, or the judge.

Simply put, Courts feel that it is the job of the Judge to ensure that jurors are provided with all of the evidence that jurors are permitted to have in order to decide a case.

Why else do judges impose these extreme restrictions? The explanation lies in the New Jersey Model Civil Jury Rules. Those rules are where the prohibitions set forth above come from.

In my next post, I will provide the explanation.

The post Car Injury Lawyers U. – Jury Views first appeared on Berman Law Office.

Unfortunately, there are some situations where, even though you were not at fault for an accident, you cannot sue for your pain and suffering. No matter how severe your injuries are. I will discuss one such situation in this post.

Let’s imagine that you don’t want to be cooped up in your house. You live in, say, Paterson. You hop in your car and head on Route 4 towards the malls in Paramus. You pass through Elmwood Park and Fair Lawn on your way.

Suddenly, just as you pass the route 17 interchange, a car is merging onto the highway. The other driver is on his cell phone. He doesn’t bother to look to his left as he merges. Consequently, he plows right into your car.

As a result, your car flys into the median. You hurt your back. You have a broken arm. You wore your seatbelt, and your airbag deployed, but they were not enough to fully protect you.

After receiving medical treatment, you get the bad news that some of your injuries are permanent. Can you sue the other driver for all your pain and suffering?

The answer to the question under these egregious circumstances would generally be yes. However, if you failed to carry proper automobile insurance yourself, the answer would likely be no.

Car Accident Insurance is Crucial

In short, the law in New Jersey usually prohibits New Jersey residents who operate their own uninsured automobiles from recovering for their pain and suffering in an accident, even if they were zero percent responsible for the accident.

By the way, the same outcome would obtain if you had been a passenger in your own uninsured car and someone else was driving it.  The key factors being that you were a New Jersey resident and that you were injured in an uninsured car that belonged to you.

Make sure that this never happens to you. Always purchase the legally required motor vehicle insurance from a reputable insurance company or agent.

There are some other situations where a driver who was not at fault cannot sue for pain and suffering. However, those are beyond the scope of this post.

The post Accident Insurance is Key to Injury Compensation first appeared on Berman Law Office.

Significantly, yielding to an ambulance or another emergency vehicle is not only the moral thing to do. It is not only common courtesy. It is not only something that you do because, if it were you in the ambulance, you would want to arrive at the hospital quickly.

Rather, yielding to an emergency vehicle is also the law in New Jersey. I would imagine that it is also the law most anywhere else in the country.

However, as a car accident lawyer, I can be confronted with a case where a driver did not fail to yield to an emergency vehicle, yet was still struck by the vehicle and hurt.

An Accident Lawyer Question About Emergency Calls

Can such an accident victim possibly sue the driver of the emergency vehicle?

You would think not. After all, aren’t emergency vehicles allowed to violate all traffic laws? Like laws respecting red lights and speeding.

So the answer to my question may surprise you. Emergency vehicle drivers actually may not always ignore traffic laws.

It is true that emergency vehicle drivers on emergency calls may often disregard traffic laws. Thus, the driver of an emergency vehicle, on an emergency call, need not exercise the same care that the law requires of an ordinary motorist.

Still, the law requires the driver of even an emergency vehicle out on a call to take reasonable precautions. He or she may only disregard traffic laws to the extent necessary to fulfill his or her mission.

In short, an emergency driver must not drive with reckless disregard for the safety of others. Rather, he or she must anticipate the dangers that his or her operation of the emergency vehicle involves. The driver must exercise reasonable care for the safety of others.

Therefore, should an emergency vehicle ever strike and injure you, you may have a valid personal injury claim. It all depends on the specific facts of the case.

The post Accident Lawyer U: Emergencies first appeared on Berman Law Office.

But how fast can one drive without speeding? According to the State of New Jersey:

” The speed limit, unless otherwise posted, is 25 mph in school zones, business, or residential districts; 35 mph in certain low-density business and residential districts; 50 mph on all other roadways; 55 mph on certain state highways (as posted) and all interstates; and 65 mph on certain state highways (as posted).”

OK, you know what the speed limit is on the road on which you are driving. Say you never exceed that limit, but an auto accident happens anyway. Assume further that you did not break any other non-speed related traffic law and did not drive carelessly.

Does it, therefore, follow that you could not possibly be “at-fault” for the accident?

And the answer is,,,,,Not necessarily. You may still be found to have been negligent for going too fast, even if you never exceeded the speed limit.

Surprised? How so, you say?

An Auto Accident from Not Speeding

The reason that a driver can be at fault for “speeding” while observing the speed limit is that, in some situations, the law requires a driver to drive even slower than the speed limit, for safety reasons.

For example, New Jersey law requires that one drive at an appropriate reduced speed when weather or road conditions are bad or when taking a curve, Same goes when one approaches the top of a hill or drives on a narrow or curvy road.

Finally, an “under the speed limit” requirement applies where an unusual hazard exists respecting pedestrians or other traffic, or when approaching or crossing an intersection or railroad crossing.

The upshot of all this is that, if you get hurt in an accident, don’t assume that the other driver is necessarily not at fault, just because he wasn’t driving over the posted speed limit and apparently didn’t break any other traffic law.

Rather, consult an auto accident attorney immediately to evaluate your potential case. What the lawyer tells you may be a pleasant surprise.

The post Auto Accident Law – Guilty While Not Speeding first appeared on Berman Law Office.

Everyone knows that a green light means you can proceed through an intersection. Similarly, everyone realizes that you must stop for a solid red light. Only after the light turns green again can you continue on your way.

But what about a traffic signal that features a continuously FLASHING red light?

Under New Jersey law, a flashing red light requires “drivers to come to a complete stop before entering or crossing the intersection. The driver shall proceed only after yielding the right of way to all traffic on the intersecting street ….”

In other words, the effect of a flashing red traffic signal is very similar to that of a stop sign.

(Actually, the law regarding a stop sign is a bit stricter. The stop sign law also requires a driver to not cross an intersection “unless he has first brought his vehicle …do a complete stop at a point WITHIN FIVE FEET OF THE NEAREST CROSSWALK OR STOP LINE marked upon the pavement at the near side of the intersecting street.” )

Vigilance Will Prevent a Crash

Drivers who disregard these statutes have caused many a car crash. Under the law, a driver who does so will likely be found at fault for the accident and be held responsible for any injuries that the other driver suffers.

Speaking about traffic signals, what about a flashing AMBER (yellow) light? What does that signify?

New Jersey law states that the presence of a traffic signal with a flashing amber light indicates the presence of danger. A driver who approaches such an intersection must proceed only with caution. If a driver fails to proceed with caution under these circumstances, a jury can hold him or her responsible for any injuries caused to someone else in any ensuing traffic crash.

(A flashing yellow light should not be confused with a solid one. A solid yellow light means you must stop before entering the intersection or nearest crosswalk. However, if your vehicle is so close that you can’t safely stop, you may proceed.)

Obviously, it is important that one remain vigilant when driving. It only takes ignoring one traffic signal to cause a major car crash.

If another driver disregarded a traffic signal and injured you, consult an experienced personal injury lawyer immediately. Legal deadlines exist. You don’t want to lose your potential case because you missed a time limitation.

The post Crash Law – Flashing Signals first appeared on Berman Law Office.

In today’s post, I will discuss photographic evidence.

Naturally, accident attorneys will go to great length to obtain favorable evidence. But what if the evidence no longer exists? Sometimes, the victim does not hire a lawyer for a while after the accident. In the interim, evidence can disappear.

For example, in car accident cases, it is important for someone to photograph the damage to the vehicles involved. And also the positions of the vehicles after the crash, any skid marks and any damage to guardrails or other structures. Ditto for any potholes or other road hazards involved in the crash.

In slip and fall cases, someone should take a picture of the hazard upon which the victim fell. Good practice in dog bite cases requires that someone photograph the bite wound while it is fresh.

However, if the victim fails to hire a lawyer promptly, the damage to the victim’s car will no longer be visible (after repair). Vehicles leave the scene, Skid marks fade. The government will eventually fix any damage to guardrails, sidewalks or other structures. Same goes for potholes.

And, of course, wounds heal.

There are two lessons that this topic teaches. First, you should hire an experienced lawyer as soon as possible after any accident that may have been the fault of someone else.

Take Accident Photos Yourself

Second, if possible, take photos of the evidence yourself. If that is not possible, have a friend or relative shoot the photos for you.

Check out my prior posts on car accidents, dog bites and slip and falls for more details on what you need to do right after an accident.

This ends this session of Accident Attorneys U. Feel free to call me if you ever have an accident and have any questions whatsoever about preserving evidence, or anything else.

The post Accident Attorneys U. – Photos first appeared on Berman Law Office.

It can be running a stop sign. Or passing on the right instead of the left. Sometimes a driver fails to yield to another driver who has the right of way. Or maybe the at-fault driver was texting or speaking on his cell phone at the time of the crash.

As far as accidents caused by traveling at an improper speed go, in almost all such cases, driving too fast is the problem. When someone drives at 60 miles per hour, he covers 88 feet each second. If he speeds up to, say, 80 miles per hour, he is racing at 117 feet per second.

As any good New Jersey car accidents lawyer can tell you, when a driver drives that fast, one false move can be fatal. If the driver takes his eyes off the road for only three seconds, he will have covered more ground than the length of a football field.

Speeding is particularly dangerous at night. It is easy the drive so fast that one overshoots the range of one’s headlights. That is essentially driving blind.

Accordingly, slower driving is usually much safer. Not to mention a good way to avoid a traffic ticket and points on one’s license. Word to the wise.

Yet, too much of a good thing can be bad too. It is actually also against the law to drive at such a slow speed that one impedes or blocks the normal flow of traffic.

“Slow” Car Accident Lawyer Cases

For example, imagine a driver is on a highway with a speed limit of 65 miles per hour. He drives at 15 miles per hour.

That driver could easily receive a traffic summons for driving too slowly. Moreover, if such slow driving causes an accident, the slow driver will likely be found to be at-fault, in whole or in part.

Under New Jersey law, a driver who is mostly at-fault for an accident cannot recover compensation for the pain and suffering his injuries cause.

If you are ever are the victim of an at-fault driver, whether fast or slow, call an experienced car accidents lawyer right away. There are deadlines to take legal action that you don’t want to miss.

The post Car Accidents Lawyer – Slow Driving first appeared on Berman Law Office.

All of a sudden, a dog darts out of its owner’s property and attacks you. You suffer deep wounds on your face, arms, legs, and torso. You need to go to the nearest hospital emergency room for treatment.

The doctors are forced to place many stitches to close your wounds. Even after the wounds heal, you have visible scarring in the affected areas. You must take antibiotics to prevent infection.

Months later, a plastic surgeon operates on you to reduce the scarring. Even so, not all the scarring goes away. Permanent scars remain all over your body. Some of them remain on your face.

You realize that the law limits the time you have to take legal action. Therefore, right after the dog bite, you search for dog bite attorneys.

You find a local dog bite attorney with many years of experience. The attorney files a claim against the owner of the dog that bit you.

However, the large insurance company that represents the dog owner claims that you have no case because the dog never bit anyone before. In fact, the dog owner claims that the dog was never even vicious before in any way. He claims that the dog actually was quite gentle to everyone else before it fit you.

Does the dog owner have a leg to stand on? Can you still win your case even if what he says about the dog is true?

No “First Bite” Law Bars NJ Dog Bite Attorneys from Suing

In some states, the answers to the preceding questions are yes or no. That is to say, in those states, if a dog was never vicious prior to biting you, and, therefore,  the owner had no way of knowing that it would attack you, you likely would not be able to successfully sue the owner.  

Fortunately for you, in New Jersey, a dog bite victim does not have to prove that the dog bit anyone before. Indeed, you wouldn’t have to prove even that the dog was in any way vicious prior to attacking you.

Accordingly, under the facts as I presented them above, you would likely be able to sue the owner of the dog and recover compensation. Compensation for your pain and suffering, medical expenses not covered by insurance, lost wages, etc.

There are a few exceptions to the general rule. For example, if a dog bite victim was trespassing at the time of the bite, or if the victim provoked the dog to bite, he or she may not be able to recover compensation.

However, generally speaking, a New Jersey dog bite victim will be able to obtain compensation even if the dog in question never before exhibited any viciousness.

At least some aspects of life are fair in the Garden State.

The post Dog Bite Attorneys- First Bite Cases first appeared on Berman Law Office.

In the traffic collision, you suffer serious injuries. Your arm is broken and your wrist is badly strained.

So you hire a local personal injury lawyer. Does the fact that the other driver was drunk guarantee that you will win your case?

Traffic Collision Law

The short answer is that, as a practical matter, the other driver’s intoxication will very likely help your case. But it does not 100% guarantee a victory. What follows is what New Jersey law says on this issue.

The driver of a car must exercise the care that a reasonably prudent and sober person would exercise under the same or similar circumstances. The fact that a driver of a car has been drinking and appears to be under the influence of alcohol does not in and of itself constitute negligence. However, it is proper evidence that a jury can consider, along with all of the other evidence in the case.

If a person, although intoxicated, drives his car in a proper manner, as a sober person would, the jury can’t find him negligent merely because he was drunk.

On the other hand, voluntary intoxication would not excuse the drunk driver’s failure to drive with proper care. If he drives carelessly, the jury may find him negligent. Whether intoxication caused the careless driving and the traffic collision or not.

If you or someone you know ever does have a traffic collision, with a drunk driver or not, contact a veteran personal injury lawyer immediately. Time is of the essence. Evidence can disappear if you wait too long. And there are deadlines to take legal action.

Feel free to contact me at any time if you ever have any questions on this topic.

The post Traffic Collision With Drunk Driver first appeared on Berman Law Office.

For a stop sign to be valid, it needs authorization from the governing body of the municipality. In other words, the municipal council must approve the placement of a stop sign at a particular intersection.

But what happens in car crashes when the municipality places a stop sign at an intersection without the council authorizing it? Let me illustrate with an example.

Let’s say you live in Teaneck. One day, you decide to take a drive to a mall in Paramus. From there you drive to Fair Lawn. Then to Paterson. Then to Clifton. In Clifton, you proceed down a street and approach an intersection.

There is no traffic signal or stop sign facing in your direction, so you enter the intersection. Suddenly, another car plows into the side of your vehicle. You suffer severe injuries.

After the accident, you retain a personal injury lawyer to represent you. Your lawyer files suit in court. He claims that, because the other driver ran a stop sign, that driver was at fault and is responsible for your injuries.

But the other driver also has an attorney. His attorney is being paid for by his insurance company. This defense lawyer does a little research and discovers that the municipal council of Clifton never approved the stop sign in question.

Therefore, the defense lawyer argues to the judge that his client had the right of way because he entered the intersection first and there was no valid stop sign requiring him to stop.

Recent Case on Stop Sign Crashes

Who wins the case? According to a recent appellate case in New Jersey, you would likely win. The court ruled that, even if a stop sign is technically not legal, it Is still negligent to ignore it. Otherwise, the appellate judges noted, there would be chaos on the roads.

(As to whether the other driver could legally get a traffic ticket for running an unauthorized stop sign, that is an entirely different question, one which the court did not discuss.)

The recent case also illustrates why, if you are hurt in a car crash, you need to retain an experienced personal injury lawyer. The insurance company for the other driver will have an experienced lawyer representing its interests. You need a good lawyer who can level the playing field.

The post Crashes, Stop Signs and Injury Lawyers first appeared on Berman Law Office.