Personal Injury Law Journal

If you ride a bike in New Jersey you are required to wear a helmet. This is not only good safety practice, it’s the law. But strapping on your old helmet may not be enough to keep your noggin’ safe in the event of a crash. Bike helmets have a limited life-span, irrespective of whether they’ve been involved in a collision, and they must also be properly sized and fitted in order to function properly.

Bike helmets use a type of semi-rigid foam to absorb impact from a crash.  The foam is intended to deform when subjected to an impact and, in so doing, it acts similarly to a crumple zone on a car, absorbing some of the force from the crash.  However, the foam will degrade with the passage of time and with being subjected to the elements, to the chemicals in a person’s sweat, etc., which causes the foam to become stiffer or to otherwise lose some of its ability to absorb shock.  Most data suggest that helmets be replaced every 5 years even if they have not been in an accident.  And every helmet which has been subjected to the force of an impact should be replaced, even if it looks fine to the eye.  There may be damage to the foam that is not visible and this may limit the helmet’s ability to do its job.

In addition, it is important to insure the helmet is properly fitted.  Here are some tips compiled from Consumer Reports and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration to insure you get the right bike helmet:

1. Be sure to try the helmet on before you buy it.  Different brands will fit differently and will employ different adjustment systems.  Experts say the helmet should fit “snugly”, but “should not feel uncomfortably tight”.  
2. Be sure the helmet is properly positioned.  Many people wear the helmet improperly.  Your helmet should sit level on your head with the front covering the forehead and resting just above the eyebrows.  Never tilt the helmet up so the front rests above or on the top of the forehead as this leaves sensitive portions of the brain vulnerable to injury.  
3. Verify the straps are properly positioned .  The side straps of most bike helments will branch out to form a “V” between the neck fastener and the helmet/strap attachment points.  The bottom of the “v”  should be positioned to fit comfortably below your ear.  The chin strap should be tight enough that you feel the helmet pulling down on the top of your head it you open your jaw fully, and experts say you should not be able to fit more than two fingers between the strap and your chin.
4. Kid’s helmets should fit properly NOW.  Don’t buy your child a helmet that they will “eventually grow into”.  It should fit them properly NOW, and should fit them the same way an adult’s helmet fits.  Otherwise, it may not protect them in the event of a crash.
5. More expensive does not necessarily mean better.  So long as you are purchasing a quality helmet from a reputable manufacturer, you need not break the bank to get a good bike helmet.  Like anything associated with bicycles, there are a range of prices available.  Material choices, weight, options, brand, etc., will all impact the price point for a helmet.  There are a number of web sites with safety and rating information on helmets you can turn to for more information.  Amongst these are: ConsumerReports.org, BikeRadar.com, and the web sites for Bicycling magazine and Outside magazine.

Mark Davis is a member of Stark & Stark’s Lawrenceville, New Jersey office, specializing in Accident & Personal Injury Law. For more information, please contact Mr. Davis.

One common cause of accidents involving tractor trailers and other commercial vehicles is cargo falling into the roadway from the vehicle’s bed or trailer. Proper securement of cargo is crucial to the safe operation of a heavy truck. When loads shift or spill, the results are often deadly.  

The trucking industry is governed by many rules and regulations, including the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. These rules specify, with great detail, the manner in which loads must be secured and the frequency with which the load must be checked to verify that the load has not become loose. Depending on the size, shape and quantity of goods being carried, a variety of specialized equipment is required to secure any given load, such as cradles, special straps, tie downs, shoring bars, etc.

A properly secured load should never spill and when it happens, it is almost invariably due to the fact that the load was not properly secured to begin with, that the driver failed to perform a standard check of the load, or because the securing equipment was in poor condition.

Because of the extreme hazards which can be presented by transporting cargo, the driver of a heavy truck is required to know the rules governing load securement every bit as well as the people who load the vehicle in the first place. Regulations mandate that drivers perform a safety check of their trucks before embarking on a trip. This includes checking the cargo. Additionally, once on the road, the regulations require the driver to perform further checks to insure the load remains properly placed and secured and has not worked loose or otherwise shifted. Given these rules, when a truck spills its load, the responsibility for the accidents typically rests with BOTH the individuals who loaded the truck as well as with the truck’s operator.

Mark Davis is a member of Stark & Stark’s Lawrenceville, New Jersey office, specializing in Accident & Personal Injury Law. For more information, please contact Mr. Davis.

If you suffer a catastrophic injury while working, your whole life will change. Under the workers’ compensation laws in New Jersey, the insurance carrier can be required to provide long term care benefits. The only requirement is that the benefits are necessary and the cost is reasonable. Our firm represents the needs of clients who have suffered life altering injuries such as  paralysis, the loss of a limb, or a significant traumatic brain injury.

In New Jersey, workers’ compensation carriers are required to provide a wide range of long term benefits to injured workers. Insurance carriers are required to provide treatment that is “necessary to cure and relieve,” the only requirement is that the costs be reasonable. If you are unable to walk, you will need significant modifications to your home, such as a handicapped accessible bathroom, kitchen with modified countertops and appliances and doorways that can accommodate a wheelchair. In addition, you may require a ramp or elevator just to access your house. These types of improvements are costly, and insurance carriers don’t always voluntarily want to foot the bill.      

Carriers will resist expensive improvements to a home, such as an addition; however, the laws regarding these types of benefits favor the injured worker. In one case, I represented a man who was paralyzed from the waist down after a fall from a roof. The attorney for the insurance carrier declared to me, “We are not buying your client a house,” as he did not have a home of his own – now, after the insurance carrier had to pay the client’s rent every month four years, the carrier is much more willing to buy a house rather than make rent payments for life.   

Any recommendations needs to come from your treating physician initially and a long term care evaluation will also help to determine your current and future needs. This will often involve an evaluation of your home by a specialist to determine what changes are necessary in the short and long term.     

Our office has obtained these types of benefits for current and past clients and has the experience needed to represent workers’ who have suffered catastrophic injuries. In addition to out of work benefits, medical treatment and a permanent disability award, those who suffer significant injuries will need long term care and accommodations. The workers’ compensation attorneys at Stark & Stark have obtained benefits such as monthly rent and utility payments for a client who lost the use of his legs, home modifications for wheelchair bound clients and handicapped accessible vehicles. If you require permanent long term assistance as the result of a catastrophic injury at work, our attorneys have the experience necessary to obtain these benefits.

James Creegan is a Shareholder in Stark & Stark's Lawrenceville, New Jersey office concentrating his practice in Workers' Compensation law. For questions, or to schedule a free consultaiton with Mr. Creegan, please contact him at: jcreegan@stark-stark.com.

The above question is one frequently asked by my clients when they have been out of work for a significant period of time after a work-related injury.  While the answer certainly varies depending on the circumstance, as a general rule I encourage my workers’ compensation clients to apply for Social Security Disability benefits once they know they will be out of work for at least 12 months, and feel that they cannot return to their past job, or any other type of work.  While the Social Security regulations do not require a person to be out of work for 12 months before applying for benefits, the regulations do state that your disability must be significant, and that you must prove that you are expected to be out of work for at least 12 months.  Practically in most cases you will be turned down for Social Security Benefits if you apply before you have been out of work for 12 months.  However that does NOT mean you have to wait the full 12 months before you apply for benefits.  If you are not approved in the initial stage, there are several levels of appeals, and this process can take several months, if not years.  It is best to get started sooner rather than later, and get your case in line for a Hearing if that becomes necessary.  In fact the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives recently published an article in the January 2012 Social Security Forum that states that once the application for Social Security Disability benefits gets to the Hearing Office in South Jersey, the average processing time is 344 days.  That same article states that the fastest place to process a disability claim is if you live in Shreveport, LA (172 days) and the slowest is St. Louis, Mo (476 days).  The national average to process a claim for Social Security Disability benefits at the Hearing office is 356 days.  In any event, there is no reason to delay applying if you do not feel you are going to be able to return to any type of work.

At Stark and Stark, the same attorney can handle both your Workers’ Compensation case and Social Security Disability appeal.  Please call us for a free consultation at 856-874-4443.

Marci Hill Jordan is a Shareholder in Stark & Stark’s Marlton, New Jersey office, specializing in Workers’ Compensation Law. For more information, please contact Ms. Jordan.

I recently had a personal injury case of mine proceed to a jury trial. The trial judge, like many others throughout the state and country, warned the jurors throughout the trial not to conduct their own research on the case or look up information on the parties or the lawyers involved. Based on my recollection, no specific instructions were given to the jury concerning the usage of social media during the trial. In courtrooms across the country, however, jurors’ usage of social media has become a hot topic for debate. In previous blog posts, I have discussed some of the potential problems that can arise from a juror’s use of social media during a trial. In past years, before the development of social media, jurors’ communication with the outside world during a trial was not hard to curtail. Now with the boom in popularity of various forms of social media, this has all changed.  

The New Jersey Law Journal recently covered this problem, and its possible solutions, at length.  With an estimated 845 million active users on Facebook posting 2.7 billion comments and likes daily and Twitter posting 175 million tweets a day, it is no surprise that judges have become even more concerned recently about “the incursion of social media into the courtroom and its impact on the fairness of trials.”  Judges typically have broad discretion in determining how to handle the problem when a juror is found to have used social media to discuss some aspect of the trial.   Below are some of the ways that judges have dealt with jurors who have used social media during trials.  

In many cases, a judge may remove a juror from a trial if it is determined that the juror used social media such as Facebook or Twitter to discuss the case during the actual trial. In some cases, though, a judge may allow the juror to remain on the case after a warning. Some judges have actually gone so far as to declare a mistrial whereas others have held the specific juror in contempt of court. In other cases, judges have conducted hearings to determine what information was inappropriately shared by the juror through his or her usage of social media. Judges have also been to known to confiscate phones and other electronic devices during jury deliberations and some even went so far as to take them away from jurors at the start of every trial day. A few judges have been reported to require jurors to sign pledges to refrain from using social media while serving on the jury panel. Along those lines, some other judges had jurors swear a separate oath while others required that reminders be posted in jury rooms. One of the more popular measures is to explain to jurors the reasons why social media is banned from the courtroom, followed by various instructions to jurors throughout the trial concerning the ban on social media.  

Still, perhaps the issue is being overblown. A recent survey of jurors found that of 140 jurors who participated in the survey, only 6 said they were tempted to communicate about the case through social media. All 6 respondents said that they resisted the urge to use social media in the trial due to the judge’s instructions and their duties as jurors. The survey found that judges’ cautionary instructions concerning the ban on social media in the courtroom seems to be working.  

The social media issue has played out in 2 recent trials, with opposite outcomes. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of former Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Fumo on 137 counts of fraud, tax evasion, and obstruction of justice despite Fumo’s claim that a juror’s tweets and Facebook postings about the case during deliberations denied him a fair trial.  The court affirmed Fumo’s conviction and found that there was no substantial prejudice to Fumo because the juror’s comments on Facebook and Twitter were vague and innocuous.

On the other hand, the Arkansas Supreme Court overturned a capital conviction on December 8, 2011 because of a tweeting juror who was being “followed” by a reporter covering the case.  

And lastly, a Florida state court judge in an automobile negligence case last month sentenced a juror to 3 days in jail for contempt of court because he sent a Facebook message to the defendant.

So if you are a juror serving on a trial, be sure to listen to the judge’s instructions concerning the usage of social media.  Otherwise, as you can see, your actions can have far-reaching consequences.  What might seem to be an innocent tweet or post on Facebook can have major ramifications on the integrity of the jury trial process where life, liberty, and property could be at stake.  At best, you might be admonished by the judge and embarrassed in front of everyone else on the jury, and, at worst, you could wreck the whole trial and be sent to jail for contempt of court.           

Stephen Di Stefano is an attorney in Stark & Stark’s Marlton, New Jersey office, specializing in Accident & Personal Injury Law. For more information, please contact Mr. Di Stefano.