When drunk driving accidents occur in New Jersey, serious injuries and even deaths sometimes result. One recent drunk driving accident left one man dead, according to New Jersey State Police. When drunk driving accidents occur in New Jersey that result in serious injuries or deaths of individuals, the injured victims or the loved ones of fatally injured victims are typically entitled to sue for damages in civil court via personal injury or wrongful death suits.
The accident took place on an early Saturday morning around 1:20 a.m. in Saddle Brook, Bergen County. A drunk driver who was traveling the wrong way on Interstate 80 collided head-on with another vehicle. This resulted in the death of a New York City man.
The crash occurred when a 32-year-old Paterson resident was driving westbound in the middle of an eastbound lane of I-80. The truck the man was driving collided with a 64-year-old Yonkers man, investigators say. The impact of the crash caused the second car to overturn, and the driver was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the first vehicle is facing a driving while intoxicated charge and, according to New Jersey State Police, further criminal charges are currently pending.
If prosecutors are able to secure a conviction on a criminal charge that is related to this accident, the conviction might be offered as evidence of negligence in a wrongful death suit, should one be filed in a New Jersey civil court by the decedent’s loved ones. Successfully navigated, this type of suit may result in the entry of a monetary judgment for damages. Those who lose loved ones in similar drunk driving accidents are best served by consulting experienced personal injury attorneys as soon after the tragedies as possible.
Source: NBC New York, “Drunken Driver Causes Fatal Head-On Crash: NJ State Police“, Feb. 20, 2016