Practice Area Category: Motorcycle Accidents
Motorcyclist MC v. Confidential Bus Company
A near-fatal motorcycle and commercial bus accident on Old Hook Road in Westwood, New Jersey severely injured an experienced motorcyclist. After Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C., partners Garry R. Salomon and Adam B. Lederman proved that the bus driver was negligent when he made a left turn, the bus company’s insurance carrier paid $5.75 million dollars to the motorcyclist, a Davis Saperstein & Salomon, P.C., client.
The Emerson, New Jersey biker—a husband, father, caretaker, and football enthusiast—was enjoying a leisurely ride on his 1990 Harley Davidson motorcycle and was on his way to a charity event for cancer where he planned to donate tickets for a New York Giants football game. But his trip was interrupted when a commercial bus suddenly and unpredictably made a left-hand turn without the use of its turning signal. In making the turn, the bus driver crossed a painted barrier—a set of double yellow lines that are separated by several feet and connected by a yellow, striped median. There are signs along Old Hook Road that warn drivers against making similar turns over a double yellow line. The bus driver also failed to yield the right of way of the motorcyclist, choosing to turn when the motorcycle was too close to avoid a collision. The bus blocked all the available lanes of traffic, forcing the motorcycle to collide with the back corner of the vehicle. Upon collision, the motorcyclist was thrown to the ground.
The motorcyclist was a New York City union construction laborer. The accident impeded his ability to work and caused him to suffer injuries to his leg, back, and arm. His leg injuries included a partially amputated leg, comminuted open Grade III fracture of his left tibia, comminuted open fracture of his left fibula, large open wounds, partial disruption of his left knee, and post-traumatic equinus deformity of his left ankle and foot. His back and spinal injuries included a focal T3-T4 disc herniation, T4-T5, T7-T8, and T8-T9 disc bulges, constant back pain, and periodic neck pain. The client has undergone surgery on 20 separate occasions with the continued expectation of undergoing more in the future.
The motorcyclist also suffered accident-related psychological injuries. The accident left him with accident-related post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and acute depression.
Ironically, an unrelated motorcyclist passed the scene of the accident just moments before the collision occurred. The bus driver admitted that he had seen both motorcycles, but negligently decided that the mere 6 seconds between bikes allowed enough time to make the turn. The Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C., team of lawyers hired expert witnesses, including an accident reconstruction expert, who concluded that the motorcyclist had no viable options to avoid collision and made the best possible decision in order to save his own life.
The responding Westwood Police Department officers interviewed a witness at the scene. The witness claimed that the bus operator drove “erratically” and made the turn at an excessive speed, causing the bus to lean toward the passenger side. The New Jersey motorcycle accident lawyers at Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C., provided proof that the client was a cautious driver. Before the collision, he was driving under the 40-mph speed limit, driving with his headlight on despite it being midday, and using his bike’s horn as he approached the turning bus. The accident reconstruction expert concluded that due to the motorcyclist’s attempts to brake as he skidded toward the bus, he was only driving approximately 10-mph at the time of the collision.
Members of the Davis, Saperstein & Salmon, P.C., motorcycle accident practice group, partners Garry R. Salomon, and Adam B. Lederman, assisted by associate attorney Jeffrey E. Salomon, represented the client and his wife. The results of this settlement were reported in the New Jersey Verdict Review in 2018.
A 47-year-old Somerset, New Jersey motorcyclist was injured in an intersection accident when he collided with an ambulance, which had its lights and sirens activated, on its way to a New Jersey Hospital. Ironically, the ambulance was transporting another injured motorcyclist from an unrelated accident to the New Brunswick hospital. The ambulance company’s insurance carrier paid $4.5 million dollars to the motorcyclist after Davis, Saperstein & Salomon Partners Garry R. Salomon and Adam B. Lederman, assisted by Senior Associate Manuel B. Sameiro- proved that the ambulance driver was negligent. Upon entering the intersection of Franklin Boulevard and Highland Avenue in Franklin, New Jersey, the ambulance driver failed to take proper safety precautions. The impact threw Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C.’s client from his motorcycle causing multiple facial bone fractures, fractures to his mandible (jaw), a broken left elbow fracture, back injuries to the articular process of his vertebrae, a C5-C6 herniated disc, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, loss of consciousness and a mild traumatic brain injury secondary to concussion. He underwent surgery on 5 separate occasions.
The defendant, an experienced ambulance driver, claimed that although he had a red light, he took reasonable precautions by stopping, as required by the law, before entering the intersection. The defendant also gave a statement to his insurance carrier saying that he saw the biker about a block away. Even though the ambulance stopped at the intersection, the driver was negligent because he assumed that the motorcyclist would yield the right of way to the ambulance. As experts in motorcycle accident law, the team of lawyers at Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C., hired an ambulance operations expert and an accident reconstruction expert who concluded the ambulance driver failed to meet the standards required by law when entering an active intersection against a red light.
The investigating Franklin Township, New Jersey police officers determined that the plaintiff was proceeding within the 25-mph speed limit and that the motorcyclist’s view was obstructed by several utility poles, traffic signals, trees, bushes, shrubs, fences, and cars lawfully parked in their driveways. While inadmissible for purposes of trial, the official police report also stated that the motorcyclist, on his Harley Davidson motorcycle, likely could not hear the siren due to the noise of the motorcycle and the direction of the ambulance.
Despite wearing a helmet and full motorcycle safety gear, the motorcycle collision also caused accident-related partial hearing loss, accident-related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and a head injury resulting in mild cognitive short-term memory deficits. Although he sustained the traumatic brain injury, the motorcycle rider made a relatively good recovery but continues to experience short-term memory loss and mood alteration.
“The 4.5-million-dollar settlement is one of the largest motorcycle accident settlements in the firm’s history,“ said Garry R. Salomon, a founding partner of Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C. He went on to explain that “when the client first called, I was unsure about being able to prove negligence on the part of the ambulance driver, but my client was extremely honest and credible and I believed in him all along. I wish him and his family well.”
The full identity of the parties to this motorcycle accident settlement is subject to a qualified confidentiality agreement. The results of this settlement were reported in Jury Verdict Review as one of the top 10 settlements of 2020 in the entire Northeast.
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Loss of leg as a result of collision with police car.
Garry R. Salomon and Adam B. Lederman, partners of the New Jersey injury law firm Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C., are pleased to announce the resolution of a lawsuit filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Passaic County involving an 18-Wheeler tractor trailer truck colliding into the back of an experienced motorcyclist on a highway. The disputed claim settled for $1.05 million dollars on March 23, 2023, during a mediation before the Hon. Eugene J. Codey, after suing the tractor trailer driver for negligence in failing to make proper observations and failure to take proper precautions before changing lanes. The driver denied negligence and tried to blame the motorcyclist for the collision.
Both Salomon and Lederman jointly represented the motorcyclist. The case was fully prepared and ready for trial. The facts are as follows:
On October 5, 2019, a 65-year-old New Jersey man was riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle alongside seven other motorcyclists. The man just entered stop and go traffic on Route 22 and was traveling straight within its entrance lane in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The truck driver, who was operating a King Mack tractor trailer, began changing into the right lane to merge onto the Route 33 North Ramp. While merging into the right lane, the trucker struck the 65-year-old man, who was thrown off of his 2013 Harley Davidson Road King Classic. The man suffered fractures in his right elbow and both of his wrists, injuries to his right shoulder, 100% hearing loss in his right ear and 15% hearing loss in his left ear. The motorcyclist underwent 2 surgeries and extensive physical and occupational therapy.
He and the other seven motorcyclists were part of the same riding club. The man had served as the group’s “sweep,” meaning he rode at the back of the group and maintained close communication with the rider at the front. Because he was at the back, the other seven motorcyclists had already cleared the area when the accident occurred and were unaware of the near fatal accident. The motorcyclist testified that as he was riding at less than 5 miles per hour, fully equipped with both his helmet and goggles on, the front passenger side of the truck’s front bumper hit the left side of his motorcycle.
Upon impact, the motorcyclist was thrown from his motorcycle and onto the side of the roadway. He suffered several fractures in his arms, including a severely comminuted fracture in his right humerus and several acutely displaced fractures in his left radius and ulna, requiring open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) surgery. The motorcyclist also suffered permanent hearing loss in his right ear.
During his deposition, the defendant, an experienced truck driver, contended that the motorcyclist had attempted to speed past him as the trucker was changing lanes, and in doing so, the motorcyclist struck his truck. The defendant also contended that the motorcyclist had been in his blind spot, which is why could not see and avoid him.
The investigating police officers determined that the truck driver had struck the motorcyclist after attempting to merge onto Route 33 North. In their follow-up interview with the truck driver, the driver stated that he had struck the motorcyclist–not that the motorcyclist had struck him. This was affirmed by the police officers’ follow-up interview with the motorcyclist and at the deposition of the investigating police officer. There was a summons issued to the truck driver but was ultimately dismissed by the Court.
To further prove the defendant’s negligence, Lederman and Salomon hired the services of an expert witness who reconstructed the accident with data and scene measurements. After analyzing the scene, the expert witness referred to standards set by the Commercial Driver License Manual and Title 75 of the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code. The CDL Manual emphasizes the importance of CDL operators seeing hazards, managing space, and being able to avoid conflicts. Title 75 Section 3309(1) requires that drivers on a delineated road with two or more lanes should not switch lanes until the driver has first determined that they can do so safely. Title 75 Section 3523(a) requires that motorcycles be given full use of a lane. The expert opined that the defendant had failed to abide by the guidelines set forth by both the CDL Manual and the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code, by failing to observe the motorcyclist before changing lanes. He further concluded that had the truck driver been properly observant and attentive, the truck driver would have seen the motorcyclist before he entered his blind spot and would have been able to avoid colliding with him.
The motorcyclist’s legal team at Davis, Saperstein & Salomon collected all of the motorcyclist’s medical and orthopedic records and hired a local New Jersey retired orthopedic surgeon to serve as an expert medical witness to conduct an independent medical examination of the motorcyclist, review his medical file and to author a narrative report about his findings. In accordance with his report, the doctor was prepared to testify about all the motorcyclist’s injuries, surgical procedures, and rehabilitation as well as his opinions regarding the permanency of his injuries. Lederman and Salomon also obtained expert medical reports from the motorcyclist’s treating orthopedic, otology and otolaryngology doctors.
Adam Lederman and Garry Salomon further hired a Vocational Expert Witness to test and analyze the future employability of the motorcyclist and to determine the loss of his future earning capacity. The vocational expert determined that the motorcyclist’s ability to continue working had been greatly impeded by the accident, which caused Salomon and Lederman to hire an Economist as an expert witness to testify in court about all of the income lost to the motorcyclist as well as his future income losses.
At the time of the collision, the motorcyclist was a small business owner and asserted a disputed wage loss claim. Noting the motorcyclist’s history of hypertension, coronary disease, and depression and contending the circumstances of the collision, the defense argued that the motorcyclist’s career and earning capacity were not cut short by the motorcycle collision. The defendants further refuted the wage loss claim citing plaintiff being at retirement age and business losses accountable due to the pandemic.
The State of New Jersey is a No-Fault Insurance state that provides personal injury protection (PIP) medical benefits to anyone injured in a motor vehicle accident. However, in New Jersey, motorcycle riders, whether they were the driver of the motorcycle or a motorcycle passenger, are not eligible for any PIP medical benefits to cover medical bills and lost pay. The motorcyclist’s Medicare plan covered much of his medical costs, but not his hearing aids.
The case settled on March 23, 2023, during non-binding mediation before the Hon. Eugene J.
Codey, Jr. P.J.SC. (Retired) for the sum of $1,050,000 representing pain and suffering, harms, and losses suffered by the firms’ client.
This was not the first seven figure or multimillion dollar motorcycle crash result for Salomon and Lederman, who jointly head Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C.’s Motorcycle Litigation Practice Group. Back in 2020, Garry Salomon and Adam Lederman settled a case involving a Somerset County motorcyclist whose Harley was struck by an ambulance, with lights and siren activated, that traveled through an intersection with a red light. That motorcyclist suffered several facial fractures, a disc herniation, and a traumatic brain injury. The case settled for $4.5 million, making it one of the largest motorcycle accident settlements in Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C.’s history. Back in 2017, Garry Salomon and Adam Lederman won a $5,400,000 settlement against a bus company whose driver attempted a left hand turn in front of that motorcyclist causing a collision that resulted in severe leg and spinal injuries to that motorcyclist.
This settlement is subject to a qualified confidentiality agreement restricting full disclosure of the names and identities of the parties involved.