A car collision involving more than one car and a commuter bus carrying about 30 passengers left at least 3 people hospitalized. Some accounts said six people had to be taken to the hospital.
As might be expected in many car accidents involving more than one vehicle and a large bus, this car accident shut down a city road temporarily and also put a train service to a halt. Overall, 34 people sustained injuries of some sort. However, even among those hospitalized, there was no report of a life-threatening injury.
Nevertheless, this accident was likely a scary occurrence for those involved. Eyewitnesses reported that one car involved in the collision broke through a guardrail and was hanging over the precipice of an overpass. It appeared to some that the hanging vehicle almost fell.
Multiple agencies responded to the accident. An investigation is continuing.
This case raises an important point about the types of damages a person may claim when the negligence of another causes a car accident. In addition to medical bills and lost income, a person is also in some situations entitled to compensation for emotional damages that one suffers. These emotional damages can include, for example, pain and suffering.
The reason for allowing this is that one cannot put a precise price tag on what one goes through in and after a car collision. Even if a person gets compensation for medical bills and lost income, that cannot quite make up financially for things like almost tumbling over an overpass, for example. Those injured need the liberty to ask for emotional damages in order to get truly just compensation for their loss.
Source: NorthJersey.com, “Crash involving NJ transit bus closes Bloomfield Ave. in Glen Ridge, Montclair,” Erin Roll, Feb. 15, 2013
