A New Jersey police officer who probably conducted his own fair share of accident investigations is now grieving the loss of his parents after a fatal auto accident during New Jersey’s recent spell of winter weather. Unfortunately, many car accidents occur in winter weather, oftentimes with tragic results.
Apparently, the happily married couple was traveling on a snowy New Jersey road. Their car spun out of control, and a nearby van stuck the couple’s car on the side. While the van’s driver escaped with minor injuries, the officer’s mother died at the scene of the collision, and the officer’s father died after arriving at a nearby hospital.
The New Jersey Police who are conducting the accident investigation have emphasized that at this point, the cause of the accident is not determined. The police appear not to have issued any traffic citations in connection with this accident.
While it might be easy to blame a person who spins out on an icy road for going too fast for the conditions, such is not always the case. For example, all drivers have a duty to adjust to wintry conditions, not just the driver who loses control of his or her car. The driver of the van in this case could bear just a much responsibility as the officer’s parents, depending of course on the specific details of the case.
More importantly, New Jersey uses a modified comparative fault system when determining negligence cases. This means that in some cases, even if the injured person was also negligent to some degree, he or she still may recover a portion of his or her damages. However, when an injured person’s negligence contributed to an accident by more than 50 percent, the injured person will not recover damages.
Drivers must exercise caution in snowy conditions, particularly with New Jersey’s winter approaching fast; however, those drivers who injured in a crash involving winter weather may still have a chance at getting compensation for their damages.
Source: NJ.com, “Parents of Trenton police officer killed in Burlington County highway crash,” Alex Zdan, Nov. 8, 2012
