New Jersey’s busy roadways require routine maintenance, frequent upgrades, and endless expansions, resulting in many road construction work zones in various areas throughout the year. Motorists often find these work zones frustrating as they cause traffic delays, detours, and backups. But what happens when a work zone causes more than just inconvenience, but a serious car accident? There were 246 fatal car accidents involving work zones in the U.S. in 2022, and thousands of serious injuries, including in New Jersey. After a work zone car accident, injury victims may be uncertain about their options for recovering compensation and unsure about the best way to proceed.
Common Construction and Highway Workzone Accidents
New Jersey’s city road planners and engineers develop plans to protect motorists during road construction. These plans are called the Maintenance of Traffic (MOT) plan. A poorly designed or inadequately executed MOT can result in traffic accidents due to debris in the road, too-narrow passages, inadequate signage, insufficient lighting or reflectors, or the presence of obstructions such as heavy equipment and construction vehicles. Common accidents in work zones include:
- Rear-end collisions
- Collisions with obstacles
- Tire blowouts caused by sharp debris
- Sideswipes
- Roadway departures
- Head-on collisions
- Vehicle rollovers on uneven lanes
- Commercial truck or heavy equipment collisions
Depending on the circumstances of the accident, a negligent road maintenance agency or the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) could be liable for an injury victim’s damages like property damage, medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
What Common Construction Workzone Injuries Occur?
Car accident injuries in construction zone accidents are often serious, especially when the accident occurs between a smaller vehicle and a large construction vehicle, a collision with a heavy obstacle, or a rollover accident. Common injuries in these accidents include the following:
- Fractures
- Head injuries/traumatic brain injuries
- Back injuries
- Neck injuries
- Internal organ damage
- Spinal cord injuries
- Burns
- Bruises, lacerations, and abrasions
- Facial trauma
- Soft-tissue injuries to knees, shoulders, wrists, or ankles
Injuries in work zone accidents in New Jersey are expensive as well as painful. If an injury victim’s damages far exceed the limits of their insurance coverage, a Cherry Hill injury compensation claim or lawsuit against the government entity responsible can help.
How Can a Personal Injury Attorney Help?
When an accident happens due to a hazardous condition in a roadway work zone, the injury victim may recover damages in a claim against the negligent city, county, or state government agency. This requires careful handling and meticulous attention to detail to meet the unique requirements of claims and lawsuits against government entities. This includes the requirement of written notice of a pending claim within 90 days of the accident. A motor vehicle accident attorney in Cherry Hill with experience in this area of tort law can help an injury victim obtain the maximum compensation available.
At Cuneo & Leonetti, we have years of experience in complex New Jersey car accident claims, including against negligent road maintenance agencies. Call the car accident lawyers at Cuneo & Leonetti today for a consultation on your case.