A Denville NJ teenager and her father, who is the owner of the car his daughter was driving, are being sued for negligence and wrongful death after a June crash in June on Route 15 near Morristown NJ that killed a 47 year old motorcyclist.
According to Jefferson County NJ police, the teenager was driving on Edison Rd. in Morristown and was crossing Route 15 when she struck the rear of the man’s motorcycle. She was not charged with criminal offenses but was cited for making an unsafe lane change and also having three other teenagers in the car, which is against NJ state law.
According to the wrongful death lawsuit, the teenager did not take reasonable care owed to the motorcyclist. As a result, the lawsuit states, the man was severely injured and was in great physical and mental pain for several days before dying on June 21.
Our View
Our Virginia wrongful death accident attorneys are saddened at this fatal motorcycle rear end crash. It is a shame that this teenager was disobeying new state laws that do not allow a teenager at 17 to drive in a vehicle with three other teenagers. It is highly likely that she was somehow distracted and this caused the deadly crash.
- The death was caused in whole or in part by the defendant.
- The death occurred because of negligence by the defendant.
- The death has affected the family who are beneficiaries in a settlement.
- The death of the person led to financial damages.
The amount of damages that can be won in a wrongful death lawsuit depends upon the state and the jury, but typically, these cases result in large financial settlements or verdicts.
Rick Shapiro has practiced personal injury law for over 30 years in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the Southeastern United States. He is a Board-Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (ABA Accredited) and has litigated injury cases throughout the eastern United States, including wrongful death, trucking, faulty products, railroad, and medical negligence claims. During his three-decade career, Shapiro has won client appeals before the VA Supreme Court, VA Court of Appeals, NC Supreme Court, SC Supreme Court, WV Supreme Court, TN Supreme Court, and three times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, underscoring Shapiro’s trial achievements. In addition, he and his law firm have won settlements/verdicts in excess of $100 million. His success in and out of the courtroom is a big reason why he was named 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” in railroad law in U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers publication (Norfolk, VA area), and he has been named a “Best Lawyer” and “Super Lawyer” by those peer-reviewed organizations for multiple years. Rick was also named a “Leader in the Law, Class of 2022” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (total of 33 statewide honorees consisting of lawyers and judges across Virginia). And in September 2023, Rick was selected as a recipient of the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) 2023 President’s Award. Although many nominations were submitted from across the country, Rick was just one of eight attorneys chosen by the prestigious National Board which certifies civil trial attorneys across the U.S. Rick was also recently named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly 2024 Virginia’s Go To Lawyers Medical Malpractice. The attorneys awarded this honor are nominated by their colleagues and chosen by a panel from the publication.
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