Injury lawsuits are a costly for NJ Transit
The passengers are paying for these entire reckless bus driver actions through fare increase and the bus driver are getting away with murder. While these bus companies are harboring murders that are operating a large weapon that can cause an innocent person their lives as the Prosecutor detectives write it off as an accident. It is sad that the politicians, bus companies, detective treats the victims live as no value. The victims cannot go back to their family but the bus drivers can. I believe is these bus driver know they were going to jail and serve some time, as well as, losing their jobs all these death will stop.
NJ Transit doles out millions of dollars each year to settle claims related to pedestrians who have been struck by NJ Transit buses, resulting in brain injuries, crushed hands and feet, disfigurement or — in a few cases — death, records show.
Over a nearly three-year period, the agency paid $20.5 million to people who said they were injured when bus drivers ran red lights, failed to yield to pedestrians or ignored their surroundings.
The family of Rosalina Barbosa-Ortiz said in May 2010 she was knocked down by a speeding NJ Transit bus driver in Camden. The accident, the family said in legal filings, left her with injuries, including fractured ribs, that ultimately resulted in her death. NJ Transit settled with her estate last year for $990,000. And a pending criminal case in Passaic, in which a former bus driver was indicted on vehicular manslaughter charges in February, could spawn a civil filing as well.
Yet, in a dozen other cases that NJ Transit litigated during the nearly three-year term, the case was closed and the claimant got nothing.
Experts say dealing with tort claims and accidents is a reality for transit agencies that are in the business of moving millions of people in heavy equipment each year. In 2012, there were 23 bus-pedestrian accidents, the same number as in 2008 and 2010. In 2011, there were 21. Of the incidents between 2006 and this year, NJ Transit officials said, 17 were in Bergen County, six in Passaic County and 55 in Essex County. So far this year, there has been just one incident.
It’s “a part of what you have to deal with,” said Jack Lettiere, former commissioner of the state Department of Transportation, who headed NJ Transit’s board from 2002 to 2006 and now operates a transportation consulting agency.
“That sounds very cold,” he said, “but there really isn’t anyone in [a transit agency] that has an ‘I don’t care’ attitude. They don’t want to see any of their customers or passengers or any of the folks working in the area injured.”
Bus-pedestrian accidents are a topic both transit agencies and bus driver unions shy away from. The Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents NJ Transit’s 5,500 bus employees, didn’t return repeated phone calls seeking comment. Transit agencies, meanwhile, want to avoid the public scrutiny that comes with publicized payouts, and worry that those that climb into millions will trigger a windfall of new claims.
The Record reviewed cases in which NJ Transit spent money, either to settle a bus or rail claim, or to litigate the case between Jan. 1, 2010, and October 2012. The Record also looked at accidents that occurred during that period for which money was spent on litigation. There were 80 such cases. Ten were related to train incidents and 70 to bus accidents.
Of those, 39 were settled, but 13 were closed without a payout. But that doesn’t mean taxpayers were spared any costs. During the nearly three-year period, NJ Transit spent $1.25 million on legal fees, administrative costs and court costs on cases, including those in which no payment was awarded.
NJ Transit won a case against a woman who claimed her arm was fractured after she was struck on Broad and Market streets in Newark in 2010. It was the only case during the nearly three-year period that went to trial, and while the agency was successful, it still spent $12,617 on litigation.
John Durso Jr., spokesman for NJ Transit, said about 140 claims are filed against the agency each year for bus and rail accidents involving pedestrians. He said about $14 million per year is budgeted to deal with claims, including settlements. The agency pays the first $10 million on a claim, before insurance kicks in. All of the payouts reviewed by The Record were below the insurance trigger.
The claims most frequently blamed the incidents on bus driver negligence. Many list gruesome injuries to their skin, feet and limbs that have left them disfigured or unable to perform tasks. One involved a woman who suffered a concussion after being struck by an unsecured luggage door on a bus.
The largest settlement was to Mercedes Perez, a Paterson woman whose leg was amputated after she was struck by an NJ Transit bus while crossing Market Street at Cianci Street on Oct. 9, 2008. NJ Transit spent $102,356 in legal and administrative costs to fight the case before settling it for $7.85 million, according to records.
Her attorney, Brad S. Schenerman, declined to comment.
Most settlements were not so large. Chong H. Hwang, who said he was crossing Anderson Avenue near Edgewater Road in Fairview when he was struck by a NJ Transit bus, took a $40,000 settlement. Malcah Yaeger-Dror, who said a bus struck him in Philadelphia as it tried to beat a light, accepted a $5,000 settlement.
Others got nothing.
One woman claimed she was waiting for a bus on Broad Street in Newark when a bus swerved and struck her, causing her to fall. She said in her claim she suffered neck and lower back injuries and fractured ribs. NJ Transit spent $96.25 to litigate the case. In the end, the case was closed and the claimant collected nothing.
The region has seen its share of high-profile bus-pedestrian crashes. Just last month, former NJ Transit driver Catherine Collier was indicted on vehicular manslaughter charges after the bus she was driving allegedly struck a pedestrian in Passaic in September.
Collier was driving the route 74U passenger bus on Sept. 27 when Joseph Currier, a 49-year-old Passaic resident, got off near Main and Brook avenues. Currier was in the crosswalk on Main Avenue when he was struck by Collier’s bus, authorities have said.
A passenger on the bus said Collier accelerated as the traffic signal turned from yellow to red and ran the red light, investigators have said. The passenger also saw the victim’s face hit the windshield as Collier drove through the intersection, and that the bus traveled 40 to 50 yards after the impact before it stopped, authorities have said.
Her attorney did not return a call for comment.
Collier, 65, faces 10 years in state prison if she convicted of vehicular homicide, a second-degree crime. She would have to serve 85 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole. She pleaded not-guilty to vehicular homicide after her arrest.
Durso said she left the agency on Dec. 28, but did not say whether it was voluntary or if she was fired.
NJ Transit uses a variety of measures to reduce the chances of a pedestrian getting struck, including equipping more than 1,430 buses with equipment that audibly announces, “Caution, bus turning,” to alert pedestrians of buses turning at intersections, Durso said.
There is also an emphasis on defensive driving for bus operators. It includes lessons on scanning the roadway and its surroundings for dangers like parked cars or people exiting vehicles in the street.
“Operators are taught that, when discharging or picking up customers, to scan their mirrors for customers still attempting to board, and before departing to close all doors and wait for all customers to be seated,” he said. “They are taught to put on the turn signal and check their mirror before reentering traffic.”
Durso said each case is different, but once an accident is reported, a probe begins. Investigators interview the bus driver, photograph the scene, review police reports and vehicle maintenance records. Investigators also review the Drive Cam, on-board equipment that records bus speeds at the time of the accident, as well as high-risk behaviors among drivers. It develops training in response, he said.
“The goal for NJ Transit is to reduce incidents through extensive bus operator training, regular vehicular maintenance and review of driving activity to identify areas for further training and improvement,” Durso said. The union is involved in the process, he said.
He said driver discipline varies by incident, but all are investigated. That involves interviews with the bus operator, reviewing the scene and police reports, and checking bus maintenance records.
Lettiere said accidents occur for many reasons, including road design. “In the inner city, where bus accidents and pedestrian accidents occur, streets were not designed for the amount of traffic that they have and the size of the vehicles. It’s very difficult for everyone to navigate.”
Lettiere said for transit agencies across the country, settlements — while headline-grabbing — are secondary to safety. The primary issue is finding the root cause of the incident.
“What happened? Why did it happen? Is it a recurring thing?” he said.
Email: rouse@northjersey.com
No comments:
Post a Comment