Motor Vehicle Accidents

Our Lawyers Stand Up For Car Accident Victims

An automobile accident can cause catastrophic injuries and alter the course of your life. Your injuries can lead to extensive medical expenses. You may be unable to return to work or may be limited in the type of work you are able to do. If your injuries were caused by the negligence of another driver, a personal injury attorney can be instrumental in helping you recover appropriate compensation for all your damages.

The attorneys of Britcher, Leone & Sergio, LLC have the skill and resources to serve those who have been severely injured in automobile accidents. Our law firm helps people hurt in all types of vehicle accidents, including:

Car Accidents

Many Circumstances Cause Automobile Accidents

An automobile can be any type of motorized vehicle, from a passenger car or truck to an ATV or motorbike. All these types of vehicles — in fact, any type of machine — can lead to a devastating accident if the operator or driver is acting negligently or recklessly.

No matter the type of vehicle involved or the type of accident it causes, the attorneys of Britcher, Leone & Sergio, LLC are committed to helping victims of any type of automobile accident. From our offices in Glen Rock and Morristown, our attorneys help clients throughout New Jersey who have suffered serious injuries. We will use our experience and knowledge to help you secure compensation from the negligent or reckless party that caused your injuries.

Head-On Collisions And Other Common Accidents

At our firm, we handle cases involving all types of automobile accidents, including those involving:

• Cellphone use and distracted driving:

  Every time a driver sends a text message or answers a call, it pulls his or her attention from the road, putting everyone else at risk. It only takes a moment’s distraction to cause a serious auto accident.

• Head-on collisions:

  Striking another vehicle head-on can lead to whiplash, back injuries, head injuries and other serious trauma that can have a lasting impact on your life.

• Rear-end accidents:

  Similar to a head-on collision, a rear-end crash — even a simple fender bender — can cause life-altering injuries to drivers and passengers in either vehicle. Whether you are the driver who was rear-ended or you struck another vehicle that suddenly stopped, we can help you hold the negligent parties accountable.

• Drunk driving:

  Drunk driving is not only illegal but also extremely dangerous and puts all other drivers and passengers on the road at risk. We help clients seek justice after an accident caused by a drunk driver through a personal injury claim.

• Rollovers:

  These types of accidents are particularly common with SUVs, which are top-heavy. These can lead to serious injuries such as lacerations, as objects in the vehicle move around during the rollover.

Certain types of crashes can be more dangerous and have a higher risk of serious injury or death. However, an accident of any kind can cause significant pain, injury and other damages. Regardless of the type of accident, our attorneys work to hold negligent drivers accountable for our clients’ injuries.

Bicycle and pedestrian accidents

Experienced Attorneys Helping Bicyclist Accident Victims

Bicyclists and motorists share most of the same rights and responsibilities. Although the law recognizes this equality, too many motorists fail to use a proper level of care around bicyclists. Drivers can turn in front of bicycles or run them off the road. People in parked cars may open doors in front of bicyclists.

Every year, thousands of bicyclists in New Jersey are injured. Many of these injuries are severe. Even when wearing a helmet, bicyclists can suffer head injuries. If you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury while riding a bicycle, it is important to have skilled legal counsel on your side. The law firm of Britcher, Leone & Sergio, LLC represents people throughout New Jersey who have been severely injured in a bicycle accident.

Serving Those Injured In All Types Of Bicycle Accidents

Bicycle accidents can be caused by all types of negligent actions. The primary cause, of course, is negligence on the part of a motorist. Due to the disparity in size between bicycles and motor vehicles, when a bicyclist is struck by a car, he or she is at risk of serious injuries. Our law firm is prepared to help you overcome all potential obstacles in order to help you recover full compensation. The negligent driver’s insurance company may attempt to minimize the extent of your injuries or even claim that you caused the accident.

Our law firm understands these tactics. We will thoroughly investigate your accident and compile the evidence of your injuries in order to build a strong claim for your damages.

Defective roads are another potential cause of accidents. It is not uncommon for a bicycle to reach 20 miles per hour; especially fit bicyclists can travel even faster. When traveling at these speeds, potholes, cracks and other road defects are especially dangerous. If your accident was caused by a defective roadway, we may be able to pursue compensation from the government entity responsible for the construction and maintenance of that roadway.

In Pedestrian Accidents, Negligent Drivers Can Be Held Responsible

Common sense helps explain the high incidence of catastrophic injuries and fatalities in pedestrian accidents. A human being is no match for a car, truck or motorcycle. Whether a pedestrian injury or death occurs as a crosswalk accident or an accident occurring outside of a crosswalk, the driver of the vehicle may be held liable for failing to keep a proper lookout.

If you were injured or if your loved one was killed while crossing a street or jogging along the side of a roadway, we urge you to contact a personal injury attorney as soon as possible. A detailed investigation into the causes of a pedestrian accident is best accomplished immediately after the accident.

If a pedestrian accident was a hit-and-run accident, it is especially important to get the investigation underway promptly. Sometimes the offending vehicle can be found if investigators are able to follow up on leads right away. For example, a car often has some visible damage after a pedestrian accident. If too much time goes by before an investigation gets going, the owner of the vehicle might have it repaired, making it too late for investigators to discover the damage in time.

What Causes Pedestrian Accidents Involving Vehicles?

Britcher, Leone & Sergio, LLC offers no-obligation consultations and preliminary case analyses for people injured in pedestrian accidents. We often discover the underlying cause(s) to be one or more of the following:

• Operator error
• Distracted driving
• Failure of drivers to respect crosswalks
• Failure of drivers to give walkers or joggers proper right-of-way
• Turning of a car or truck at an intersection where a walker or jogger had no prior warning

Bus and train accidents

Entrusting Our Safety To Public Bus And Train Operators Sometimes Results In Accidents

Every day, as we travel about from place to place, many of us entrust our safety to others such as bus drivers and train engineers. Whether as passengers or as drivers of cars encountering buses or trains, we expect responsible parties to do their jobs to keep people safe. We rely on the competence and diligence of drivers and engineers, and of support personnel whose job is to ensure safe public transportation, including mechanics, dispatchers, trainers, and supervisors of bus and train operators.

Unfortunately, bus and train accidents sometimes injure or kill passengers as well as pedestrians. At the law offices of Britcher, Leone & Sergio, LLC, we represent people injured in bus and train accidents in a variety of circumstances:

• Passengers injured when boarding or exiting, or when a bus or train stops suddenly
• Drivers and passengers of cars hit by buses or trains
• Pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists struck by buses or trains

What Are The Common Causes Of These Accidents?

Some of the potential causes that we are likely to look for after a bus or train accident resulting in injury include the following:

• The driver’s or engineer’s lack of physical or mental fitness
• Mechanical failures, sometimes a result of inadequate or deferred maintenance
• Electrical failure affecting crossing gate function
• Traffic light, roadway and train track defects

Representing Claims In Public And Private Transportation Accidents

Whether a bus or train is privately owned or government-run, Britcher, Leone & Sergio, LLC is prepared to explore claims for injured passengers, pedestrians and others. We aim to make a difference in our communities as well as for our individual clients who have been injured. We apply both medical knowledge and legal acuity as we represent people injured in accidents involving all types of buses and trains, including:

• City bus
• New Jersey (NJ) Transit bus
• Interstate bus (such as Greyhound)
• School bus
• Chartered bus
• Casino bus
• Party bus
• Amtrak

Trucking accidents

Our Attorneys Represent The Injured In Litigation After Truck Accidents

Semi trucks, also referred to as 18-wheelers or tractor-trailers, are the most imposing vehicles on the road. A fully loaded truck can weigh up to 40 tons. Passenger vehicles typically weigh between 1 and 2 tons. This contrast in weight means that when a truck traveling at highway speed collides with a car, the driver and passengers in the car are at extreme risk for catastrophic injuries and death.

If you or a loved one has been hurt in a truck accident, a personal injury attorney can help you recover damages for your medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, and other costs. For many years, people across New Jersey have looked to Britcher, Leone & Sergio, LLC for effective legal representation in the aftermath of a severe injury. We help automobile accident victims recover the compensation they need and hold corporate interests responsible for their actions. In this way, we help to make our community and our state a safer place to live.

Equipped To Handle The Complex Nature Of Truck Accident Claims

Truck accidents involve many unique aspects. For example, there can be numerous liable parties in any truck accident case. Your lawyer must be able to sort through the evidence to locate every potentially liable party. Further, federal law requires trucking companies that do business across state lines to carry a minimum of $750,000 in liability insurance. With this much at stake, insurance companies will take every step within the law to limit their exposure. It is vital that your law firm is able to adequately address these issues.

At Britcher, Leone & Sergio, LLC, we will closely review all the evidence, including the truck’s event data recorder, or “black box.” The black box captures substantial information about the truck’s speed and other important factors. We will work with investigators, medical experts and other professionals as necessary to build the strongest possible claim on your behalf.

Motorcycle Accidents

Distracted driving and drunk driving accidents

Many Motor Vehicle Accidents are Caused by Distracted Drivers

Motor vehicle accidents are an inherent danger in our car-dominant society. The opportunities for collisions are compounded by the number of drivers on the roads and the amount of time that we spend on the roadways. In every generation, public policy tends to focus on particular causes of accidents and remedies designed to make driving safer:

• Seat belts and front-seat shoulder belts became mandatory equipment in cars sold in the U.S. in 1968. In 1984, the first state laws appeared making seat belt use a requirement.
• Highways speeds were lowered to 55 in the mid-1970s (largely for the purpose of increasing fuel inefficiency but also reportedly reducing the number of fatal accidents).
• Cars were required to be manufactured with airbags beginning in the 1990s.
• Drunk driving prosecutions have increased since the advent of advocacy groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
• In today’s digitalized world, distracted driving involving cellphones and other mobile devices is under scrutiny. According to current laws in New Jersey, drivers can use only hands-free cellphones while operating motor vehicles.

What Causes Distracted Driving?

If you were seriously injured or if your loved one was killed in a car accident, another driver may be considered negligent if he or she was voluntarily distracted by:

• Engaging in conversations with passengers
• Fiddling with radio dials or a cigarette lighter
• Putting on makeup, shaving or otherwise engaging in grooming while driving
• Reading a map or other written material while driving
• Texting or emailing

Distracted Drivers May be Held Liable for Your Injuries

If another driver was distracted when a crash occurred that injured you or killed your loved one, your personal injury attorney’s investigation will most likely include a review of cellphone records and email records. Consideration of laws against texting while driving and cellphone use while driving (other than hands-free) may make your injury claim or wrongful death claim more compelling. However, any evidence of preventable distracted driving can strengthen your claim, whether or not there are specific laws targeting a particular distracting activity by drivers.

Britcher, Leone & Sergio, LLC is a valuable ally for people injured by distracted drivers in New Jersey.

Experienced Attorneys Assisting Victims of Drunk Driving Accidents

New Jersey’s strict laws against drunk driving are a clear indicator of how dangerous our state’s legislature considers drunk driving to be. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2022, around 67% of drunk driving fatalities involved drivers with a blood alcohol content (BAC) nearly twice the legal limit of .08.

New Jersey Drunk Driving Accident Attorneys Offer Information and Counsel

If your husband, wife, son, daughter, mother or father was killed in a drunk driving accident, the loss is absolute. There is no “degree” to your loss. You absolutely did lose your family member in a crash involving another driver who was operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol.

On the other hand, if you were seriously injured in a truck, motorcycle or car accident involving a drunk driver, statistics such as these may seem irrelevant as you cope with the aftermath of a crash. You may be struggling to deal with the great expenses and losses associated with a burn injury, a brain injury, a spinal cord injury or loss of a loved one in a drunk driving crash.

What is certain is that you need legal help to come to terms with your new stage of life after a disastrous drunk driving accident. The fact that the other driver was drunk at the time of a crash that injured you may strengthen your injury or wrongful death claim. Britcher, Leone & Sergio, LLC offers no-fee, no-obligation case analyses for drunk driving accident victims.

The Medical and Legal Knowledge to Represent the Full Scope of Your Case

Our team at Britcher, Leone & Sergio, LLC, includes medical and legal professionals who can adeptly address the medical issues involved in your drunk driving accident case.

Roadway defects

From our offices in Glen Rock and Morristown, we represent injured people across New Jersey.

Developing the Evidence and Preparing a Persuasive Case

After any serious injury, your lawyer must be prepared to take a number of steps. Your lawyer must be able to:
-locate every potential source of compensation in order to give you the best chance of receiving full compensation.
-understand the scope of your injuries to show the insurance companies and a jury exactly how your injuries have impacted your life.
-develop all of the evidence in order to make a strong claim, either in settlement negotiations or at trial.

For experienced counsel after a car accident, call our office at 201-444-1644 or email our law firm through this website. We will work with you to make sure your rights are protected and your voice heard.