A road defect case has been settled after defendants, the State of New Jersey and the State of New Jersey Department of Transportation, failed to protect a dangerous median on Interstate Route 80, despite plans to address this critical area.
The death of plaintiff’s decedent, Victor Carpio, was the result of a motor vehicle accident that occurred on Interstate Route 80 at approximately mile-marker number 28.5 on August 4, 2008. A multi-vehicle accident started in the westbound lanes and caused a GMC Envoy to cross over the unprotected median from the westbound lanes to the left eastbound lane where it struck Mr. Carpio’s vehicle. This impact caused Mr. Carpio’s vehicle to overturn, and Mr. Carpio was entrapped as the vehicle became engulfed in flames.
The accident area at Interstate 80 milepost 28.5 possessed the following dangerous physical characteristics: an unprotected grass median of 44 feet; a grade differential between the westbound and eastbound lanes with the median sloping downwards from the west to the east lanes; a high rate of accidents; a high rate of average daily traffic; a 65 mph speed limit; and the close proximity of various interchanges as well as on/off ramps. Furthermore, the defendant, State of New Jersey Department of Transportation, specifically identified the area where Plaintiff’s crash occurred as the third (3rd) most dangerous spot in the State for crossover accidents in 2003, planned to address this critical area as well as others identified in its Cross Median Crash Prevention Program, and entered into various Contracts to do so, all of which were completed prior to Mr. Carpio’s accident.
Notwithstanding these facts, the accident area at Interstate 80 milepost 28.5 remained unprotected on the date of Mr. Carpio’s accident, which allowed the GMC Envoy to crossover and strike Mr. Carpio’s vehicle. This crossover began the chain of events that eventually led to Mr. Carpio’s vehicle overturning and entrapping him, while he was tragically burned to death.
Prior to trial, Fronzuto Law Group, on behalf of the plaintiff, reached a global settlement with the Defendant, State of New Jersey and State of New Jersey Department of Transportation and Defendant drivers to pay $2,900,000.00 for the wrongful death of the plaintiff’s decedent.
