Condado de Bergen / Elmwood Park / Accidentes de Motocicleta

Elmwood Park Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Condado de Bergen, New Jersey

If you were hurt in Hackensack, James Vasquez fights to get you every dollar you are owed. He has represented Bergen County's injured since 2004, and he knows this county seat's I-80, Route 4 and Route 17 corridors, its historic Hackensack River bridges, and the streets around Main Street and Hackensack University Medical Center.

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Car Accidents in Hackensack

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Dooring is among the most common serious incidents on streets with kerbside parking, and New Jersey handles it differently from most of the country.

The great majority of states have a traffic provision requiring a person not to open a vehicle door on the side available to moving traffic until it is reasonably safe to do so. New Jersey does not appear to have adopted one. Legislation has been proposed and has not been enacted, and commentary from cycling advocates and injury lawyers in this state has repeatedly identified that gap. Some published pages assert a New Jersey dooring statute and cite provisions that do not appear to be dooring rules, so a citation of that kind is worth checking rather than relying on. What that changes is the route rather than the outcome. Without a specific provision, the claim rests on ordinary negligence, which is entirely workable. A person opening a door into a lane of moving traffic owes a duty of reasonable care to whoever is passing, and opening it without looking is a straightforward breach of that duty. The absence of a statute means there is no automatic violation to point at, so the case is built on what the occupant did and what they could have seen. That balance actually favours the rider on the facts. An occupant has mirrors, direct knowledge of their own intention to open the door, and an unobstructed view outward. A rider approaching has tinted glass, glare and no warning at all. James Vasquez has handled New Jersey injury claims since 2004.

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Injuries we handle

Rider claims we handle in Bergen County

Kerbside hazards dominate on streets like these.

yes Accident Facts

Where Elmwood Park riders get doored

Streets with parking on both sides and a lane width that leaves nowhere to go.

Residential streets

Lane width reduced to a single passable channel, so a rider has no room to move away from parked vehicles at all.

What proves it: the road width measured at the location, which establishes that riding further out was not available to you.

The Route 4 and Route 80 service roads

Faster traffic alongside kerbside stopping, where the consequences of a door opening are far more severe.

What proves it: speed evidence from the machine and the scene, since the defence will argue you were travelling too fast to react.

Broadway and Market Street

Commercial frontage where vehicles park briefly, occupants get out quickly, and a rider's line runs directly through the door zone.

What proves it: the damage. Contact with an opened door leaves a distinctive pattern on both the door and the machine, which places the door in the lane.

Dropoff points and business entrances

Vehicles stopping in the travel lane while somebody gets out on the traffic side, frequently in a hurry.

What proves it: identifying who opened the door, because a passenger rather than the driver may be the responsible party.

In each of these the door and the machine both carry the record, and both are repaired or disposed of within weeks.

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How The Claim Works Here

Four points about dooring in New Jersey

Confirm the statutory position as it stands when you read this, because legislation has been proposed before.

No specific statute, on the current position

Most states have a provision requiring occupants not to open a door into moving traffic until it is safe. New Jersey does not appear to have enacted one, and bills addressing it have not passed.

Ordinary negligence still applies

A person opening a door into a lane of moving traffic owes a duty of reasonable care. Opening without looking is a breach of that duty whether or not a traffic provision names it.

It may be the passenger

The responsible party is whoever opened the door. In a rideshare, taxi or family car that is frequently a passenger rather than the driver.

The occupant had every advantage

They had mirrors, an unobstructed view outward and knowledge of their own intention. You had tinted glass, glare and no warning.

If you were doored, establish who opened the door before anything else. That single fact determines who the claim runs against. For how rider claims work statewide, see the motorcycle accident practice area page.

The Argument Back

Two responses to expect, and how they are met

The absence of a statute makes the defence more willing to argue the rider's position on the road.

That you were riding too close to parked cars

This is the standard response and it has a real tension behind it. Riders are expected to keep to the right and not obstruct traffic, which on a street parked on both sides pushes a riding line directly into the zone a door occupies. The answer is measurement rather than argument. Road width, lane width and the space actually available establish whether riding further out was a realistic option. Where the passable channel was a single lane, the suggestion that you should have been somewhere else describes a place that did not exist.

That you should have seen it coming

It is worth confronting directly because it sounds plausible to people who have never ridden. Visibility into a parked vehicle is genuinely poor, and window tinting and glare are the usual reasons. A rider approaching has no reliable way to know an occupant is about to move. The person inside has mirrors, a clear view outward and knowledge of what they are about to do. Framing the comparison that way is usually more effective than disputing the rider's speed.

Know Before You Call

Three points on dooring claims

Verify the statutory position as current, because this is an area where the law has been the subject of proposals.

No Specific Dooring Provision

New Jersey differs from most states

Most states impose a traffic duty not to open a door on the side available to moving traffic until it is reasonably safe. New Jersey does not appear to have such a provision, and proposed legislation has not been enacted. Some published material cites New Jersey statutes for this that do not appear to be dooring rules, so any such citation should be checked.

Ordinary Negligence

Duty, breach and causation

The absence of a specific provision does not remove liability. A person opening a vehicle door into moving traffic owes a duty of reasonable care to those passing, and opening without checking is a breach of it. The claim is proved from conduct rather than from a statutory violation.

N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.1

Shared fault reduces rather than bars

Expect an argument that your riding position or speed contributed. New Jersey reduces a recovery by the percentage attributed to the injured person and bars it only where that share exceeds that of the party claimed against.

The absence of automatic medical benefits for riders, the two year filing deadline and uninsured motorist claims are covered on the motorcycle practice area page and the Elmwood Park personal injury page.

What to establish immediately

One question matters more than all the others.

Find out who opened the door

Driver or passenger. The responsible party is whoever opened it, and in a rideshare or taxi that is frequently not the person at the wheel.

Photograph the door and the machine

Contact patterns on both establish that the door was open in the lane, which is occasionally disputed afterwards.

Measure or photograph the road width

It establishes what riding line was actually available to you, which answers the argument that you were too close to parked cars.

Get details of everyone in the vehicle

Including passengers, because identifying the person who opened the door may be impossible later if only the driver was recorded.

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James Vasquez

Antes de que James Vasquez representara a su primera persona lesionada, se sentaba al otro lado de la mesa. Como exfiscal y abogado de defensa de aseguradoras, pasó años aprendiendo exactamente cómo se ganan y se pierden estos casos.

Ahora lo usa a su favor. Cuando los ajustadores y los abogados contrarios se enfrentan a James, se enfrentan a alguien que ha leído su manual, ha litigado en sus tribunales y sabe con precisión dónde se quiebran sus argumentos.

Con sede en Clifton y sirviendo a los condados de Passaic, Morris y Essex, su firma le brinda a cada cliente la atención personal de James, respaldada por un equipo que conoce su expediente a fondo.