Three New Jersey men died in a Mahwah crash involving three vehicles, including two large commercial trucks with heavy loads. According to authorities, the June 24 incident occurred on the northbound lanes of Route 287.
Authorities said that two men, ages 42 and 22, pulled over on the right shoulder of the highway to provide help to a 58-year-old man whose commercially owned cement truck was disabled. The three men were reportedly standing next to the cement truck when a northbound tractor-trailer carrying a load of bricks rear-ended a 2000 Toyota Avalon in their vicinity of the highway before clipping the cement truck and striking all three of them. Subsequently, the tractor-trailer and the Toyota Avalon caught fire on the shoulder of the highway, authorities reported.
Authorities pronounced the three men dead at the scene. The driver of the tractor-trailer, a 58-year-old man, and the Toyota’s two occupants, a 58-year-old woman and her 59-year-old husband, managed to escape their vehicles before the sedan and semi-truck caught fire, authorities said. All three individuals reportedly suffered minor injuries as a result of the incident.
Police indicated that they are continuing to investigate the accident. Reportedly, they did not file any charges immediately following the fatal event.
As this case illustrates, a highway truck accident can be disastrous, wreaking severe damage upon people and property. When people suffer fatal injuries in such an accident, their families may be left to cope with not merely grief and mourning but also financial stress. That is because they must often pay the expenses associated with their loved one’s funeral service, burial and estate administration.
However, certain family members of deceased accident victims may be entitled to financial compensation for these costs via civil action. By retaining a wrongful death attorney and filing suit, bereaved family members may seek restitution for the damages they suffered as a result of the fatal crash.
Source: WABC, “3 victims identified in multi-vehicle accident on route 287 in Mahwah, NJ“, June 26, 2014