In New Jersey, the person who sustained personal injury must prove three things. Firstly, that the person who caused injury was duty bound to exercise reasonable care; secondly, the person failed to carry out the duty; and finally, the damages suffered by the injured person is a direct result of such failure or omission.
The Legal Scenario
New Jersey law has elaborate provisions for award of damages for the person who sustained personal injuries. There are general damages as well as specific damages. General damages include those damages, which would normally result from the fault of the responsible party or parties. These include loss of enjoyment of life and/or mental and physical pain. The law holds the person who caused injuries responsible for past, current and future estimated medical expenses, time lost from work, including time spent going to medical appointments or therapy, any property that was damaged, the cost of hiring someone to do household chores, any permanent disfigurement or disability, damages for emotional distress, including anxiety, depression, fright, shock, and any interference with the person’s family relationships, physical pain and suffering, change in future earning ability due to the injury that you suffered , and any other costs that were a direct result of injury. The injured person will have to produce expert medical testimony or evidence as to the future medical expenses. If the spouse of the injured person is deprived of the benefits of married life by loss of affection, comfort, companionship, help and assistance, sexual relations, or solace, he/she may be entitled to receive damages for loss of consortium.
Loss of earning capacity is determined on the basis of a number of factors such as the injured person’s age, career, level of experience, health condition, life expectancy, skills, talents, and/or training. The damage award is mostly determined on the basis of an assessment on how the person might have earned in the future if the injury hadn’t been occurred. The prior income levels of the person will also be considered for this.
New Jersey statute fixes the limitation period for filing personal injury claims as two years. In New Jersey, proof of negligence is the core requirement in proving personal injury. The injured party must show that the person who caused the injury acted in a reckless manner and that person’s action or inaction resulted in the injury. For instance, drivers have a legal duty to keep safe distance and drive at a reasonable speed. If some one rear-ends another’s car, such person will be considered negligence since there is a duty of care to the vehicles in front of them.
A personal injury action can be brought against associations, big businesses, corporations, firms etc and as such if someone slip and fall in a company premises due to a dangerous condition caused by the company employees, the company can be held vicariously liable for the wrongdoings of the employees.
Conclusion
Personal injury accidents are on the rise in New Jersey. According to the doctrine of comparative negligence, an injured person can recover against another person, even if the injured person were also negligent, as long as the other person was more negligent. If more than one person was involved, they are each proportionally responsible to the injured person for their share of the damage.
