Pedestrian struck by NJ Transit bus gets $12.75 million settlement

The state has approved a $12.75 million settlement between NJ Transit and a man who sustained traumatic brain injuries after being struck by a bus racing through a pedestrian crosswalk.

Plaintiff Jason Gillespie’s lawyer, David Mazie of Mazie Slater Katz & Freeman in Roseland, said the governor signed off on the agreement on Sept. 6. Of the settlement, 75% of the proceeds were apportioned to Gillespie and the remaining 25% went to his wife.

It was a difficult case because NJ Transit “had argued that the Tort Claims Act immunized it because the bus driver had committed willful misconduct as evidenced by cocaine metabolites in his urine,” Mazie said. “Once we were successful in having that defense dismissed, the case settled. We believe this to be one of the largest settlements ever paid by New Jersey Transit.”

Thomas C. Hart of Ruprecht Hart Ricciardulli & Sherman in Westfield represents NJ Transit and did not respond to a request for comment. The Attorney General’s Office had no comment.

The details of the case

According to the plaintiff’s court papers, on Nov. 2, 2016, Gillespie was crossing Summit Avenue in Summit when the NJ Transit bus struck him. Gillespie suffered catastrophic injuries including a major traumatic brain injury, multiple brain hemorrhages, skull fractures, a right clavicle fracture, multiple rib fractures and a permanent brain injury. He needed to be placed in a medically induced coma.

Court papers said GIllespie can no longer care for himself, let alone work, and has developed severe aphasia, or the inability to retrieve words.

According to both sides, the driver of the bus, Ronald Lewis, had tested positive for cocaine use in a post-accident drug test. However, the parties disputed whether the cocaine use constituted willful misconduct, which would affect whether NJ Transit was required to indemnify him.

The plaintiff argued that the test showed Lewis was not impaired at the time of the accident, revealing that the cocaine in his system was at least seven days old. “Not only is the urine test scientifically worthless to establish impairment, but all of the testimony from Lewis and every other fact witness confirms that he was not impaired at the time of the accident. First, Lewis testified that he had tried cocaine days earlier and he was not under the influence of cocaine or anything else on the day of the accident,” Gillespie’s papers said.

NJ Transit argued the question was a matter for a jury to decide. “Under the law, one can prove intoxication simply by establishing consumption combined with circumstantial evidence of intoxication,” the defendant’s trial memorandum said. “Here, both are present, because Mr. Lewis admitted using cocaine and because there is significant circumstantial evidence of his intoxication. Therefore, the law is clear that the claim of willful misconduct must go to the jury.”

Related:

• U.S. investigating incidents that stranded two N.J. transit trains
• How a DUI affects insurance
• Simplifying accident scene management complexity to drive down claims costs

This article first appeared on sister-site Law.com.