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    Are New Jersey’s Pedestrian Laws Protecting Us?

    Law 4 Mins Read
    Pedestrian Laws

    As first appeared in NewsBreak

    By Aron Solomon

    New Jersey has specific laws in place to protect pedestrians and ensure their safety. Some of these laws include the Stop and Stay Stopped Law, which requires drivers to stop and stay stopped for pedestrians in marked crosswalks, and the New Jersey Safe Passing Law, which mandates drivers to approach vulnerable road users with caution, change lanes or pass with at least 4 feet of space, or slow down to 25 mph and be prepared to stop.

    The Stop and Stay Stopped Law, enacted in April 2010, requires motorists to stop and remain stopped for pedestrians crossing the roadway within marked crosswalks. Specifically, motorists must stop and remain stopped to allow pedestrians to cross the roadway within a marked crosswalk when the pedestrian is upon or within one lane of the half of the roadway that the vehicle is traveling or turning. Violations of this law can result in a $200 fine, 15 days of community service, and insurance surcharges.

    The New Jersey Safe Passing Law (NJSPL) (A5570/S2208) went into effect on March 1, 2022. This law provides clear rules for motorists when passing vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, bicyclists, scooter riders, and wheelchair users[2]. The Safe Passing Law requires drivers to use “due caution” when encountering vulnerable people on the road. 

    Key provisions of the law include the legal obligation of drivers to follow all current no-passing and no-speeding laws and move over a lane if there’s one to move into, and, on a single-lane road, to allow at least a 4-foot safety zone when passing.

    Violations of the Safe Passing Law can result in fines and other penalties. The law aims to prevent near misses, injuries, and fatalities involving vulnerable road users.

    In recent years, there have been several significant lawsuits involving injuries caused by New Jersey Transit. In one case, a bus passenger was awarded $10 million after being severely injured when a NJ Transit bus ran over her after she disembarked. Another case involved three separate settlements totaling $7.4 million for people injured when an empty NJ Transit bus ran a red light and collided with another NJ Transit bus in Newark, killing the bus driver and a passenger and injuring a dozen other passengers. A pedestrian who suffered a traumatic brain injury after being hit by a NJ Transit bus in Irvington also received a $2 million settlement.

    Historically, there have been other notable lawsuits involving injuries caused by New Jersey Transit. In 2019, a man who was struck by a transit bus received a $12.75 million settlement. Another case involved a $1.7 million settlement for a man who sustained multiple cervical and thoracic fractures in a motor vehicle accident with a New Jersey Transit bus.

    Michael Epstein, a New Jersey personal injury lawyer who has decades of experience in dealing with lawsuits involving pedestrians and public transit, argues that “This is all is a shared responsibility. Pedestrians and drivers must be aware of the laws and take necessary precautions to ensure safety on the roads. New Jersey Transit also has a responsibility to maintain the safety of its passengers and the public.”

    About Aron Solomon

    A Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer, Aron Solomon, JD, is the Chief Legal Analyst for Esquire Digital and the Editor-in-Chief for Today’s Esquire. He has taught entrepreneurship at McGill University and the University of Pennsylvania, and was elected to Fastcase 50, recognizing the top 50 legal innovators in the world. Aron has been featured in Forbes, CBS News, CNBC, USA Today, ESPN, TechCrunch, The Hill, BuzzFeed, Fortune, Venture Beat, The Independent, Fortune China, Yahoo!, ABA Journal, Law.com, The Boston Globe, YouTube, NewsBreak, and many other leading publications.

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