Dump Truck/Semi-Truck Wreck Triggers Multi-Vehicle Wreck

New Jersey State Police investigators say a total of six vehicles were involved in a March 28, 2025 collision that began with a rear-end collision.

Police said all six vehicles, a Chevrolet pickup truck hauling an enclosed box trailer, a Toyota passenger car, a Ford pickup truck, a Ford box truck, a GMC dump truck, and an International tractor-trailer, were westbound on Interstate 80 near Exit 35. As traffic began to slow, the tractor-trailer hit the back of the dump truck, state police said.

According to officials, the impact caused the dump truck to strike the back of the pickup, redirecting it into the path of the box truck. The dump truck continued forward and hit the rear of the Toyota, which in turn hit the back of the Chevy trailer.

The dump truck’s 61-year-old driver and 44-year-old passenger both sustained serious injuries after being ejected from the vehicle, per State Police.

Large Truck Crash Injuries

A fully-loaded large truck weighs over 80,000 pounds. The sheer size of these vehicles creates so much force in an accident that truck collisions almost always cause catastrophic (life-threatening) injuries, such as:

• Head Injuries: The force of a wreck, as opposed to a trauma impact, often causes head injuries in truck crash cases. Upon impact, the victim’s head snaps back and forth, causing the brain to slam against the insides of the skull. The resulting brain injuries are usually permanent. Dead brain cells don’t regenerate.
• Serious Burns: Most large trucks carry hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel, a chemical that burns at almost the same temperature as jet fuel. Even brief contact with such hot flames usually causes serious burns. Since many victims are pinned underneath flaming trucks, their burns are often catastrophic.
• Broken Bones: Normally, broken bones are not life threatening. But they’re always life altering and usually permanent. Since doctors typically use metal parts to reconstruct shattered bones, physical therapy is much longer, more difficult, and more expensive. Furthermore, broken bones normally permanently impair mobility and increase the likelihood of future injuries.

New Jersey has one of the highest per diem hospital costs in the nation, and the average burn injury stay exceeds thirty days. So, many truck crash victims are saddled with medical bills they cannot possibly pay.

A Middlesex County personal injury lawyer normally refers truck crash victims to doctors who focus on these catastrophic injuries. In other words, when truck crash victims partner with doctors, they get the treatment they need, not the treatment they can afford of the treatment an insurance adjuster is willing to pay for.

Negligence Basics

Medical bills, and other accident related expenses, must be paid eventually. Compensation for these bills if a Monmouth County personal injury lawyer proves negligence, or a lack of care, by a preponderance of the evidence, or more likely than not.

Truck drivers and other commercial operators are common carriers in New Jersey and most other states. Since common carriers haul people and/or products for fees, the law holds them to a higher standard.

Quite simply, if a careless driver causes a wreck, that wreck might affect two or three families. If a careless truck or bus driver causes a wreck, that crash might affect two or three dozen families. A duty of reasonable care isn’t enough to protect people.

So, in New Jersey, common carriers usually have a duty of utmost care. In plain English, truck drivers and other commercial operators have very little margin for error.

Recommended following distance illustrates the difference between a duty of reasonable care and a duty of utmost care. Most noncommercial drivers should maintain about a two-second following distance in most cases. The recommended truck driver following distance is about seven seconds.

The law recognizes this distinction as well. The large truck speed limit is generally lower than the noncommercial driver speed limit.

Either way, the higher standard of care makes it easier for an Ocean County personal injury lawyer to prove negligence, or a lack of care, and obtain compensation for victims. This compensation usually includes money or economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering.

First Party Liability

If a truck driver violates a safety law, and that violation substantially causes injury, the victim could be entitled to damages as a matter of law.

This liability rule (negligence per se) only applies if emergency responders issue citations. Unfortunately, they usually don’t issue citations in these situations, even if the truck crash was fatal. Emergency responders have other, more important missions, such as securing the scene and tending to injured victims.

Therefore, a Passaic County personal injury lawyer typically cites the ordinary negligence rule in court documents. Since negligence per se is unavailable, a victim/plaintiff must prove negligence, usually with a combination of the police accident report, medical bills, and witness statements.

However, one leg of this three-leg stool is often wobbly. The police accident report is a good example. Even the most experienced first responder is not an accident reconstruction professional. Furthermore, if the victim died or was catastrophically injured in the wreck, the emergency responder’s official report is based solely on the tortfeasor’s side of the story.

To fill in the gap, a Somerset County personal injury lawyer often turns to electronic evidence, such as a large truck’s Event Data Recorder.

An EDR resembles a commercial jet’s black box. The trucking industry fought the EDR mandate all the way to the Supreme Court. These executives know the value of this electronic evidence in court. Usually, an EDR measures and records data like:

• Vehicle speed,
• Engine RPM,
• Steering angle, and
• Brake application.

A Somerset County personal injury lawyer, often with the help of an accident reconstruction professional, assembles these bits of evidence like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The result is a clear picture of negligence.

Third Party Liability

The respondeat superior theory usually applies in commercial vehicle wreck claims. Employers are financially responsible for damages if their employees are negligent during the course and scope of employment.

We focused on negligence above. Now, let’s change gears (pardon the large truck pun) and briefly address the definition of “employee” in New Jersey negligence law.

Many truck drivers are independent contractors or owner-operators for tax and most other purposes. But these individuals are employees for negligence purposes. A shipping or transportation company directs the driver to deliver a specific load to a specific place. That degree of control is sufficient.

Vicarious liability is very important in serious crashes. Respondeat superior and other vicarious liability theories give victims an additional source of recovery.

Reach Out to a Zealous Bergen County Lawyer

Injury victims are entitled to significant compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Newark, contact CourtLaw. We do not charge upfront legal fees in these matters.