Hawthorne Man Loses his Life in a Collision with Overturned Loaded Dump Truck

A 56-year-old man unfortunately lost his life the morning of June 11^th, 2025, when his Nissan SUV collided with a dump truck carrying gravel.  The accident occurred at the intersection of  Goffle Hill Road and Fairview Avenue, Hawthorne,  New Jersey.  The collision was so violent that the dump truck tipped over and spilled its contents along the roadside.  Since the collision resulted in a death, the Passaic County Fatal Accident Squad of the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the facts and circumstances of the collision to determine whether or not a person or business entity should be criminally charged.  The authorities have requested that anyone with information about the incident contact them on their tip line at 1-877-370-PCPO or submit a tip online at https://peponj.opsnetwork.org/tips.

Although driver error is always a concern there are many other potential causes that could have contributed to this man’s unfortunate death.  Initial investigations seem to suggest that the driver lost control due to brake failure.  Brakes on trucks can fail due to several factors including lack of maintenance, overloading, failure of an internal part or component.  Other factors could be weather, load shift, negligent hiring of an incompetent truck driver,  improper driver training, cell phone usage, a medical  emergency suffered by a driver, roadway design or defect, or actions on the part of other drivers.

Undoubtedly, the family of the deceased will be looking for answers as to how and why this happened to their loved one.  Although they may think that the Prosecutor’s Office is investigating to find the cause; the reality is that the Prosecutor’s Office is only investigating to determine whether or not the deceased driver is a victim of a crime.

When it is determined that a truck accident was not a crime, a family must resort to bringing a civil lawsuit in the Superior Court of New Jersey suing for money damages.

This requires hiring the right law firm with the right experience and financial resources to fully and properly investigate all potential causes so that the proper negligent parties are held fully accountable for this untimely needless death.

The first thing the family can expect is few if any answers from law enforcement while the  matter is “under investigation.”   For that reason, it is important for the family’s injury lawyer to be skilled and experienced as an expert in truck accident litigation.  Once hired, on a contingency fee, the family should  continue mourning their loved one while their truck accident lawyer takes immediate action to preserve evidence, evaluate the crash scene, photograph the vehicles, interview witnesses, and put a litigation hold on the actual truck and passenger vehicles.  A letter must be delivered to preserve such evidence and all documents and records leading up to the collision.  This long letter is commonly referred to as a “Spoliation Letter.”

At the same time the investigating civil lawyer must hire a highly regarded and experienced accident reconstruction expert to start to piece together the events leading up to the collision that caused a wrongful death.  Both the attorney and accident reconstruction expert will scour the data contained in the truck’s “black box” collision data recorder.  Several trucks also have video recording equipment aboard that needs to be preserved.

According to attorney Marc C. Saperstein, a founding partner of Teaneck’s Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C.,  and an expert in truck accident litigation, the early hiring of the proper experts is critical to the outcome of the  personal injury claim.  As an injury lawyer that practiced law in Passaic County, New Jersey Saperstein has investigated, prosecuted civil cases and won dozens of truck accident cases including many wrongful death fatality claims.  According to Saperstein, an attorney Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Civil Trial Attorney,” there is no greater responsibility than to get the right answers to the survivors and to honor the deceased by turning over every stone to find the answers and to further hold those negligent accountable in form of money damages to fully compensate the deceased’s surviving family members and dependents for his pain, suffering, and financial losses.”

In fact, according to Saperstein, the investigation should include the design and crashworthiness of the passenger car to determine if it was structurally sound.

How does one find the right lawyer to handle a truck accident case.  According to Saperstein, the family should interview several firms and should interview the lawyer about their past results.  But what criteria determines which law firm and which lawyer has the knowledge, wisdom and experience to win a truck accident case.

According to the Consumer’s Guide to New Jersey Personal Injury Claims, 2^nd Edition, the client should ask the potential lawyer the following questions:

1. Will you accept my case on a contingent fee basis?
2. What percentage of your practice involves representing injured people?
3. Are you or any members of your firm Certified as a Civil Trial Attorney by the Supreme Court of New Jersey?
4. Tell me about some of the last cases you or members of your firm have tried?
5. Have you ever handled a case like mine before?
6. Who, aside from you, will be working on my file?
7. Does your lawyer participate in continuing legal education offered by New Jersey Association for Justice?
8. Do you teach lawyers legal skills at any conferences or seminars?
9. What is your experience with the defendant’s insurance company?
10. Have you appeared before the local judges in the counties where this case would be tried?
11. Does your firm have the financial resources to advance all costs and expert fees required to win this case?
12. Have you received any awards or accreditation by any organizations, lawyer rating agencies, and have you been selected or honored for your accomplishments as an Attorney?
13. Is the lawyer who referred me to your firm receiving a portion of the legal fee?

After asking these tough questions you should get a good idea about your lawyer’s career accomplishments.  According to the Supreme Court of New Jersey, “Before making your choice of attorney you should give this matter careful thought.  The selection of  an attorney is an important decision.”  We could not agree more with the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

The author, Marc C. Saperstein is a founding partner of the New Jersey personal injury law firm Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C.  He is certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a civil trial attorney.  He is a former President of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America-New Jersey Chapter and is currently the Co-chairman of NJAJ’s annual Meadowlands Seminar attended by over 800 lawyers annually.  He practices exclusively in the area of plaintiff’s personal injury law and accepts all cases on a contingency fee basis.   He has been recognized by Martindale Hubbell, a lawyer rating service, as an AVpreeminent attorney * with over 35 years of experience.  During his career as a trial lawyer, he has resolved over sixty cases in excess of one million dollars or more.  He is an expert in wrongful death and truck and bus litigation.  In 1994 his personal secretary died as a result of a tire rolling off of a tractor trailer which made holding negligent trucking companies responsible for their deadly conduct a career long mission.  For further comment, Marc C. Saperstein can be reached at 201-907-5000 or by email: marc.saperstein@dsslaw.com.

* See rating methodology at Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C.: Law Firm Profile – Martindale.com