5-car Turnpike pileup resulted in ‘just’ moderate injuries

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The New Jersey Turnpike is a common scene for car accidents. Thousands of vehicles travel across the roadway on a daily basis, which is why accidents are bound to happen often involving more than one vehicle. Two out of three traffic lanes were closed down early on Monday morning, stalling traffic for miles near Edison when five vehicles were involved in a collision.

The accident occurred during the morning commute shortly before 5 a.m. According to state officers that responded to the accident report, it occurred near mile-marker 85.5 in the northbound lane. Four people were taken to local hospitals; three of those injured were children.

The officer who oversaw the accident clean-up and investigation said that while the injuries required hospitalization, “they were just moderate injuries, nothing life-threatening.” He then went on to talk about how the two lanes were closed for about an hour during the investigation.

Accident reports such as these easily become white noise. They seem to blend into each other, and when we hear that injuries were “non-life threatening” they are easy to dismiss. But what injuries does that description cover?

The term non-life threatening simply means that there was a high probability that the injuries would not result in death. However, that description still includes many head injuries that could result in permanent brain damage, spinal injuries that could result in paralysis and cuts that could mean disfiguring scars or even amputations. If any one of those injuries occur, it may grab a reader’s attention and help them understand what personal injury compensation is all about.

Source: nj.com, “Five-car Turnpike crash in Edison closes lanes for an hour,” Seth Augenstein, July 9, 2012