New Jersey Car Crash Makes News around the World

It’s not often that a New Jersey auto accident makes headlines around the world – but most New Jersey accidents don’t involve Nobel Prize winners. As reported by NJ.com, mathematician John Nash, 86, and his wife Alicia, 82, were killed in a taxi accident on the New Jersey Turnpike. The driver apparently lost control of his vehicle as he tried to pass another car. The cab crashed into a guard rail and the Nashes were ejected from the taxi and killed. The driver, who was wearing his seatbelt, survived with non-life-threatening injuries.

Under New Jersey law, a driver is not criminally responsible for injuries to rear-seat passengers if the passengers aren’t wearing seatbelts, unless the passengers are 18 or younger. However, if the driver was using excessive speed he could be charged with a crime such as vehicular homicide. But he might need to be driving at twice the posted speed limit for the speed to be considered “excessive.”

Nash and his wife were heading home from the airport after returning from Norway, where he received the Abel Prize for his work. Nash won the Nobel Prize for economics in 1994 and is a resident of Princeton, New Jersey. Nash specialized in the field of mathematics known as game theory. His life was depicted in the award-winning movie A Beautiful Mind, starring Russell Crowe.

His death raises awareness of the importance of buckling up when riding in taxis or other car services. According to a spokesperson for the Governors Highway Safety Association, “People have the mindset that when they get into the back of a cab, they’re somehow safer and that’s absolutely not true, you’re just as vulnerable.” A 2014 survey revealed that 62% of passengers in New York City taxis fail to wear seatbelts.

22 states don’t require adults to wear seatbelts if they’re traveling in the back seat of a vehicle. In about half of all deaths in motor vehicle accidents, the victims were not wearing seatbelts.

If you or your family member have been injured in a vehicle accident involving a cab or any other type of vehicle, contact an experienced personal injury attorney in Teaneck at the New Jersey Law Offices of Jeffrey S. Hasson, P.C. for help.