Newark Speeding Accident Lawyers
When another driver speeds through a Newark intersection or fails to slow down in traffic, you may have little chance to avoid a collision.
Proving that speed caused the crash can be frustrating, especially when the other driver denies responsibility and the insurance company challenges your account.
At Goldstein & Goldstein, LLP, our Newark speeding accident lawyers investigate crashes to establish how fast the other driver was traveling and whether that speed contributed to your injuries.
We use vehicle data, video footage, and accident reconstruction to build claims supported by evidence rather than competing stories.
Some of the strongest evidence may disappear when damaged vehicles are repaired or salvaged. Contact us for a free consultation to discuss your case and how we can help preserve it.
How Do We Answer the Insurer in a Speeding Case?
Our father-and-son firm has represented injured people in Newark and nearby communities since 1997. Speeding cases tend to draw the same four arguments from insurers, and here is how we respond to each one.
| What the insurer often says | What we work to show |
|---|---|
| “Our driver was going the speed limit.” | The actual speed before impact, rebuilt from vehicle data, video, and the crash itself |
| “The speed did not cause the crash.” | That at a lawful speed, the driver would have had time to stop or steer clear |
| “Your injuries are not that serious.” | Medical records that explain what a higher-speed impact did to your body |
| “You share the blame.” | Evidence of your own speed, position, and right of way |
You will work directly with partners Richard Goldstein and Michael J. Goldstein, who bring more than five decades of combined experience. Michael is a New Jersey Supreme Court Certified Civil Trial Attorney.
We pay for the reconstruction up front under our No Recovery, No Fee arrangement, and we can connect you with an established network of treating doctors.
You can reach us 24/7 in English, Spanish, or Haitian Creole, and speeding claims are part of the broader personal injury work our family does for Newark residents.
What Speed Limits Apply on Newark Streets?
Unless a sign posts a different limit, most Newark streets carry a 25 mph default. N.J.S.A. 39:4-98 sets these defaults, which the law presumes are lawful, based on the type of area a road runs through.
| Type of area | Default limit when no other limit is posted |
|---|---|
| Business or residential district | 25 miles per hour |
| Suburban business or residential district | 35 miles per hour |
| Other locations | 50 miles per hour |
| Passing through a school zone during recess when children are clearly visible, or during school opening or closing hours when children are arriving or leaving | 25 miles per hour |
Posted signs override these defaults, including the higher limits on some highways. On Newark’s wide avenues, a speed that feels perfectly normal may still be well over the limit for a business or residential district.
What Is the Difference Between Careless and Reckless Driving?
Careless driving means driving without due caution, including at a speed that puts people or property at risk. Reckless driving goes further and covers driving with willful or wanton disregard for other people’s safety. New Jersey addresses each in its careless driving statute and its reckless driving statute.
Too Fast for the Conditions
A driver can stay under the posted limit and still drive carelessly. Rain, snow, darkness, heavy traffic, and busy crosswalks all call for slowing down, and a driver who keeps a normal pace through them takes on that risk. In many speeding cases, this is the real dispute.
Why the Distinction Matters in a Civil Claim
For your injury claim, proving careless speed is usually enough to hold the driver responsible for the crash and your injuries. Proof of recklessness, such as racing or extreme speed through a crowded area, opens the door to punitive damages, which we cover below.
How Is a Driver’s Speed Actually Calculated?
Most police reports do not record a speed, and the driver who hit you will rarely volunteer one. Reconstruction specialists combine several sources to pin it down, and each source fills a different gap.
Event Data Recorders
Most modern cars store a few seconds of speed, braking, throttle, and steering data from just before a crash. Downloading it takes dedicated equipment. Repairs, salvage, or a sale can wipe it out, so we move to preserve both vehicles early.
Video Frame Analysis
A storefront camera or dashcam records a set number of frames each second. By measuring how far a car moves between frames against fixed points at the scene, a specialist can calculate its speed even when no vehicle data survives.
Crush Damage and Final Positions
Deep, concentrated damage and long travel after impact point to high energy. Specialists turn that damage, along with where each vehicle came to rest, into a speed estimate and check it against the vehicle data when it exists.
Tire Marks
Straight skid marks and curved yaw marks record how fast a car was moving when the driver braked or lost control. Rain and traffic wear them away within days, so early photos are worth having.
Fleet and App Data
Trucks, delivery vans, and many rideshare vehicles carry GPS or telematics systems that log speed continuously. The company owns that data and may overwrite it on a short cycle, so we request it at the outset.
Witnesses Who Saw the Car Before the Crash
A driver who was passed moments before the crash, or a pedestrian who watched the car approach, can describe things no instrument records, such as weaving or tailgating. Their accounts carry the most weight when they match the physical evidence, and they are easiest to collect in the first few days.
Why Does a Few Miles Per Hour Make Such a Difference?
Extra speed hurts in two ways at once. It leaves the driver less time to react and more distance to stop, and it puts more force into the collision itself. Together, those effects turn near misses into crashes and minor crashes into serious ones.
A strong reconstruction also answers a second question. If the driver had been going the speed limit, could they have stopped or steered clear? When the answer is yes, the speed did not just accompany the crash, it caused it.
Speeding and Pedestrians
People on foot have no protection at all. A speeding driver has less time to spot someone in a crosswalk and strikes with more force when it happens. Our Newark pedestrian accident team handles these claims as well.
Passengers of Speeding Drivers
If you were riding with the driver who sped, you can bring a claim against that driver’s insurer and against any other driver who contributed. Passengers who asked the driver to slow down rarely carry any share of fault, and your account of the speed can be valuable evidence.
Where Does Speeding Cause the Most Trouble in Newark?
Long, wide corridors like McCarter Highway, Broad Street, and Springfield Avenue tempt drivers to speed, especially late at night when traffic thins. Drivers leaving I-78, I-280, or the Turnpike sometimes carry highway speed onto city streets near the downtown exits.
Residential shortcuts and the roads around schools, parks, and transit stops are where speeding drivers and pedestrians most often cross paths.
Work Zones and School Zones
Road crews and children have little chance to get out of the way of a speeding car. Lower limits and posted warnings in these zones leave a speeding driver with very little room to argue that the speed was reasonable.
Drivers on the Clock
Delivery drivers racing a deadline and rideshare drivers chasing the next fare have their own reasons to speed. If the driver was working, the employer’s or platform’s insurance may apply, and the company’s tracking data may record the exact speed.
When Can a Speeding Driver Face Punitive Damages?
Punitive damages are possible when the speed was so extreme, or so mixed with racing or impairment, that it showed a wanton and willful disregard for others.
New Jersey’s Punitive Damages Act requires clear and convincing proof of that conduct. Ordinary speeding supports a claim for your losses, but not punitive damages.
Street Racing
Racing usually involves at least two drivers, and both may be responsible even if only one car hit you. Video, witness accounts, and social media posts about the race are often what prove it.
How Are High-Speed Injuries Documented?
High-speed crashes often cause brain injuries, spinal injuries, internal injuries, and multiple fractures. Some of these get worse, or reveal new problems, over months. A claim valued on the first few weeks of treatment usually comes up short.
We work with your doctors to record how your recovery is going, what surgery or therapy may still lie ahead, and how the injuries limit your work and daily life. For catastrophic injuries, life-care planners and vocational specialists can help put numbers on the years ahead.
What Can You Do to Help Show the Other Driver Was Speeding?
Some of the most useful speed evidence comes from what you and others noticed in the first minutes. If you are able, these steps make a real difference.
- Tell the officer if you believe the other driver was speeding, and describe what you saw.
- Ask witnesses who saw the other car before the crash for their names and phone numbers.
- Photograph skid marks, vehicle damage, and where each vehicle came to rest.
- Note any businesses or homes nearby with cameras facing the road.
- Ask that your vehicle be preserved, and find out where the other car was towed.
If you were too hurt to do any of this, that is all right. We can still gather most of this evidence once you are ready to talk.
No Recovery, No Fee!
FAQs About Speeding Accidents in Newark
Does the other driver need a speeding ticket for my claim to succeed?
A New Jersey injury claim does not require a speeding ticket. Vehicle data, video, reconstruction, and witnesses can prove speed even when the officer wrote no ticket at all.
What if I was also slightly over the limit?
You can still recover in New Jersey as long as your share of fault is not greater than the other driver’s. Under the comparative negligence statute, your recovery is reduced by your share, and the evidence frequently shows the other driver’s speed mattered far more.
Can speed be proven if the cars were repaired?
Speed can often still be proven after repairs in a New Jersey case, using video, photos of tire marks, witness accounts, and fleet or app data. The vehicle’s own data, however, usually disappears once the car is fixed, so preservation matters.
Can a police speed reading be used in my injury claim?
A New Jersey police radar or lidar reading is useful evidence when one exists, but most crash investigations do not include one. Reconstruction usually supplies the speed, and a police reading, if there is one, can confirm it.
What if a speeding commercial vehicle hit me?
When a speeding truck, van, or bus causes a New Jersey crash, the company’s GPS and telematics records may show its speed directly. The company’s commercial policy may also cover your claim, in addition to the driver’s own insurance.
Prove How Fast the Other Driver Was Going in Your Newark Crash
Richard Goldstein, Newark Speeding Accident Lawyer
A speeding driver may deny responsibility, but their account does not have to determine the outcome of your claim. Our attorneys investigate what happened, uncover evidence of the driver’s speed, and work to establish how their actions caused your injuries.
You do not need to gather evidence before reaching out. Tell us what you remember about the crash, and we will investigate the details that matter to your case. If the insurance company refuses to offer fair compensation, we are prepared to take your case to court.
Fill out our contact form and we will start right away. Our East Orange speeding accident team follows the same approach, and speeding claims sit within our broader Newark car accident practice.
Results depend on the specific facts of each case, and past outcomes do not predict future results.
