$1.4M for Motorcyclist’s Death
The estate of Jose Gonzalez was awarded $1.4M on June 13, 2008, after reaching a settlement in a wrongful death suit. Gonzalez, who was riding his motorcycle in North Bergen on October 3, 2006, was involved in a fatal accident with a limousine. He was riding behind the limousine when it abruptly stopped to try and make a K-turn. Gonzalez was unable to stop and crashed into the limousine. The impact then threw him 25 feet over the limousine into a telephone pole, where he died instantly, according to his lawyer Joseph LaBarbiera Jr. of LaBarbiera & Martinez of North Bergen.
The limousine was driven by Armando Sigcha, an employee of Carey International Inc of Washington D.C.
The wrongful death suit was scheduled to go to trial in Hudson County Superior Court on June 23, but Carey International, a self-insured company, agreed to the settlement of $1.4M after a mediation session before Robert Feldman, a retired Superior Court Judge.
(This information was obtained from the New Jersey Law Journal)
