Notable Win: Estate of Tori Gerstenacker v. Township of Evesham, et al.
Client: Township of Evesham
Court: Superior Court of New Jersey – Burlington County
Brief Attorney: Edward F. Kuhn III, Esq.
**Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances**
On September 28, 2019, Tori Gerstenacker was a pedestrian crossing Route 70 at its intersection with Troth Road in Evesham Township when she was struck and killed by a car driven by Clay Erickson. Mr. Erickson alleges that he was traveling eastbound on Route 70 and had a green light as he was about to enter the intersection at Troth Road. He did not see Ms. Gerstenacker who was crossing Route 70 in the crosswalk but crossing against a red light.
Plaintiff’s counsel alleges that there were three overhead streetlights at the intersection that were inoperable at the time of the accident making the intersection extremely dark and creating a dangerous condition for motorists and pedestrians. Plaintiff sued numerous entities including Evesham Township and the State of New Jersey.
Route 70 is a state-owned and maintained road. The state also owned and maintained the overhead streetlights. We moved for summary judgment on behalf of Evesham Township arguing that it did not own or control either Route 70 or the overhead streetlights. Plaintiff argued that Evesham Township should have been on notice of the inoperable streetlights because of the number of times its police officers travel through that intersection daily.
The court granted our summary judgment holding that Evesham Township cannot be held liable under the Tort Claims Act when it does not own or control any of the property in question unless it had actual notice of the inoperable streetlights and failed to provide proper warnings. There was no evidence that Eveshsam Township had any notice of the inoperable streetlights and summary judgment was granted.