West Windsor, NJ – Driver Charged With Vehicular Assault, DWI After Accident on Old Trenton Rd

West Windsor, NJ (October 25, 2022) – On Saturday, October 22nd, police were dispatched to Old Trenton Road in the area of Colt Circle in West Windsor for reports of a vehicle collision with multiple injuries. 

Upon their arrival, officers noticed that both vehicles sustained serious front-end damage and a passenger in a van was injured and trapped inside.

According to police, a 2015 Ram Promaster van driven by Roberto Antonio Ajiataz, a resident of Trenton, veered over the center line into on-coming traffic and collided head-first with a 2008 Ford F-250 driven by a man from Hamilton.

West Windsor Fire and Emergency Services were requested to extricate the entrapped victim. The driver of the F-250, a Trenton resident, was found outside of his vehicle with numerous injuries. 

Ajiataz and his passenger were taken by ambulance to Capital Health Regional Medical Center, Fuld Campus. 

The driver of the F-250 was taken to Robert Wood Johnson in Hamilton.

Ajiataz was determined to be impaired and charged with two counts of vehicular assault and driving under the influence. 

Our thoughts are with the injured victim and their family at this time. We hope for their full recovery.

Drunk Driving in New Jersey

If Personal Injury Protection benefits are insufficient or unavailable to cover your damages after being injured by a driver under the influence, you are entitled to sue the driver. Generally speaking, a good attorney can win a personal injury suit against an intoxicated driver because driving under the influence is a quintessential example of negligent conduct. However, to see a successful resolution to a personal injury action, the victim must prove that the defendant acted carelessly and that the careless action was the direct cause of their injury.  

Personal injury suits against drunk drivers are, nevertheless, subjected to various limitations. Similar to any other accident where PIP benefits come into play, the victim may only bring a suit against the drunk driver for non-economic damages, those arising from subjective, non-monetary losses, if they endured permanent injuries such as death, dismemberment, disfigurement, or the permanent loss of a body part or bodily function. 

The permanent injury condition that applies to non-economic damages still applies in cases involving drivers under the influence. For instance, in Woodworth v. Joyce, a man with a 0.16% blood-alcohol concentration was at fault for a crash that left the claimants injured. Despite the obvious fault, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court would not allow them to sue for non-economic damages unless they could prove their injuries were permanent.

The law divides damages into two types: compensatory, intended to compensate the victim, and punitive, intended to serve as a punishment for the respondent and a warning to others. 

Punitive damages are available in New Jersey only when the at-fault party’s conduct reflected deliberate and willful indifference to the safety of others.

Winning your lawsuit is only the midway point of your battle. Regrettably, a court-ordered judgment is only useful if the respondent is able to pay. More often than not, the driver is not able to pay the damages out of pocket so, once again, it becomes a matter of insurance.

A skilled personal injury attorney can review the insurance situation and is often able to construct a case that will persuade the insurer to settle, making a tedious and protracted trial unnecessary.  

If you were injured by a driver under the influence, contact our West Windsor drunk driving lawyers at (800) 469-6476 to see how we can help you.

Notes: Outside sources were used in the creation of this post including news bulletins and first-hand accounts of the accident and injuries involved. As a result, the details of the accident presented have not been independently verified. If you have identified any false information in the story or would like the post to be removed, please inform us immediately, and we will correct the information or remove the post. 

Disclaimer: As a member of the local community, we at Metro Law strive to improve the overall safety and quality of life for everyone who lives in our beloved state. We are extremely saddened by these accidents but hope that through an awareness of these dangers, those in our community will take precautions to avoid these accidents. This is not a solicitation for business, and this information should not be misconstrued as medical or legal advice. We wish only the best and quickest recovery to all those involved in the accident. The photos depicted in this post are not from the actual accident scene.