Camden County to pay $31 million in road crash

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, October, 2008 | by Allison Steele Inquirer Staff Writer

Camden County has been ordered to pay more than $31 million to an Atco man who lost a leg in 2004 after his car crashed into a faulty guardrail on a poorly maintained county road. Nicholas Anderson, 18 at the time of the accident, was driving on Raritan Avenue in Atco when he swerved onto the shoulder to avoid an oncoming car.

A six-inch drop-off from the road to the shoulder caused Anderson to crash into a guardrail that sliced through his car, severing his left leg and nearly severing his left arm. A Superior Court jury that heard Anderson's lawsuit against Camden County found last week that county officials knew the guardrail was in need of repair and would not withstand a crash. The verdict represents one of the largest motor vehicle accident-related verdicts ever to...