Jury awards damages to Hopatcong couple in personal injury case

Newton - A Sussex County jury has awarded Linda and Richard Edwards of Hoptacong a total of $289,216.71 for personal injuries, medical bills and lost wages sustained by Linda Edwards as a result of a motor vehicle accident that occurred on Nov. 20, 2001. Edwards, a school bus driver for Byram Bus Lines, had parked her school bus in front of the Hudson Maxim School on Old Lakeside Blvd. in Hopatcong that afternoon to wait for the children to be dismissed from school. The defendant, Kevin Walsh of Hopatcong, lost control of his car, crossed two lanes of traffic and a parking lot to broadside the bus. Fran Crouch, an eyewitness, also of Hopatcong, described the violent crash, explaining that the force of the impact moved the bus approximately 10 inches, catapulting Edwards from the driver’s seat into an internal metal pole, then on to the floor of the bus and part way down the stairs. Liability was not an issue during this trial because Walsh had previously pleaded guilty to violation of N.J.S.A. 39:4-82, failure to keep right. The plaintiffs were represented by Patricia R. Carley, Esq., of Mt. Arlington. The defendant was represented by John P. Gilfillan, Esq., of Carol McNulty & Kull in Basking Ridge. The Hon. Karen D. Russell, J.S.C,. presided over the three day trial.