A group of New Jersey motorcycle enthusiasts were enjoying a ride together last July. Around 4:50 p.m. on July 1, 2011, seven riders with the New Jersey-based Last Chance Motorcycle Club were riding along Route 512 in the Lehigh Valley area when a man from Lapatcong Township crossed over the centerline and slammed into the motorcycles. Two New Jersey men were killed in the motorcycle accident and four suffered personal injuries. One rider reportedly escaped injury in the tragedy.

The four injured riders and the families of the two men killed in the motorcycle wreck have now filed a lawsuit against the driver of the pickup truck for allegedly causing the motorcycle wrecks. The lawsuit also names three taverns for dram shop liability.

Dram shop laws exist in most states, like New Jersey. Dram shop laws allow victims of a drunk driving accident to seek recovery from commercial establishments that serve alcohol to an obviously intoxicated patron who later causes injury in a drunk driving car accident.

The recent wrongful death lawsuit alleges that the driver of the pickup truck who is accused of vehicular homicide while driving drunk caused the injury producing and fatal multi-vehicle accident was driving drunk at the time of the crash. The plaintiffs say that the man accused of causing the accident had visited three taverns before hitting the road that day.

All three taverns are believed to have contributed to the cause of the drunk driving accident by serving the man accused of vehicular homicide, even though the man was visibly drunk in each establishment, according to the lawsuit.

The pickup truck driver involved in the accident is reportedly a retired Plainfield, New Jersey, police officer. He is facing criminal charges related to the crash.

Source: The Morning Call, "Motorcyclists, widows sue driver and bars over Bangor crash that killed 2," Frank Warner, Feb. 8, 2012