Driver Rear-Ended By Bus Near MetLife Reaches $1.7M Settlement With NJ Transit

A driver whose car was rear-ended by a commuter bus after he stopped for a flat on a Route 3 bridge in East Rutherford reportedly settled a lawsuit against NJ TRANSIT for $1.7 million.

NJ TRANSIT bus
Photo Credit: *Boyd A. Loving (file photo)*

Jerry DeMarco

01/06/2023 4:17 p.m.

Renator Pastor -- then 21 -- of Bloomfield was headed west when he got a flat, switched on his emergency flashers and pulled onto a partial shoulder on Sept. 16, 2019.

Soon after, a westbound NJ TRANSIT slammed into his vehicle from behind at an estimated 40 miles an hour.

Pastor, who was still sitting in the driver's seat, was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center with multiple cervical and thoracic fractures, authorities said.

Two surgeries and extensive physical therapy were necessary, his lawyer, Adam Epstein of Mazie Slater Katz & Freeman, told the New Jersey Law Journal.

Pastor -- now 25 -- sued NJ TRANSIT.

“This accident never would have happened if the New Jersey Transit bus driver was paying the slightest bit of attention to his surroundings,” Epstein said.

ALSO SEE: Crash With NJ Transit Bus Results in $1.7 Million Settlement (NJ Law Journal)

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