The estates of a man and his mother who were killed when a tree fell on their car while they were traveling on the Garden State Parkway cannot sue the highway's operator, a state appeals court has ruled.

The three-judge panel also said the man's children, who were riding in the backseat and injured, also are barred from suing the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.

“[P]laintiffs have not presented competent evidence showing the Turnpike Authority had actual or constructive notice of the tree's seriously deteriorated condition,” said Appellate Division Judge Jose Fuentes. Judges Marie Koblitz and Robert Gilson joined in the ruling.