Car Accidents

July 27, 2015

Car Crashes into Building in Marblehead, Massachusetts

In recent months, we have heard several news accounts of cars that crashed into buildings in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In some of these cases, there was a car that allegedly crashed into a home or apartment building while residents were sleeping. In other cases, we have heard about cars crashing into Massachusetts restaurants and bars. According to a recent news article in the Marblehead Patch, an elderly driver allegedly crashed his vehicle into a local real estate business.

Authorities are reporting that the single vehicle crash occurred around 2:30 p.m. in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Witnesses say the car had apparently lost control and veered off the road causing it to crash into the real estate broker’s office. In addition to the elderly driver, there was at least one other occupant at the time of the accident, who was also elderly. Continue reading

July 18, 2015

First Accident with Personal Injury for Google Self-Driving Car

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

While many fans of 1980s and 1990s movies were expecting there to be flying cars by now, due to the dangers that would pose, it is much more likely that self-driving cars will eventually be the future of automotive travel. There have been several different methods for developing a self-driving car, including ones that would require special guiding roadways, but because the infrastructure costs would be prohibitive, any design that ultimately succeeds will probably have to work on already existing roadways.

Google in the Silicon Valley is developing one self-driving car prototype that has gained significant notoriety. Their new self-driving car is already being tested on public roadways in California.

But for the first time, one of these cars has been involved in a car accident that has resulted in personal injury, according to a recent news article from News 7 Boston. Continue reading

July 15, 2015

Lynn Woman Allegedly Driving Drunk – Crashes into Woburn Fire Truck

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent news article from CBS Local Boston, a woman from Lynn, Massachusetts was just arrested for drunk driving after she allegedly crashed her vehicle into a fire truck in Wilmington in Middlesex County.

Authorities say the crash occurred just after noon on a Friday and the alleged at-fault driver was a 46-year-old woman. Obviously firefighters were already on the scene and were able to immediately respond to assist defendant. She was trapped under the fire truck and emergency personnel used the Jaws-of-Life to cut away the wreckage, so she could be freed from her destroyed vehicle. The fire truck suffered heavy damage to its front end from the crash and from the rescue effort.

The Middlesex County District Attorney said defendant has been charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicating liquor (OUI), negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and possession of an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle, and was given a civil motor vehicle infraction citation for a marked lanes violation. Continue reading

July 11, 2015

Fatal Three-Car Crash in Methuen, Massachusetts

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent news report from CBS Local Boston, a man was killed in a three-vehicle car accident in Methuen. A Massachusetts State Police spokesperson released a statement saying the driver of Honda Accord was in the southbound lanes when he allegedly veered into the breakdown lane for reasons not yet known.

After the Honda Accord allegedly entered the breakdown lane, authorities say it collided with a flatbed tow truck hauling a car, also in the breakdown lane of the side of the southbound travel lanes on Interstate 495. After colliding with the flatbed tow truck, the Accord further lost control and headed back into the roadway, where it allegedly collided with another vehicle. Continue reading

July 1, 2015

Alleged Drunk Driver Crashes into 246-Year-Old Cape Cod Home

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Barnstable County, Massachusetts and Cape Cod is known for beautiful colonial homes along the historic coast. According to a recent news article from My Fox Boston, a 20-year-old alleged drunk driver crashed his pickup truck into a Cape Cod house built in 1769.

The historic residence and its adjacent antiques shop is located at the end of Route 130. Authorities say when you come to the end of the road, you have to either turn right on Route 28 or turn left on Route 28, but instead, alleged drunk driver did not turn left or right and headed straight across Route 28 and plowed into the 246-year-old home, while the owners were sleeping inside at around 1:15 a.m. The truck also took out a traffic control box on the side of the road before hitting the house. Continue reading

June 26, 2015

In-Vehicle “Heads-Up” Technology Poses Greater Distraction Risk

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Car manufacturers have apparently given up on trying to battle driver distraction while the vehicle is in motion. Recently, a number of them have unveiled technologies that are intended to make it easier for drivers to stay connected and communicating while behind the wheel.

These include so-called “heads-up” technologies that require the driver to look up at a hovering hologram on their windshield in order to engage the communication system, which can include voice and video calls, social media messages and e-mails.

The idea is driver will have to at least keep their eyes in the general direction of the road, rather than looking down. Manufacturers reason this will reduce crashes because drivers will have their eyes up ahead.

June 20, 2015

“Doggie Distraction”: Why Unrestrained Pets in the Car is a Deadly Decision

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Americans love their pets. Dogs are among the most popular pet with some 78 million canines residing in 46 million homes in the U.S., according to the American Pet Products Association.

One AAA survey revealed nearly 60 percent of respondents had driven with their dog in the vehicle at some point in the last year. When a dog (or any pet, really) is unrestrained in a moving vehicle, the potential for distraction is high.

Respondents to the survey conceded that while driving with their dogs, they engaged in the following:

June 2, 2015

Wheelbarrow Causes Fatal Massachusetts Car Accident

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Most drivers have at some point encountered a foreign object in the road. Sometimes it is part of a tire, which came from a semi tractor-trailer after a blowout. Other times, it is part of a car. In a fair amount of cases, it’s furniture that obviously fell off a car or truck someone was trying to transport without proper tie-downs.

Hopefully, if you are ever in this situation, you can safely take evasive maneuvers and avoid the large object, and do so in a way that does not cause an accident or injury to any other cars on the road or pedestrians walking along the sidewalk.

In some cases, you may be tempted to stop and move the object. But it really is much safer to simply call the police or highway patrol and let them deal with the situation. While this may take slightly longer that you doing it yourself, it is much safer because emergency crews are equipped with road flares and other equipment to alert other cars of an upcoming person or object in the roadway.

According to a recent news article from WWLP News Springfield, state troopers are searching for two drivers in connection with a fatal car accident that seemed to be caused by a wheelbarrow being left in the middle of the roadway. Investigators are still reviewing the facts, but they have released information on the 32-year-old victim who was killed in this tragic accident. They believe he sustained fatal injuries when he was thrown from his car, and it rolled over, after he swerved to avoid crashing into the wheelbarrow.
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May 29, 2015

100 Deadliest Days for Teen Drivers in Massachusetts Underway

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

The time between Memorial Day and Labor Day is known as the “100 Deadliest Days” for teen drivers, as we typically see an large increase in the number of serious and fatal car accidents involving teen drivers during this period. With this year’s 100 Deadliest Days for teen drivers now underway, it is important to look at the cause of many of these preventable car accidents and what can be done to keep our teens safer on the roads this summer.

According to a recent news feature from Wicked Local Scituate, more than 66 percent of all people injured or killed during these 100 days are not the teen drivers behind wheel. It should be noted, we are talking about large numbers of car accident victims during this period. For example, in 2013, over 371,000 people were injured and nearly 3,000 were killed in car accidents involving a teen driver.

The CEO of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, said with more teens on the road during the summer season than other time of year, this is a good time to remind people who are driving, walking, or riding bicycles to take additional care and safety precautions when they see teen drivers nearby.
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May 26, 2015

Deadly Rollover Accident on Mass Pike

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

A rollover accident is one of the scariest and most jarring experiences an occupant of a vehicle can have. It can also be one of the deadliest.

According to a recent news article from the Hamden Patch, a driver and passenger were killed in a rollover car crash on the Massachusetts Turnpike.

Authorities say the single vehicle accident occurred on an early Sunday morning. When officers arrive at the accident, they found a van, which had lost control, rolled over, and ended up in the median.

They found driver, a 43-year-old roadie for a Massachusetts-based band, had already died from injuries prior to their arrival. The passenger, the band’s drummer, was also seriously injured in the crash. First responders provided immediate medical attention before transferring him to a local level-one trauma hospital. His injures were considered life-threatening at time of his arrival, and he eventually succumbed to his injuries and died.
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