Articles Posted in Car Accidents

In some neighborhoods in the greater Boston area, streets were laid out over the course of many years with very little thought as to how they will all work together to keep motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians safe. There are sharp turns around steep hills, two-way streets too narrow for cars to pass each other and a general lack of traffic signals.

1180083_bicycle_parking_2According to a recent news feature from Huffington Post, the “National Complete Streets Coalition” is looking at what officials in Cambridge, Massachusetts are doing to help create a new model focusing on safe and responsible street design.
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According to a recent news feature form NBC 7 Boston, a pedestrian was hit by a car and killed in Arlington, Massachusetts. Authorities say the 91-year-old man was walking in a crosswalk on Massachusetts Avenue when a car hit him. This World War II veteran rolled over the hood of a Honda civic after being hit and crashed into the car’s windshield.

1118296_crosswalkThe owner of a local diner at the scene of the accident said firefighters were already there, because they were in the process responding to what turned out to be a false alarm at his business.

Upon seeing the seriousness of the Massachusetts car accident, firefighters quickly turned their attention to the victim and attempted to offer medical attention. One witness has a dashboard camera running in his personal vehicle and caught the entire incident on video.
Witnesses also say this was not the first time a pedestrian was hit at this same intersection.

One man interviewed by a local news outlet said he was walking when he was hit by a car in that same place three months ago. That victim does not remember anything after the car hit him until he awoke in a Boston area hospital after what he was told was three days following the accident. He had two metal screws put in his leg, broke his hand, broke his nose, and injured his back in the serious pedestrian car accident. The he said “outside these injuries [he] felt great.”
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According to a recent news article from ABC News, United States House Representative Paul Ryan is facing a $100,000 personal injury lawsuit as a result of his aide allegedly crashing Ryan’s SUV, injuring two people.

aint-that-america-1438223-mThis accident occurred a year ago. Authorities say Ryan, current chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and former Republican candidate for Vice President, was not in the car at the time of the accident. However, plaintiffs alleged Ryan’s aide, who was driving the car at the time of the accident, was working within the scope of his employment.

Meanwhile, plaintiff was driving his vehicle and had a passenger with him. Each occupant of plaintiff’s car is suing Ryan for $50,000 under the doctrine of respondeat superior. As our Boston car accident lawyers can explain, respondeat superior is a principle of law that allows plaintiffs to sue not only tortfeasors, but also tortfeasor’s employer, so long as tortfeasor was acting within the scope of his or employer.
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It’s kind of amusing to watch an old science fiction movie on Netflix and see the future is being portrayed in a year that has already passed or is only a few years away. For example, the date Marty McFly arrives in the future in Back to the Future is actually October 21, 2015. So it is safe to assume there will not be any flying cars traveling through Boston later this year. It is also safe to assume there won’t be flying cars for many years to come, if ever.

concept-car-198858-mHowever, self-driving cars are something car companies and technology firms like Google are actually working on, and some have predicted most people will own a self-driving car by 2030. According to a recent news article from the Wall Street Journal, when self-driving cars become a reality, it could reduce car accidents by as much as 90 percent. This could also mean a savings of up to $190 billion in healthcare costs and property damage and a save thousands from car-accident fatalities each year. The article was based upon a study by a major consulting firm that predicts mass adoption of self-driving cars in around 15 years from now.

Firms leading the move to fully or semi-autonomous cars included Daimler, Google, and the ride-sharing company, Uber. While a fully autonomous car is still years away, current automobiles are more commonly featuring lane guidance, blind spot detection, and backup cameras that are said to be the backbone of this new technology.
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According to a recent news report from Boston.com, a 56-year-old woman was driving her car in Somerville when she suffered what has been characterized as a medical incident. At this point, police allege she lost control of her vehicle and crashed into a Honda Civic. The Honda Civil burst into flames after being hit by the woman’s car.

eexplosion-776833-mThe 26-year-old driver of the Civic was treated by first responders and then transported to Massachusetts General Hospital, a level-one trauma center in Boston. A 16-year-old boy who was walking in the area of this chain reaction car crash was hit by one of the cars involved and suffered serious injuries. He was also treated at the scene and transported to Massachusetts General Hospital. While police listed his condition as critical, they believe he will survive the accident.

The driver of the Civic, a 26-year-old from Medford, was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital with serious injuries. The teen was walking in the area of the crash when he was struck by a car, according to police. He and the Somerville woman were also transported to MGH with serious injuries. Police said the teen’s injuries, while serious, are not believed to be life-threatening.
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While it should surprise nobody that this particularly brutal winter we have experienced in Boston contributed to numerous car accidents involving personal injury, the recent rise in temperature is now contributing to what the Boston Globe is calling a series of “freak accidents.”

1272047_snowWarmer weather of the past week has caused large amounts of snow and ice to partially melt and slide off Boston rooftops. This ice often falls off a roof in large heavy sheets covered with heavier damp wet snow. When these sheets of snow and ice land on a car, it can result in a significant amount of property damage and personal injury, if a car was occupied at the time.

The Cambridge Police Department is very concerned about this unexpected danger and has warned residents and motorists to take extreme caution, as the snow and ice can be deadly. The department has also set up roadblocks to close sections of streets throughout the greater Boston area where falling snow and ice has been particularly prevalent. In once incident, a large icicle broke off a roof and went through the windshield of a moving vehicle. Fortunately for the driver of this car, he was not injured by the potentially deadly incident.
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According to a recent article from the Milford Patch, a Sharron, Massachusetts woman was allegedly responsible for two-car accidents while under the influence of keyboard cleaner and marijuana.

computer-keyboard-1069108-mPolice first responded to a report of an erratic driver made by an off-duty officer. The off-duty officer said he saw defendant crossing the double yellow lines on Route 16. Around this same time, another caller told police someone hit her car as she was exiting a local supermarket.

A short time after this accident, defendant was allegedly involved in a second accident in close proximity to the first. Police arrived at the scene of the second accident. Defendant reportedly admitted to police she was huffing keyboard cleaner (normally compressed air with a propellant gas) and had smoked marijuana. Police found a can of keyboard cleaner and a marijuana pipe in her car at the time of her arrest.
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In what authorities are describing as miraculous, an 18-month-old child has survived being trapped upside down in a car seat after the car her mother was driving plunged into an icy river. According to a recent news article from CNN, first responders arrived at the scene of a Utah car crash they believe happened 13 hours before they got there.

obere-isar-river-winter-sunset-1413146-mAccording to witnesses, a man was going fishing in that particular area of the river when he waded out and saw an upside down car in the water. He said the car was not visible from the roadway. He immediately called 911. When police and firefighters arrived, they rushed into the water and got to work. One police officer says he doesn’t even remember any details about the rescue other than running to the car.

Due to the extreme low temperature of the river, seven first responders were rushed to the hospital to be treated for hypothermia. When they pulled the car onto its side, they immediately noticed the driver, a 25-year-old-woman, was deceased. What happened next was what made this story so astonishing. Rescue workers noticed a baby still strapped into her car seat. She had been hanging upside down from that seat as the car sat partially submerged in icy water for 14 straight hours.
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Motor vehicle accidents involving tractor-trailers often result in serious injury or death.

A single trailer can be up to 52 feet in length, and the tractor-trailer combination can weigh around 80,000 pounds when carrying a full standard load. With special permits and tandem trailers, these rigs can weigh even more. That much weight can turn into a tremendous amount of energy in a motor vehicle accident.

semitruckAccording to a recent article from CBS Boston, a crash on the Massachusetts Turnpike near Warren left one person dead and another seriously injured. Authorities say this crash occurred just before 9 a.m. A Honda Element is said to have crossed over the median into the westbound side of the highway and slammed into a tractor-trailer.

The Honda’s driver, a 22-year-old woman from Taunton, Massachusetts, was ejected from her car during the collision. She was pronounced dead at the scene. First responders had to cut the driver out of the tractor-trailer so she could be transported by Medevac helicopter to a Level One trauma center in Worcester. This accident remains under investigation, and authorities do not yet know the reason victim’s Honda crossed into the westbound travel lanes of Mass Pike. There was a concrete median separating the eastbound lanes from the westbound lanes on this section of highway, but there does not appear to have been a guard rail or raised concrete barrier dividing one side of highway from the other.

The truck driver is a 52-year-old woman from New England.
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Car accidents in which a vehicle rolls over are among the scariest and potentially most serious accidents. According to a recent report from NECN, a serious car accident killed one victim and left another injured.

735498_snow_squallAuthorities say victims’ vehicle swerved to avoid snow in the roadway and flipped over during the maneuver. One victim was thrown from the vehicle and died as result of her injuries. She was 22 years-old. A second occupant of the vehicle was also injured in the accident. She is 19 years-old and was the driver of the vehicle involved in this single vehicle accident. First responders rushed her to a local Massachusetts hospital, where her condition is not thought to be serious.

Police say no charges have been filed in connection with this accident, and there is no information as to whether driver was cited for any moving violations.
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