Articles Posted in Car Accidents

Officials with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently announced the launch of a new iOS app for iPod Touches and for iPhones to help to get drivers real-time information from the SaferCar.gov website.

It’s the SaferCar app.

It’s beneficial to consumers because it’s going to help to eliminate a lot of accident risks. With this app, consumers will be better alerted to recall information, car seat installation information, safety issues and will be able to subscribe to automatic notices about vehicle recalls. They’re also going to be provided with an easier way to file a vehicle safety complaint. It’s helping to put safety in the palm of your hand.

Our Boston car accident lawyers understand how important it is for drivers to stay one step ahead of their vehicle. Safety precautions can save lives. It’s important that consumers are aware of all current safety recalls and all of the proper information to stay safe out there on our state’s roadways. Unfortunately, much of this information never makes it to the eyes and ears of travelers. With real-time information delivered directly to consumers’ phones, we’re going to travel safer.

As it stands now, there are millions of consumers who base their new-car purchases on the information they obtain on auto review sites. Now, consumers can access this information in real-time.

“Safety is our highest priority, and we’re always working to find new and better ways for people to access SaferCar, one of the most popular programs on our website,” said USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood.

New App Features:

-5-Star Safety Ratings: Now, before you purchase a new vehicle, you can access information regarding crash test ratings and safety ratings to make sure you choose the safest car for your and your family.

-Complaints and Recalls: If there’s a safest issue, you’re going to know. You can register the vehicles in your household and get these updates sent directly to your email. You’re also going to be able to file a safety complaint with the push of a button. This is going to help to report problems and spread to word quicker.

-Help with Children: A majority of children are improperly buckled in the vehicle during each car ride. The app is going to help to change that by providing parents, guardians and caregivers with the knowledge they need to make sure everyone’s properly buckled in during every car ride.

-Safety Headlines and Alerts: If it’s in the news, it’s in your hands. Get the latest safety headlines sent straight to your phone.

You can download this app in the Apple iTunes Store. You’re urged to download this app today and to stay up to date with safety information like this. Staying in the know and staying informed is going to help to keep you and your family safe.

Don’t worry Andriod users. Officials are working on a version just for you, too.
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As we recently reported on our Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog, the entire month of April is being using by safe driving advocates to raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving.

Recently, officials with Focus Driven have announced that they’ve teamed up with Team One to spread the message about the risk associated with this dangerous driving habit. The two have developed a number of powerful visuals.

Our Boston car accident lawyers are urging you to visit Traction, the official blog of Focus Driven Advocates of cell-free driving. On this website, you can access a number of text message-relate campaign posters to share with your loved one and your community. LOL, OMG & 🙂 are the three campaign tools they’re using to illustrate that there’s nothing entertaining or funny about distracted driving and text messaging behind the wheel.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), only drivers under the age of 18 are prohibited from using a cell phone behind the wheel. On the other hand, drivers of all ages are prohibited from text messaging behind the wheel. There’s a problem with this though.

Unfortunately, officers are having a tough time differentiating texts from phone calls. An officer isn’t always able to prove if you were dialing a phone number to call (legal) or composing a text message to send (illegal). When these laws are tough to enforce, they prove to be not very effective.

In the state of Massachusetts, officers wrote about 1,700 tickets to drivers for text messaging behind the wheel in 2012. According to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), that’s a number that’s up from roughly 1,150 in 2011 — the first full year the law was in effect.

Current Prohibitions in the State of Massachusetts:

-Drivers who are busted text messaging or participating in other Internet-related activities will be fined $100 for their first offense. The second offense runs about $250 and $500 for the third offense.

-School bus operators and other public transit drivers are also banned from using cell phones while driving. The fine for breaking this law is $500 for a first-time offense.

We’re especially talking to the young drivers out there as they’re the most likely to engage in these kinds of distractions. Distracted driving is one of the top reasons why car accidents continue to be the number one cause of death for teens in Massachusetts and elsewhere around the country.

“Today, almost all of new drivers own a cell phone, so it’s critical that we educate young people about the dangers of using it behind the wheel.”

Not because it’s illegal — but because it’s dangerous — we’re asking drivers to put down the phones and text messaging devices in the driver’s seat. We’re working to save lives here.
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In the state of Massachusetts, drivers are permitted to talk on a cell phone behind the wheel, but banned from text messaging. That makes it really tough for officers to cite drivers, considering it’s virtually impossible to determine if a driver was dialing a number to call or composing a message to send.

Either way, drivers shouldn’t be messing with electronic devices while operating a motor vehicle. When you’re behind the wheel, your attention needs to be on the task at hand — driving. April will serve as a wakeup call for drivers, and our Boston car accident attorneys are asking you to join the cause.

Officials with the National Safety Council (NSC) have designated the month of April as National Distracted Driving Awareness month. During this time, safe driving advocates are asking drivers to take a look at their driving habits and to make the changes to make them safer — this means put down the phone!

Unfortunately, there are thousands killed in distracted driving car accidents each year. In 2010, there were more than 3,330 people killed in these crashes. In addition to that, there were another 420,000 people injured. The saddest part about these accidents, injuries and fatalities is that they are all completely preventable.

Officials with the NSC are here and they’re asking for your help:

-Put down the phone while you’re in the driver’s seat. If you get a call you need to handle, pull over before doing so or have a passenger handle it.

-Understand the dangers of the cognitive distraction to the brain.

-If you call someone who answers and is driving, politely ask that they call you back when they’ve stopped.

-Talk with your friends and family members are these risks. Get them to cut the distractions, too.

-If you’re in the vehicle with someone who is using their phone, ask them nicely to stop. It’s for the safety of you and everyone else in the vehicle.

-Take the pledge to drive cell free.

-Be a part of the webinar, “What were you thinking? The myth of multitasking,” on April 10th.

This is such a serious problem. As a matter of fact, drivers are close to 5 times more likely to crash while using a hand held phone and close to 25 times more likely when text messaging in the driver’s seat. When you send or receive a text, you’re taking your eyes off the road for an average of 4.5 seconds. When you’re going 55 miles per hour — you can travel the length of a football field without ever seeing the road.

If you’ve got a young driver in your home, make sure you make them a part of this awareness month. They’re more likely than any other group of drivers to engage in distractions behind the wheel. Talk with them today, spread the word with friends and family members and let’s all work together for safer roadways.
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Massachusetts State Police are still investigating a fatal, single-car crash that occurred on Route 195 late last month, claiming the life of a 23-year-old Dartmouth woman, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Our Boston car injury lawyers know that while this young lady was not technically a teenager, she died during the same week as 20 others in five other states in one of the deadliest weeks on U.S. roads in recent history.

According to USA Today, the rash of deadly crashes in Ohio, Indiana, Texas, Illinois and North Dakota was a vivid reminder of the fact that motor vehicle crashes remain the No. 1 killer of teenagers in this country. Not only that, but the number of fatal crashes are rising as an improving economy drives up traffic figures.

In every single one of these recent fatalities, the young drivers had at least one passenger in the vehicle – deemed a major risk factor for novice drivers.

This fact highlights two points:

• Parents need to get more involved in working to help educate their child and boost their driving skills;
• Graduated driver licensing programs, which allow new drivers to gradually ease into their driving privileges, could use a substantial boost.

Here in Massachusetts, we have a three-phase system, which mandates new drivers have to be at least 16 years-old just to get a permit and at least 18 to obtain their full driving privileges.

We also mandate a six-month holding period for learner’s permits, a minimum 40 hours of supervised driving practice, restrictions on nighttime driving during the intermediate stage and a ban on cell phone use for drivers under 18 and on texting for all drivers. Additionally, we do restrict passengers younger than 18 from having other under-18 passengers in the vehicle with them for at least the first six months.

In light of the most recent news, it appears we may do well to stretch that latter rule perhaps a bit longer. In fact, non-profit advocacy group SafeRoads4Teens.org asserts that Massachusetts should strengthen the passenger restriction for 17-and-under drivers to prohibit any more than one non-familial passenger under the age of 21 unless an over-21 driver is in the vehicle as well.

A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discovered that drivers in the U.S. tend to talk and text behind the wheel at much higher rates than those in numerous European countries, noting further that parental involvement is critical for teen drivers in terms of modeling good behavior and outlining parent-teen driving agreements.

A spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association said tighter laws mean very little unless parents are willing to monitor their own teen’s driving habits and behaviors.

Still, the state GDL laws are far from idea. There is some indication that legislators may be enveloped in a false sense of security due to the lower-than-normal accident and fatality rates at the height of the recession. Fewer people had money to be on the roads, so there were fewer crashes. That’s changing now with the economic shift.

Among the other crashes throughout the country to happen recently:

• Six teens, between the ages of 14 and 19, were killed in Warren, OH when their SUV hit a guard rail and flipped into a pond;
• Five teens, between the ages of 15 and 17, died in Dumas, TX when the driver ran a stop sign and collided with a tanker truck loaded with fuel, causing the teens to die at the scene and the driver to suffer severe burns;
• Four teens, ages 14 to 17, were killed in a single-car crash in Illinois when their vehicle skidded off a bridge and into a creek;
• Three teens, ages 17 and 18, were killed in Indiana earlier this month when two small trucks collided with one another. Three other young people were seriously injured;
• Two teens, ages 17 and 18, were killed in North Dakota when they hit an ice patch and collided with an oncoming truck. Another teen was critically injured.

All of this, is of course compounded by the fact that we are fast approaching prom and graduation season, so it will be of dire importance for parents to drive these points home.
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In nearby Westminster recently, three people were injured – one of those critically – in a fiery, head-on collision on Worcester Road.

Our Boston burn injury lawyers understand that while the exact details of what caused the initial crash are unclear, one of the vehicles involved burst into flames, causing the occupants to suffer serious burns, in addition to to the injuries they had already incurred as a result of the impact.

Motor vehicle fires are a major cause of burn injuries each year in the U.S. When two vehicles hit, fuel tanks may rupture. This could result in a very dangerous fuel-fed fire. In some cases, fuel tanks have been known to explode, which then turns the car’s parts into perilous projectiles.

Other potential causes of vehicle fires include things like fluid leaks in the exhaust system or faulty wiring. Either way, these fires have the propensity to spread rapidly because of highly-flammable gas, grease, oil and other fuels that are present.

Sadly, when this happens, passengers can become trapped, potentially suffering life-threatening burns. Sometimes, the crash itself has rendered the victims unconscious and unable to react quickly to the dangerous circumstances.

Additionally, those nearby are put at risk in these situations as well. Not only are they at risk simply by passing by, but those who attempt to help may find themselves severely burned or injured.

That was the case in this Westminster crash, which happened just after 9:30 p.m. on a Thursday. Officials say a nearby resident, who has some type of emergency response training, rushed to the aid of the trapped passengers. He was able to get at least one passenger out and provide critical care to that individual until police arrived. In the course of helping, he sustained third-degree burns.

When police got there, they tried to put out the fire using hand-held fire extinguishers as two of the occupants remained inside. When firefighters arrived, they too worked on putting out the blaze with canisters. While they were able to control the fire initially, it was not enough to get the two out immediately, and the emergency personnel were forced back by the flames.

With dogged persistence, though, they outfitted a shield for the passengers in order to protect them from the flames until they could get the hose hooked up to a nearby hydrant in order to put out the fire once and for all. Finally, they were able to quell the flames and pull the two remaining victims free using the Jaws of Life.

Later reports were that two male passengers in their 50s were treated for moderate injuries, while a female passenger in her 20s was recovering in the intensive care unit, with her condition having been recently upgraded to fair.

The National Fire Protection Association reports that 33 car fires are reported every hour in this country, with about 18 percent of those happening on a highway or road. About 1 person or more dies every day in a vehicle fire. In 2007, the most recent year for which data is available, there were roughly 260,000 reported vehicle fires that caused nearly 400 deaths, 1,700 injuries and more than $1.4 billion worth of damage.

The most likely to be involved in these crashes are young adults and teenagers.

It’s worth noting that most insurance does not cover vehicle fires, unless you have extensive coverage. A lot of these situations are preventable, as the accidents that cause the fires in the first place are often due to the carelessness or negligence of another.

What you CAN do is ensure your vehicle is in good working order so that you can minimize your risks. You want to get in the habit of having your car checked out and tuned up at least once annually. Part of that should include looking to identify any oil or gas leaks.

If you notice that a fuse is continuing to blow, that means there is a high likelihood of electrical trouble, so it’s not something you should ignore.

If your car does catch fire, no matter what the cause, your goal should be about getting yourself and any children out of the car as soon as possible and calling for help. You shouldn’t try to put the flames out yourself, particularly if the fire is at the rear of the vehicle, as there is a strong likelihood the gas tank could explode, causing severe injuries.
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A new study conducted by the Allstate Foundation has revealed that almost half of all parents of older teens report feeling regret about their lack of monitoring driving behavior after their child receive a license.

Our Boston car accident lawyers understand that what’s more, some two-thirds said they wished they had spent more time practicing with their teen about what to do, and how to react, in a high-risk situation.

The fact is, motor vehicle crashes are the No. 1 cause of death for teenagers in this country. These incidents claim more lives than drugs, alcohol, sporting injuries, gun violence and other dangers.

Yet, 40 percent of parents don’t know this, so it’s unsurprising that few take the time to really drive home to their teens the important of the safety knowledge with which they should be armed before getting behind the wheel.

Researchers with Allstate Foundation have teamed up with the National Safety Council to launch a program called Drive It Home, aimed specifically at parents of newly-licensed or soon-to-be licensed drivers. The idea is to not only educate parents about the potential dangers new drivers face, but also to provide tools for how to educate, establish guidelines and enforce rules.

The program uses a combination of graphic images and videos to drive home the message.

Researchers say that parents are the top source of information for teen drivers. They can lead by example and also by setting up clear expectations and consequences for failure to meet those expectations. Still, many parents are reluctant to take on this role. They perhaps have some poor behind-the-wheel habits themselves or don’t feel qualified to teach road safety. They leave it up to the driving instructors.

But even with graduated driver’s license programs, which are now in place in most states throughout the country, driving instructors are only going to have a limited amount of time with each pupil. It’s up to you to ensure your teen is getting enough practice and that he knows what to do when encountering things like ice or aggressive drivers. He also needs to truly understand the potentially devastating and deadly consequences for things like speeding and driving while intoxicated.

It’s a parent’s job – or both parents’ job – to underscore those points.

Some of the additional findings discovered by the Allstate Foundation’s research include:

• Many parents simply don’t understand how dangerous it is for their teenager behind the wheel. Inexperience is the top cause of crashes involving teenagers. And yet, three-fourths of parents think that the leading cause is unnecessary risk taking. That may lead parents to assume that because their child isn’t a risk taker, he doesn’t need additional guidance. But that’s not he case.
• Although 90 percent of parents say it’s critical for teenagers to learn how to drive at night and with other passengers, one-third of parents concede they haven’t gone over these skills thoroughly with their child. In the end, this does a new driver a great disservice.
• About a third of parents of new drivers don’t set any rules at all with regard to the teen’s access or use of a vehicle. In fact, many aren’t requiring their child to get permission before taking the vehicle somewhere. This leads to a perception that driving is a right, rather than a privilege. This kind of thinking can lead to more careless behavior.

The NSC recommends making it a priority to ride at least a half an hour each week in the vehicle with your teen driving.
Some things you can work on specifically with your teen include:

• Carefully watching the road ahead and learning to recognize certain hazards and how to react to them;
• Being mindful to control speed, turning, stopping and following distance;
• Becoming more skilled in judging the gap between vehicles in traffic;
• Managing high risk situation, such as driving at night and with passengers.

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The 20-year-old man barreling through a red light at 70 miles per hour was only a couple years older than the students James Braga taught and coached at Middleborough High School.

Our Boston car accident lawyers understand that not only was the young man traveling at speeds in excess of 20 miles over the speed limit, his blood alcohol content was also measured at 0.11 percent and he was reportedly high on marijuana as well.

His recklessness allegedly resulted in the death of the 61-year-old soccer coach, retired business teacher and Vietnam-era Air Force veteran. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The sudden and tragic loss of this married father of three has sent shock waves through his Massachusetts community.

The drunk driver has reportedly been charged with motor vehicle homicide while under the influence of alcohol. There is evidence he may have been drag racing another vehicle at the time of the crash. A woman who was two cars behind the suspect reported he and the vehicle next to him were stopped at the red light, revving up their engines and creeping forward as they waited for the light to change. As soon as the light changed, the pair tore off, not stopping until one of them blew threw the next intersection, plowing into the victim.

It’s near where another drag-racing incident claim the life of a 16-year-old driver. A 19-year-old driver was convicted in that case of driving to endanger. This crash was likely compounded by the fact that the intersection where the crash occurred has already been deemed a “Dangerous Intersection” by local officials.

According to the National Safety Council, one out of every three deadly crashes involves someone who was speeding. Alcohol-impaired drivers also account for about a third of all fatal crashes. Combine these two factors, and it is almost inevitable that at the very least, someone is going to be seriously hurt.

This is not to say it wasn’t preventable.

Though this young man surely didn’t mean for someone to be killed as a result of his actions, he is responsible for them nonetheless.

The Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association reports that of male drivers between the ages of 15 and 20 who were involved in fatal wrecks in 2010, nearly 40 percent were speeding at the time of the crash and another 25 percent had been drinking alcohol.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the factors that put young drivers more at risk than more experienced ones are:

• Young drivers are more likely to underestimate the level of danger they face or might not be able to recognize a potentially dangerous situation;
• At all levels of blood alcohol concentration, the risk is higher for younger drivers than for those more experienced;
• Teens are more likely to drive faster and leave less of a distance between their vehicle and the others around them;
• With each additional male passenger in the vehicle, the risk of a crash goes up exponentially.

The CDC has said that graduated driver’s license programs are an effective way to reduce the number of fatal crashes involving young drivers because it allows them a chance to work their way up to a level of full responsibility.

But we must also combine those efforts with effective educational tools that drive home the point to young teens that speed, alcohol and car keys should never mix.
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A recent New England car accident killed a 74-year old man and injured two 22-year-old victims. According to the Boston Globe, the accident happened when the young driver attempted to pass the car in front of him. He collided head-on with the elderly driver, who was dead when officers arrived on scene. The young driver and his passenger were taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Authorities are looking into whether or not the passing was legal.

Our Boston car accident attorneys understand that a head-on accident usually happens when a vehicle crosses a centerline or a median and collides with an approaching vehicle. A head-on accident can also occur when a driver knowingly or unknowingly travels the wrong way in a traffic lane. These kinds of accident are the result of a driver’s inadvertent reactions. According to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), about three quarters of all head-on accidents happen on rural roads. About 75 percent of them happen on undivided two-land roadways. Close to 85 percent of two-lane undivided road crashes happen on rural roads.

In 2003, FARS estimated that there were close to 400 fatal cross-median head-on accidents on U.S. freeways.

When passing another vehicle, there are a number of things you want to take into consideration. First thing you need to know is if it’s legal to do so on the roadway you’re traveling. First and foremost, you want to make sure that there is no traffic coming in the opposite direction. If you feel you have to rush the pass to get over safely, then you don’t want to do it. If you’ve got to speed to pass the vehicle in front of you, then you shouldn’t do it. When passing another vehicle, you’re not allowed to exceed the speed limit. So the car ahead must be going slow enough that you can perform a passing maneuver without speeding and get back into your lane safely.

Most of these passing maneuvers occur on two-land roadways. You want to be aware of any curves in the road and any obstacles that may obstruct your view of any oncoming traffic.

Be aware of No Passing zones. These areas are there for a reason. They’re usually located near a bridge, a hill, a curve or another obstacle that would make it unsafe for you to pass.

It’s critical for you to be sure you can pass safely and legally before doing so. Moving ahead in traffic shouldn’t be worth risking your life or the life of others.
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It has become very clear that distracted driving is a major public health issue, especially among teens. Unfortunately, many teens continue to text as they drive. In fact, one recent study conducted by Toyota and University of Michigan found that teens were 26 times as likely to text when driving as their parents believed is the case. Distraction.gov also cautioned that 40 percent of surveyed teens said they’d been driving with a person using his or her cell in a risky way.

With so many teenagers engaging in dangerous distracted driving behavior, our Boston injury lawyers believe it is very important for teens to be educated about the real-world consequences of their choice. One father agrees and has launched an initiative to teach thousands of high school students about the very real dangers that distracted driving presents.

Father Warns Massachusetts’ Teens about Distracted Driving
On February 5, 2013, The Daily Times wrote an article about a Delaware-area father who had launched a distracted driving campaign. He began his efforts after his 21-year-old daughter was killed in a distracted driving crash as she was walking to work in 2009.

Following his daughter’s death, he developed a comprehensive presentation about distracted driving, which focuses not only on cell phones but on other in-vehicle distractions as well. Because cell phones are responsible for causing about 1/3 of distracted driving crashes, as the father told the Daily Times, he wants young people to realize that other behaviors are just as dangerous.

The father’s presentation has been shown to around 7,5000 students since April and has reached students in ten different states. The presentation can also be given by other trained individuals and there are hopes that 200,000 students will be reached by June.

Recently, a new video has been added to the presentation that is likely to make a powerful impact. The video features residents from Massachusetts including one heartbreaking story of a crash within the state that led to a death. The video is unique because it includes interviews from both the family of the person who was killed and from the driver who had caused the death. It was made when the driver who caused the accident contacted the family of the victim to apologize and was urged to do something to make a difference.

Because the video features Massachusetts’ residents and is about an accident in the state, it will premiere in Massachusetts. According to the February 5 Daily Times Article, the grieving father had visited the Massachusetts’ State House on Monday to give his distracted driving presentation and to show the new video.

The video will now reach students in Massachusetts and throughout the rest of the United States. Boston teenagers who watch fellow residents speak of their sadness and grief at the devastating consequences of a distracted driving accident will hopefully make smart choices in the future and refrain from driving when focused on anything other than the road.
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Sometimes, it may seem as if there are laws and regulations about everything. While it may be a hassle to obey all of the driving laws, these rules exist for a reason. Speed limits, for example, help to make sure you don’t go too fast and get out of control. Yield signs outline who has the right-of-way. Each law, in other words, helps to dictate a safe behavior so that drivers don’t endanger themselves or others.

The NHTSA tracks information on driving, driver safety laws and auto accidents and has recently taken a look at some of the data available on several key driver safety initiatives. NHTSA took a look at how many lives were saved in 2010 as a result of minimum drinking age laws and restraint use laws. Our Boston accident attorneys have reviewed the NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts on these laws and we believe that every driver should take note of how many lives have been saved by safety rules. When you consider the lives saved, it may encourage you to be vigilant about obeying the safety regulations yourself.

NHTSA Data on Driver Safety Lives
NHTSA indicated that driver safety laws played a big role in helping to keep people safe in 2010. For example, according to their Traffic Safety Facts:

• Seat belt use saved 12,546 lives in 2010 alone. From 2006 to 2010, more than 69,000 lives have been saved by wearing seatbelts.
• Front air bags saved the lives of 2,306 people in 2010. This data included only occupants ages 13 and up since children under 12 years of age can be injured by air bags and should not be seated in the front car seat.
• In 2010, there were 550 people saved as a result of laws imposing a minimum drinking age.
• Motorcycle helmets saved an estimated 1,550 lives in 2010.
• Minimum drinking age laws forbidding those under 21 from having a drink saved an estimated 550 lives in 2010.
• Child safety seats or other child restraints saved 303 children ages four and under from being killed in auto accidents in 2010.
• In Massachusetts alone, 83 adults over the age of five were saved by the use of seat belts in 2010. Another 23 were saved by frontal air bags while 29 were saved due to the use of motorcycle helmets.

That so many people were saved is good news and indicates that the important driving laws are having an actual real effect. However, the data also indicates that there is a long way to go until all people fully comply with the driver safety laws and regulations that have been passed. According to NHTSA, for example:

• If 100 percent of drivers worse seat belts as required, 3,341 more lives would have been saved in 2010.
• If 100 percent of motorcycle riders wore helmets, 706 motorcycle accident deaths could have been avoided in 2010.
• In Massachusetts, if 100 percent of drivers wore restrains, there would be 48 lives saved from auto accident deaths.

This information from NHTSA reveals just how important a role driver safety laws can play in avoiding car accident deaths. Of course, every driver should take responsibility for himself, buckling up and driving carefully to keep himself safe and to avoid causing a crash that injures others.
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