Articles Posted in Car Accidents

In 2010, an accident occurred when a Toyota Camry accelerated unintentionally. The accident killed two people who were in the Camry and injured two others. The family filed a lawsuit against Toyota claiming that the crash was caused by a defect in the vehicle’s design that caused the car to unintentionally accelerate out of control.

Unfortunately, this crash was not the only one that occurred due to Toyota’s unintentional acceleration problems. In fact, hundreds were hurt when their own Toyota vehicles experienced the same problem. The vehicles were recalled and Toyota has already agreed to a settlement of more than $1 billion to settle economic losses incurred by Toyota owners. The $1.1 billion settlement did not resolve wrongful death or injury claims.

Our Boston car accident attorneys want all drivers to be aware that Toyota has moved forward with the process of resolving unintended acceleration claims in which people were injured. It is also important to understand how the car company’s settlement of one case can impact other pending lawsuits.

Understanding the Impact of the Toyota Settlement
According to Auto Week, details about the recent settlement reached by Toyota in the unintended acceleration case have not been released. However, the fact that the case settled is important because it means that no court precedent has been set for the other pending lawsuits against Toyota that are expected to occur.

This case, prior to settling, was expected to go to trial in February. It would have been the first lawsuit to go to trial involving a wrongful death and injury claim. This is important because the case would have been the “test case” for the other pending injury lawsuits.

In situations like the Toyota unintended acceleration cases, there are many people who suffered similar harm as a result of a similar problem. When all of these people sue, the first case that goes to trial is very important. When the first case occurs, the attorneys and plaintiffs need to prove that the car company was responsible for the injuries. In other words, the attorneys and plaintiffs in the Toyota case would have needed to prove that there was a design defect or a problem with the Toyota that led to the unintended acceleration and the injuries.

If the attorney in the test case is successful in showing Toyota was to blame, this sets a precedent for future cases since the courts have already found Toyota liable. Further, when there is a successful test case — especially if there is a large jury verdict — it can prompt the carmaker to be more generous in settling other cases. The initial test case, in other words, can create a precedent for what someone who was injured might receive in trial and it can make it easier to resolve other pending lawsuits without every case having to go to trial individually to make a determination on liability and damages.

Since the case did not go to trial, however, there is no test case at this time to set the precedent for what will occur in future lawsuits. Toyota may continue to chip away at the claims through settling, or a case may eventually make its way to court so the issues will be dealt with in the open by a jury.
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In December of 2012, the University of Michigan published an article about the changing demographics of drivers. By studying data from the Federal Highway Administration, a research professor at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute indicated that the number of women with driver’s licenses now exceeds the number of men with licenses.

This is a marked shift from the past that could have important implications on the types of cars that are purchased and on road safety.

Our Boston auto accident attorneys believe it is very important to understand the changing demographics of the driving population. In mid-December we considered data indicating that the population of drivers is aging. With this new Michigan study, it is important to consider what changes will occur now that female drivers outnumber men.

The Changing Demographics of Drivers
According to the University of Michigan, just under 50 percent of licensed drivers today are men and the remainder are women. The University of Michigan researcher examined demographic trends dating from 1963 to today, and back in 1963, men represented 60 percent of all drivers.

However, while the number of female drivers now exceeds the number of male drivers, men are currently still driving more than women. This means that men still currently account for more annual miles driven. In 1963, men accounted for 76 percent of vehicle miles driven but today they are responsible for 59 percent of miles traveled.

The University of Michigan research indicates that, with more licensed females and the demographic shift, these rates are declining. In other words, although men tend to drive more than women do, soon the balance in the number of miles driven may shift because the gap between male licensed driver’s and female licensed drivers is expected to widen. More females on the roads and fewer males with licenses will overcome the fact that men drive more, and women will soon account for more than 50 percent of all miles traveled.

As the Michigan study shows, over the past 15 years, the number of Americans getting drivers licenses is on the decline. However, the number of men getting licenses is decreasing at a greater margin than the number of women getting licenses. For example, when considering men between ages 25 and 29, the rate of licensed drivers has gone down by 10.6 percent. For women of the same age group, the number of licensed drivers has declined by 4.7 percent. This is a significant difference.

If trends continue, and it is expected they will, then the bulk of the miles driven will soon be driven by female drivers.

As researchers indicate, the gender trends in drivers licensing are likely to have an impact both on the type of vehicles that people are driving as well as on the safety of the roads. The shift will be driven by the fact that women usually purchase safer and smaller cars then men. Furthermore, as the University of Michigan survey points out, women tend to have a lower rate of fatalities per miles driven.

Back in 2007, MSNBC also reported that there is a significant difference in safety when comparing male drivers and female drivers. MSNBC described the results of a Carnegie Mellon University analysis of U.S. roadways. The study revealed that men are 77 percent more likely to die in a car crash then women based on the number of miles driven.

If a shift in demographics does indeed reduce car accidents, hopefully there will be fewer deaths of both men and women due to Boston car accidents.
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Insurance companies are in business to do one thing: make money. This means that when someone gets into a car crash, the insurance company isn’t focused on making sure that the injured victim gets the money he or she needs to pay medical costs, to get better and to move on with life. Instead, insurance companies try all kinds of tactics to get people to settle for less or to take less than what their claim is worth.

Our Boston auto accident attorneys know that insurance companies aren’t always honest in negotiating with their insured in auto accident cases. In January, however, the courts made that fact even more clear when they ordered MetLife to pay at least $50,000 in penalties and to refund customers an undetermined amount of money in order to settle allegations that they improperly charged a surcharge on customers in some accident cases. The settlement was reported in the Boston Globe.

The MetLife Surcharge
When someone is at fault for causing an accident, the insurance company can raise that person’s rates. However, insurance companies are supposed to raise people’s rates for making an accident claim only if the person was actually responsible for the crash or considered “at fault.”

Under Massachusetts’ law, a person who is charged a surcharge for being responsible for an accident has the right to appeal the decision of the insurance company to the Commonwealth. If the appeals board determines that the insured was not actually responsible for causing the accident, then the insurance company can no longer charge the surcharge and must return any penalty money that had been collected prior to the appeal.

Unfortunately, MetLife did not follow these rules and instead imposed costly surcharges on drivers even after the appeals board had determined those drivers weren’t responsible for the crashes they were involved in.

One MetLife customer complained, prompting an investigation by officials that led to the settlement in which MetLife agreed to pay $50,000 in penalties and refund customers their money. MetLife also agreed to an audit as part of the settlement in order to determine how many customers were affected by their bad business practices and how much each should be refunded.

According to the Boston Globe, the state attorney general has indicated that other insurance companies are now being investigated as well to determine if they too have violated the law. MetLife is the seventh largest provider of auto insurance in the state and many were impacted by the company’s dishonest behavior.

Protecting Yourself
As this most recent case shows, insured individuals cannot always trust their insurers to do what is right, fair or legally required. As such, it is important to be vigilant about protecting your rights after an auto accident. Keep all documentation and paperwork, check your insurance statements carefully and consult with a lawyer to handle any negotiations on your behalf with the insurer in order to make sure that your legal rights are respected.
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According to the National Highway Safety Council, more than 75,000 lives were saved between 2004 and 2008 as a result of drivers wearing their seat belts. However, despite the fact that wearing a seat belt makes sense, many people simply refrain from doing so and could be seriously injured as a result.

Because seat belts save lives, there are laws requiring seat belt use and many states have passed regulations allowing police to pull people over who aren’t wearing a seat belt. States have also tackled other dangerous driving behaviors and passed other regulations designed to improve safety, including laws on booster seats in cars for kids and laws on driving drunk.

The majority of traffic safety laws are passed on the state level, which means they differ from state to state. To see how states are doing in terms of passing safety laws, the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety have released an annual report every year for the last ten years. The report takes a look at where states stand on fifteen different laws related to highway safety. The 2013 report is out now, and our Boston car accident attorneys have taken a look at where Massachusetts stands.

Does Massachusetts Make the Grade?
Massachusetts is classified by the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety as a “yellow” state, which means they are doing pretty well as far as advancing highway safety laws but they still have some major gaps in safety regulations that need to be addressed.

The report also broke down where Massachusetts was lacking. According to the state’s report card on safety laws:

• Massachusetts has no primary enforcement seat belt law, although they should. A primary enforcement law on seat belt use lets police pull someone over just for not wearing a seat belt, instead of making this a secondary offense that you can only be pulled over and ticketed for if you’ve also done something else wrong.
• Massachusetts does have a law requiring all motorcycle riders to wear helmets and a law requiring booster seats for kids, both which the state gets full credit for.
• Massachusetts does OK, but not great, on teen driving rules. The lawmakers make teens wait until 16 to get a learner’s permit and 18 for a full license; they have a six month holding period for new teen drivers; and they require between 30 and 50 hours of supervised driving practice before granting a license. All of these are good things. Unfortunately, they have no restrictions on nighttime driving for teens nor do they restrict the number of passengers that can be in the car with a teen driver.
• Massachusetts also does fairly well on DUI laws. They have a child endangerment law, requiring mandatory BAC testing and have an open container law. However, they do not require that all offenders use an ignition interlock device.
• Massachusetts does have a ban on text messaging for all drivers, so they earn full credit on this law.

As the 2013 Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws shows, Massachusetts has many laws that provide protection for state drivers. However, there are a few areas where improvements could be made to make the roads just a little bit safer for everyone.
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Boston, like many other cities, has become increasingly hospitable to electric cars as a method of transportation. In fact, according to Boston.com, there are several public charging stations for electric cars outside City Hall and in nearby Coolidge Corner. These public charging stations reflect an increased trend towards green transportation solutions. Hybrid cars are, of course, growing in popularity in the city as well.

Although these cars may be doing a lot to help the environment and to fight dependence on fossil fuel, they are also creating one major unintentional problem: they are putting pedestrians at risk. New NHTSA standards, however, aim to curb the danger and our Boston pedestrian accident attorneys are firmly in support of the new standards.

New Rules for Hybrid and Electric Cars
So, how are pedestrians at greater risk from hybrid or electric cars? The problem is that the cars are simply too quiet without the standard gasoline engines that people have come to expect. People assume, from a lifetime of experience, that cars make noise. When hybrid cars and electric cars are traveling at 18 miles per hour or less, they cannot be heard.

When pedestrians don’t hear a car approaching, they don’t know not to step out into the street or off of the sidewalk. They don’t know that they need to get out of the way of oncoming traffic. They don’t know that they can’t cross the street. Without the sound of the engine, these pedestrians may think that the road is clear and that they are safe. Of course, pedestrians can still see the cars but by the time they see them, it might be too late for either the walker or the driver to respond in order to avert a crash.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), however, has a solution. It issued a proposal on Monday January 7, 2013 that is aimed to make pedestrians safer as they share the road with hybrids and that is expected to potentially result in up to 2,800 fewer pedestrian accident for each model year of hybrid vehicle that is available.

The solution from NHTSA was proposed as required by the bipartisan Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act, which was signed into law in 2010. The proposal is a simple one: make the cars noisier.

Because the hybrid and electric vehicles do not make enough noise themselves, manufacturers will now need to add noises that the car will emit if it is going below the 18 mile per hour threshold. Although manufacturers will have leeway about the kind of noise that their car is making, there are some guidelines to help ensure this idea works. For one thing, the sound has to be heard above ambient background noise. For another, car manufacturers have to choose the same sound for all cars of the same make and model.

Hopefully, by taking the simple step of adding sound to hybrid and electric vehicle engines, fewer injuries and deaths can occur in pedestrian crashes throughout Boston.
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When you are thinking about purchasing a new car or a used car, it is absolutely essential that you think about the safety features the car offers. Advancements in technology have allowed for cars to be safer than ever before, but you need to make sure you are selecting a vehicle that offers the best design and the best cutting-edge safety features available within your budget.

Our Boston car accident attorneys urge you to explore crash test information, safety data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and NHTSA vehicle safety data before you purchase your next car. By taking the time to do some research and find a vehicle that is highly-rated in terms of safety, you could potentially save your life or the life of passengers and family members if you are ever involved in an accident.

Finding Safety Information For Your Next Car
There are a number of good resources available on the Internet that can help you to learn more about the safety features and crash test reports for any vehicle that you are considering purchasing. For example, you can visit:

• The Vehicle Safety page on the website of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This site includes information on recalls and defects, on crash test procedures, on vehicle safety compliance and on rules for vehicle safety. This page is a good starting place to learn more about what you are looking for as you evaluate the safety records of vehicles you are thinking about buying.
• The Safer Car.gov website. This site allows you to check out vehicles that have received 5-Star safety ratings. You can access details on how cars fared in crash tests, on which cars are more prone to roll over and on the different safety features offered in different vehicles. There is a special section of the website specifically devoted to vehicle shoppers, which not only provides general information on safety ratings, air bags and rollovers but which also has special sections on tires, passenger van safety and child safety.
• The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety website. IIHS provides research and statistics, vehicle rating information and news for consumers. Recently, IIHS also released its Top Safety Picks on December 20, 2012. Thirteen vehicles were awarded the honor of Top Safety Pick+ and another 117 vehicles were simply dubbed Top Safety Picks. These accolades were awarded to vehicles that offered superior crash protections in different categories of tests including overlap frontal crash tests and all around crash tests. Simply using the IIHS list of Top Safety Picks is a good place to start your car shopping since you may wish to buy either a new car or a used car that has made this list.

All of these resources are available to you in order to help you to select the safest car possible. By taking the time to review top safety picks, crash test data, recall data and other news about the car industry, you can make an informed choice and end up with a car that has the features you are looking for and the protection you deserve.
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Snowplows have a very important job during winter, clearing snow from streets and de-icing the roadways. Plows typically travel at an average speed between 25 and 30 miles per hour and travel on all roads including highways and smaller local roads to clear the street.

If you are driving on the road with a plow, you may be tempted to follow closely behind it or even to pass it — especially if you are trapped behind it and frustrated with its slow speed. Unfortunately, doing these things can be dangerous and our Watertown car accident attorneys caution that a part of driving safely in the winter time is making sure you never crowd the plow.

Tips for Driving Safely with a Snow Plow
Snowplows have large blind spots, so following too closely behind the plow or crowding the plow can put you in very serious danger. Plows may also have to stop suddenly or even back up, which exacerbates the risk of tailgating. As many as 30 percent of accidents related to snow plows can occur when people follow too closely behind and this is a risk you don’t want to take.

In addition to leaving snowplow operators plenty of room to do their jobs without you getting in their way, there are also a few other things that you can do in order to stay safe if you are sharing the road with a snowplow. For example, some tips include the following:

• Be aware of plows on interstate ramps or using authorized vehicle turn-around areas on highways. Plows may come from places you do not expect and it is important to pay attention and always be alert and aware of your surroundings so you do not accidentally become involved in a crash with a plow.
• Know what lane the plow is in on multi-lane highways. Snowplows could be in any lane or even driving along the shoulder of the road. It is important to know where they are so you can maintain a safe distance and avoid getting into the plow’s blind spot.
• Don’t pass a plow and especially do not pass on the shoulder of the road. Passing a plow in any situation will put you in front of the path of the cleared snow and de-iced roads. Depending on road conditions, it may be safer to follow the plow making the roads safe than to try to tackle driving on un-cleared roads. Passing on the shoulder is the most dangerous of all, however, because plows move snow over to the road shoulder.
• Don’t drive through snow clouds or through white-outs. It can be difficult or impossible to tell sometimes if the low visibility in a cloud or white-out is caused by a cross wind or is caused by the plow. Either way, driving through a snow cloud puts you at serious risk of a crash due to your impaired ability to see the road or other cars on it.

These are just a few of many tips for driving safely when you are sharing a road with a snowplow. Above all else, remember that you should never crowd the plow.
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When the air temperature is warmer than the pavement, moisture in the air or from precipitation can freeze rapidly on the road. As a result of the rapid freezing, a very thin layer of ice can form. This thin layer of ice is normally transparent, meaning all you see is black like the pavement below.

Black ice.

Black ice is extremely dangerous because of the fact that you don’t see it and you don’t know it is there. Since it catches you off guard, you don’t have time to slow down, practice defensive driving or employ safe driving techniques for getting over an ice patch. You simply encounter the ice and have to react. Our Boston injury attorneys want to help make sure you react in a way that helps you avoid an accident. As such, we’ve provided some tips for staying safe if you encounter a patch of black ice.

Tips for Safe Driving on Black Ice
The single most important tip that will keep you safe when it comes to driving on black ice is to be aware of when it is most likely to form. Keeping up with weather alerts is a simple and easy way to stay aware of when black ice is on the roads. On January 8 2013, for example, CBS Boston warned that falling temperatures overnight would result in black ice in the morning. These types of warnings are issued commonly during the Boston winters and by simply watching the weather report, you’ll learn when there is a danger of black ice.

When you know in advance that black ice is on the road, you can be vigilant in watching for signs of slippery asphalt. You can also slow your speed to account for the more dangerous road conditions.

Outside of staying aware of when black ice is likely to be on the roads, there are also some other key driving tips for avoiding an accident on black ice. Some tips for driving safely on black ice include:

• Braking only as you approach the black ice and never braking while driving on the ice. Putting pressure on the brakes can cause your car to skid.
• Maintaining a safe following distance. It can take you twice as long to stop on ice as it does on dry pavement. As such, you should try to keep at least three car lengths in between you and the car in front of you so you can leave yourself ample time to stop.
• Taking your foot off of the gas pedal when your car starts to slide. You don’t want to provide more gas when your car is sliding on its own momentum.
• Staying calm. Panicking is the worst thing you can do as this can lead to you trying to slam on the brakes, wildly turn the steering wheel or otherwise doing things that increase your chance of getting into a crash.

By following these tips and by being aware of when you are likely to encounter black ice, hopefully you can stay safe during the Boston Winter driving season.
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Drowsy driving is a major public health issue and a top cause of car accident deaths. In 2009, for example, 730 people died in just one year as a result of car accidents related to driver fatigue. And that includes only those accidents in which fatigue was reported as a contributing cause; the true number is likely much higher.

Unfortunately, newly released data and information indicate that the dangers of drowsy driving may be getting worse as more people suffer from sleep disorders and conditions that could increase the likelihood of falling asleep at the wheel.

Our Boston accident attorneys urge you to take a look at some recently published information about drowsy driving and about the number of people in the U.S. seeking assistance for sleep problems. Drivers who consider this newly released information can be more informed about the dangers of drowsy driving and can hopefully stay safer on the roads because they are aware of the risks of fatigued drivers.

New Data on Drowsy Driving
Both the New York Times and Money News recently published recent articles highlighting the risks.

According to a December 2012 Money News article:

• Estimates indicate that there may be 70 million people in the U.S. facing sleep problems that cause interruptions in sleep cycles or that make sleeping through the night impossible.
• There are record numbers of people seeking assistance for sleep problems. There is so much demand for help with sleep issues that the American Academy of Sleep Medicine has just accredited its 2,500th sleep center. The number of centers has doubled in the past decade and there are now more accredited centers operating than at any time since accreditation began in 1977.
• As many as one out of every five auto crashes in the U.S. can be attributed to a sleepy or fatigued driver.

While the new data published in Money News focused primarily on people getting help for sleep disorders, it demonstrates how widespread the problem of drowsy driving is and it also indicates that this problem might be growing worse as more people seem to face sleep challenges nowadays.

The New York Times tells a similar story on the dangers of drowsy driving. The Times published information from a recent survey of 147,000 adults conducted by the Centers for Disease Control. According to the information garnered from the survey’s detailed questionnaire:

• 1.7 percent of elderly drivers (drivers 65 and up) reported falling asleep at the same time as driving in the month prior to answering the survey questions.
• More than 5 percent of drivers in the 18-44 age group answered yes to the same question. They had fallen asleep at least one time in the prior 30 days.
• In total, 4.2 percent of all of the adults surveyed admitted to sleeping at the wheel in the 30 days before they answered the survey.
• Men were more likely than women to be engaged in driving when they were too tired to do so safely.

As both the new information from Money News and the new information from the New York Times show, there are millions of people out on the roads who are driving fatigued and who may be falling asleep at the wheel. Every driver should make a commitment not to be one of those people and every driver needs to look out for drowsy drivers in order to stay safe.
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According to Boston.com, the Callahan Tunnel was shut down on December 23 so that the 2,800 wall panels in the tunnel could be inspected. The shut-down was necessary after one of the wall panels in the tunnel fell into the roadway on the prior Friday night, tying up traffic for several hours. An administrator employed by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation indicated that the plan was to physically yank on each of the wall panels.

Our Boston car accident attorneys are concerned that more incidents like the falling wall panel may be likely in upcoming years as the infrastructure within the city ages. In this case, the problem in the tunnel only tied up traffic, but future incidents could be much worse if tunnels, bridges or roads fail in a way that causes a car wreck.

Aging Infrastructure Increases Auto Accident Risk
The Callahan Tunnel was constructed during the 1950s, as were many roads, bridges and tunnels in Boston and throughout the United State. The tunnel is scheduled to be refurbished in 2014 at a cost of approximately $10 to $12 million. Other similar projects are also necessary or scheduled as Massachusetts and other states work towards refurbishing and rebuilding old and aging infrastructure.

The recent incident with the falling panels illustrates just how necessary revitalization is. The panels weigh approximately 100 pounds each and are 4 feet by 9 feet. They were installed in 1990 and are inspected approximately once every three months. Unfortunately, the metal fasteners on some of the panels are rotting and it was likely this rotting that led to the panel falling in December. After the panel fell, one adjacent panel was left hanging by a single fastener and was removed, as were two other nearby panels as a precaution.

The panel did not hit any cars or injure anyone, but there was the potential that it could have. A falling panel could also be a distraction to drivers and increase the risk of an auto accident occurring.

Who is Responsible When An Accident Happens?
If an accident happens as a result of improperly maintained bridges, tunnels or roadways that are aging, those involved in the accident may be able to take legal action against the entity responsible for maintenance. Unfortunately, in many cases, this is a government agency.

Government agencies can be sued and made to pay damages, but they enjoy limited governmental immunity protections. This means that it is harder to bring a claim against the government than it would be against a private property owner that failed to maintain his or her property and that put others at risk.

Those who suffer an injury as a result of aging bridges, tunnels, roads or other infrastructure that becomes dangerous will, therefore, have an uphill battle on their hands to take legal action. Still, it is possible to collect compensation for damages including medical costs, lost wages and non-economic loss such as pain and suffering and emotional distress. You will need to work with an attorney who has experience representing clients in claims against the government for poor road, bridge, tunnel or infrastructure maintenance.
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