Articles Posted in Car Accidents

According to Boston.com, a recent five-car accident in Springfield was attributed to fog. The accident occurred on St. James Avenue at around 9:00 PM on a Saturday evening in early December and resulted in three people being sent to the hospital. The accident was a serious one and first responders had to pry open the door of one of the cars using a mechanical device in order to remove one of the accident victims. In all, three people involved in the crash went to the hospital. No charges have been filed, and law enforcement indicated that fog was the cause of the five car pileup.

Our Watertown car accident attorneys are glad everyone involved in the crash survived the pileup. We know that fog can be an extremely dangerous condition that can lead to serious or even fatal auto accidents and we urge every driver to exercise extreme caution when driving under foggy conditions.

Driving in Fog
Fog typically occurs when a warm, humid mass of air meets a colder mass of air. When this occurs, water vapor in the air mass condenses too quickly and fog can form as a result. Fog can also occur when warm air is pushed by the wind across colder air, condensing into fog. In both cases, the actual fog is made up of tiny water droplets that form when evaporated water (dew or water in the humid air) meets the cold air and is cooled down. Fog, therefore, is essentially a cloud that forms but at ground level.

When fog forms, it can reduce the level of visibility on the roads significantly. In some cases, fog can reduce the visibility level to zero while in other cases, it can simply make it harder to see. Whenever there is fog, drivers need to exercise great caution to avoid an accident.

Tips for Safe Driving in Fog
The Weather Channel provides a number of helpful tips for how to drive safely in fog. These tips include:

• Driving using your lights on low beam. High beams make it harder to see by reflecting back off of the fog in the air.
• Reducing your speed. Driving slowly (sometimes slower than posted limits) is key when it is foggy. It is also important to watch your speedometer since the fog may give you the illusion that you are driving slowly even when you are going fast.
• Listening for traffic. If you open your windows and listen for cars, you may be able to identify traffic even if you can’t see it.
• Using your windshield wipers to increase visibility. Defrosters can also help make it easier to see.
• Watching painted road markings and the right edge of the road. These markings can serve as a guide to help you stay in your lane.
• Refraining from passing. Driving slowly and using extra caution is key when it is foggy.
• Refraining from stopping on heavily trafficked roads. Other drivers might be unable to see your vehicle as a result of the fog.

By following these tips, hopefully you can stay safe from fog accidents and avoid potentially injuring yourself or others.
Continue reading

For many teenage drivers in Boston, this winter will be the first winter season that they have their driver’s licenses. Other teens may have some winter driving experience but may not yet be fully comfortable on the roads during bad winter weather. In any case, if your teen is driving and is going to be spending time behind the wheel during the winter weather months, it is more important than ever to talk to your teens about safe driving.

Our Watertown car accident attorneys know that teens are always in danger of becoming involved in a fatal car wreck, no matter what month of the year it is. However, we urge parents to make a resolution this New Years to make now the time to talk to their kids about how to be better drivers. Not only can you prepare your kids to drive safely through the winter season, but you can also set them on the right foot for a lifetime of safer and more responsible driving.

Why Talk To Your Teens About Safe Driving
There are many reasons that now is the time to talk to your kids about driver safety. Some of the key reasons include the following:

• Car accident deaths are the number one cause of death for teenage drivers according to the Centers for Disease Control.
• Teens are prone to driving distracted, which can be deadly. According to Distraction.gov, 11 percent of teens in fatal car accidents were distracted at the time. A University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute study reported by The Car Connection also showed 26 percent of young teen drivers texted every time they drove.
• Teens are prone to drowsy driving, which can also be dangerous or deadly. An AAA study reported in Auto Blog showed they were more likely to drive drowsy than the general population and less likely to stop and rest when they realized they were tired.
• Driving with friends is especially dangerous for teens. The University of Michigan study showed that teens driving with two or three passengers and no adults in the car were twice as likely to die in an auto accident

.

Teens may also be ill-equipped for driving safely in the winter. Many younger drivers don’t know how to deal with snow or ice and aren’t sure to respond if their car skids or gets stuck in the snow. The standard car accident dangers that plague teens can, therefore, be exacerbated when the driving gets more dangerous in the winter months.

How to Help Your Kids Be Safer Drivers
If you want to help your children to become a safer driver both over this upcoming winter and beyond, there are a few key things to do:

• Set driving rules for your child, including rules about texting and rules about having passengers in the car.
• Supervise your child’s driving behavior.
• Discuss the dangers of teen car accidents with your teens, including the statistics on drowsy, drunk and distracted driving deaths.
• Practice safe winter driving with your teen and discuss how to respond in a skid or when there is ice on the road.
• Set a good example when you drive with your child.

By following these tips and talking with your teen this winter about safe driving, you may be able to help avoid a crash that could injure your child, his or her passengers, or other innocent victims on the roads.
Continue reading

In December of 2012, Boston.com reported that a fund had been set up to help a Lexington family that was involved in a single car crash. The crash involved a couple and their two children and the fund has been set up to help the family pay for transportation, travel and non-reimbursable medical expenses.

The story of the crash and the subsequent fundraising efforts is an important reminder that single vehicle accidents can be very expensive. Our Foxboro car accident attorneys urge drivers to ensure they have sufficient insurance to protect themselves in the event that they are involved in a single vehicle crash. We also urge drivers involved in single vehicle accidents to understand that there may be situations where a third party can be held responsible for the cost of resulting injuries.

Single Vehicle Crashes Can Lead to Expensive Injuries
Single vehicle crashes involve car accidents where only one car is involved. These crashes may occur for any number of reasons. A car may veer off the road, for example, due to ice or snow. A car may become involved in a single vehicle crash due to a defect in the vehicle or as a result of a pothole or road debris. Collisions with animals, especially deer, are also very common single vehicle accidents.

When a single vehicle crash occurs, the injuries can be just as serious as the injuries resulting from a multi-car wreck. In the accident reported on Boston.com, for example, the man involved in the crash suffered two broken legs and a crushed hand, making it impossible for him to work for at least three months. The couple’s 15-month-old baby involved in the crash also suffered serious injuries, including spinal and neck injuries. These injuries can be very costly to treat, especially at a time when the adults in the family are unable to work. Unfortunately, after a single vehicle crash, there is no other driver to take legal action against to get damages and get the bills paid.

How to Protect Yourself
The best way to protect yourself against the costs associated with a single vehicle crash is to make sure you have adequate auto insurance. This includes buying insurance coverage that provides you with payment for medical bills and care.

Massachusetts is a no-fault insurance state, so personal injury protection (PIP) insurance is required. This means you should have at least some coverage for injuries and partial lost wages. However, buying more than the minimum in coverage may be advisable so you do not end up facing financial struggles if a single vehicle wreck occurs.

After a single vehicle wreck, you may also wish to explore the possibility that someone else may have been at fault, either wholly or partially, for the crash. Sometimes this isn’t the case, such as in situations where you hit an animal or simply veered off course. In other instances, however, there may be a third party who is to blame. For example, in a single vehicle crash:

• The accident may have been caused by a defect in the car and the car manufacturer could be held responsible.
• The accident may have been caused by poorly maintained roads and the entity responsible for road maintenance could be held responsible.

If a third party was at fault for the accident, it may be possible to file a lawsuit to make that third party pay for the costs of your medical care, lost wages, pain and suffering, emotional distress and other damages arising from the single vehicle wreck.
Continue reading

America’s population is aging. In fact, as the baby boomers grow older and enter into retirement, some are saying that a “silver tsunami” is coming. This phrase refers to the fact that the elderly will make up a much larger portion of the population in coming years, creating a host of complications with Medicare, social security and other programs for the elderly.

Some are also concerned that the increasingly elderly population will create a greater risk of auto accidents. Our Watertown car accident attorneys believe that elderly drivers can be a risk if they do not stop driving when they are no longer capable of doing so safely. However, data shows that the aging population will not, on the whole, create a greater accident risk.

Elderly Drivers and the Dangers of Auto Accidents
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, drivers in the 65+ age group are soon going to make up a huge portion of the driving population. When assessing the driving population, all those over age 15 who are potentially eligible to drive are considered.

All of the potentially eligible drivers are divided into age groups that span five years. For example, an assessment is made to determine the number of drivers ages 15-19, as well as how many drivers there are between the ages of 20-24, 25-29 and so on. IIHS reports that the number of potentially eligible drivers in each five year group is going down, except in the age groups over 65. This means that there will be fewer 20-24 year old drivers, fewer 25-29 year old drivers, and fewer drivers in all of the other age groups except for those involving drivers over age 65.

The larger portion of elderly drivers on the roads could be cause for concern because older drivers tend to have a higher fatality rate per miles driven than younger drivers. According to IISH, the age group with the largest number of accident insurance claims per miles driven are drivers ages 15-19. The number of accidents in each age group then begins to decline, until the drivers reach age 70 at which point the number of accident claims start to go up again. This means that those ages 70 and older are more likely than anyone else, other than teen drivers, to get into accidents.

Despite this bad news, IIHS indicates that the increase in elderly drivers is not likely to create an increase in the number of accidents that occur. In fact, while the number of accident claims per hundred miles is expected to increase from 6.12 claims for each hundred insured cars to 6.16 claims for each 100 insured cars, this slight increase in claims isn’t due to elderly drivers. It is instead due to the fact that there will be more total drivers.

The elderly may not present as great an accident risk as feared because the accident rate for elderly drivers has been steadily on the decline between 1997 and 2008. The fatal accident rate in older drivers has declined 30 percent during this time.

Of course, individual elderly drivers could still be a risk to themselves or others if they are no longer able to drive safely but continue to drive anyway. Drivers, therefore, need to evaluate their skills as they age to determine if they are still able to drive. Family members also need to take responsibility for the older relatives in their lives and to monitor the seniors to determine if they have become a hazard on the roads.
Continue reading

The number of pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists being killed on our roadways is on the rise, yet officials are seemingly pushing this information to the side to focus on the overall reduction in fatal crashes nationwide.

According to the most recent release from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the overall number of car accidents in the U.S. was down about 2 percent last year. Sounds like good news, but not when you dig deeper into the information.

Our Boston accident lawyers understand that many residents and visitors in the area are bicyclists or pedestrians. We need cooperation from everyone, including drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists, to help to bring these numbers down. Pay more attention out there and be more considerate. These steps are easy and they’re effective. We also need to call on transportation and city officials, too. We need more programs to promote safe travel throughout the area.

“The latest numbers show how the tireless work of our safety agencies and partners, coupled with significant advances in technology and continued public education, can really make a difference on our roadways,” said U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

Transportation officials may be focusing on safety campaigns, but if they’re not targeting our problem areas then they are virtually pointless. We need to focus more time and energy in helping our most vulnerable travelers.

Do we know why there’s been an increase among these individuals throughout our county? Officials have an idea. Many say that is was the conditions of our economy in 2011. With the economy struggling and gas prices rising, we had more Americans trying to find a more cost effective way to get around. That’s where the bikes, the walking and the public transportation comes in.

In the state of Massachusetts, we saw 337 people die in traffic accidents in 2011. That’s only 10 less than the year before. Clearly, we have a ways to go.

Overall, there were more than 32.365 people killed in traffic accidents across the U.S. last year. This was the lowest number recorded since 1949. In addition to these deaths, we also saw more than 385,000 people injured in traffic accidents.

It’s important that we continue on in the fight to reduce accident risks. This isn’t a job for just one person or one organization. We need help from everyone to get the job done. Drive safely out there to protect yourself, and to help to keep other travelers safe, too!
Continue reading

This holiday season, drivers in six New England states will be seeing more police on the road. The increased law enforcement presence is part of an effort to help prevent fatal accidents over the holidays. Each year, the number of car accident fatalities rises between Thanksgiving and New Years, and the state police throughout New England hope to prevent this increase for the 2012 season by educating the public and stepping up enforcement.

There are three specific behaviors that police hope to curb this holiday season: distracted driving, drunk driving and aggressive driving. Our Boston car accident attorneys also believe that these driving behaviors are extremely dangerous and will be providing tips and information on the risks as part of our holiday safe driving series. Today, we want to remind our readers of the dangers of distracted driving.

The Dangers of Distracted Driving
The dangers of distracted driving have been well established. In fact, in a recent article in The Herald News, summarized some relevant information on distracted driving in Massachusetts and throughout the U.S.

According to the Herald News article, the U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood referred to distracted driving as an epidemic in America. This is a dangerous trend since distracted driving may cause just as many accidents as drunk driving. In 2010 alone, Distraction.gov reported 3,092 deaths as a result of distracted driving. Further, distracted driving may have been a contributing cause of as many as 18 percent of all crashes in the U.S. that caused injuries.

Distracted driving encompasses many different behaviors. These behaviors include:

• Talking on a cell phone or texting. Texting and driving is illegal in Massachusetts, but drivers unfortunately do it anyway.
• Talking to passengers in the car.
• Reading a map.
• Entering addresses or other info into a GPS.
• Using in-car controls like controlling the heat system or the radio or MP3 player.
• Grooming, including brushing your hair or putting on lipstick.

During the holiday season, people may be even more likely to engage in these dangerous behaviors. You may get focused on conversations in the car with family members you haven’t seen in a while, or you may be putting makeup on before arriving at a holiday party, for example, and a fatal crash could occur in an instant.

Avoiding Distracted Driving Dangers
The dangers of distracted driving are clear, and yet drivers continue to focus on things other than their driving when they are behind the wheel. In fact, a full 40 percent of all U.S. teens report that they’ve been in the car with a driver who was doing something dangerous with his or her cell phone at the time. This behavior needs to be stopped in order to keep people safe, and these tips can help you to avoid a distracted driving accident this holiday season:

• Never text when driving, and if you are in the car with others, ask them not to text as well. If you have children who drive, make clear that texting and driving is absolutely forbidden. The risk of a crash when texting is 23 times the risk when driving with no distractions.
• Turn off your cell phone or turn it to silent when driving so you aren’t tempted to pick up calls. If you must use your cell phone, use a hands free device- but remember that driving while on a phone can reduce brain activity associated with driving by as much as 37%, even if using a hands-free device.
• Enter directions into your GPS before you start driving.
• Wait to adjust the radio and other in-car controls until you are at a red light.

The bottom line is, you should focus only on driving when you are driving. If a driver is distracted, serious injury can result not only to the driver but to others on the roads as well. Finally, remember that a distracted driver can also be held legally liable for any injury he causes and the risk of this liability is yet another important reason why you should never drive distracted.
Continue reading

This November, police across six New England states have joined forces to try to reduce the increased risk of traffic accidents and fatalities that occurs every holiday season. CBS reported that the police will be focused on three top factors that play a role in causing the spike in accidents over the holidays: aggressive driving, distracted driving and drunk driving.

Our Boston car accident attorneys will also be focusing on each of these behaviors as part of our holiday safe driving series. Aggressive driving, the first of these behaviors, is especially dangerous — and easily preventable. To help you stay safe this holiday season, consider these aggressive driving statistics as well as some tips for avoiding aggressive driving.

The Dangers of Aggressive Driving

Aggressive driving includes a set of behaviors that drivers exhibit when behind the wheel. Aggressive driving can include:

• Speeding
• Tailgating
• Dangerous passing
• Failure to yield
• Engaging in a threatening, antagonistic or challenging way with other drivers

Each of these behaviors is dangerous and the risks of aggressive driving are very real. A quick look at some statistics from The National Safety Council (NSC), for example, shows just how dangerous aggressive driving can be. According to NSC:

• Speeding contributes to around 1 of every 3 fatal crashes.
• Speeding is the third leading factor that contributes to crashes.
• 13,000 lives are lost each year as a result of speeding
• Speeding-related crashes cost $40 billion each year. For every minute that a driver gains by speeding, society spends $76,000.
• Speeding contributed to 27 percent of the total number of fatal crashes in construction zones in 2005.

Other aggressive driving behaviors are just as dangerous as speeding. In fact, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety statistics show that approximately 56% of all deadly wrecks in the U.S. occur due to aggressive driving behaviors.

Avoiding Aggressive Driving
The serious threat presented by aggressive driving is clear from the stats on fatal crashes. With more than 50 percent of all accidents in the U.S. potentially caused by bad driver behavior, aggressive driving is clearly too big of a risk to take. This holiday season, the risk will include not only the threat of an accident but also the risk of a ticket. Troopers will maintain a heavy presence on the highways this holiday season as part of their efforts to reduce highway fatalities and will be pulling over aggressive drivers who break state laws.

To avoid a ticket and to help you stay safe this holiday season, consider these tips for avoiding aggressive driving:

• Always leave for your destination with time to spare. If you aren’t worried about running late, you won’t have to speed.
• Adjust your driving to account for weather and road conditions. Speeding accidents don’t just occur when you go over the posted limit but can also occur if you go too fast to drive safely under current road conditions.
• Leave at least 3-4 seconds of space between you and the car in front of you. You can judge how much stopping space you have by watching the car in front drive past a fixed point and then counting the number of seconds until you drive past it too.

Finally, remember to always keep calm when driving and to follow driving safety rules. By behaving safely and respecting other drivers on the road, you can hopefully avoid a car crash that would ruin your holiday season.
Continue reading

On November 17, CBS Boston reported that police throughout New England are joining forces in an effort to help prevent auto accident deaths and fatalities during the holiday season.

The number of driving-related fatalities rises each year during the period from Thanksgiving Day to New Years Day and six states throughout New England have announced plans to team up this year and hopefully reduce the risks for everyone.

Our Boston auto accident lawyers applaud the combined efforts of the New England State Police, who held a scheduled news conference on Monday to emphasize their traffic safety efforts this holiday season. Police will be focusing on three main behaviors that they’ve identified as causes of holiday traffic fatalities. Our Boston car accident lawyers will also be discussing each of these main causes of holiday accents on our blog during our holiday safe driving series over the next few days.

The Dangers of Driving Over the Holiday Season
According to Boston.com, a big spike in highway fatalities occurs from Thanksgiving to New Years each year. The increase in accidents may be attributed to spontaneous holiday parties, as well as travelers speeding as they drive throughout the state.

Law enforcement has identified three top factors they believe help contribute to the increase in fatalities over the holiday season. Together, the police forces from Massachusetts, New Hampshire and the four remaining New England states will be conducting a campaign this holiday season to educate people about the dangers and to hopefully discourage risky behavior. Their campaign to reduce fatalities and improve holiday traffic safety is focused on:

1. Aggressive driving
2. Distracted driving
3. Driving while impaired

These behaviors can significantly increase the risk of a fatal accident, especially when combined with dangerous winter weather conditions. Preventing these behaviors is key to increasing safety and state police hope that by combining their efforts and working to educate the public, they’ll be able to discourage drivers from taking these risks behind the wheel.

Preventing Auto Accidents This Holiday Season

According to Boston.com, the New Hampshire State Police Captain has assured the public that state troopers who are joining forces this holiday season are not just aiming to write a bunch of tickets to holiday travelers. While police will be stationed at regular intervals on highways and will be enforcing speed limits, DUI and driving safety laws, the aim is to make people stop and think about their behavior. The hope is that through education and enforcement, police will be able to encourage motorists to change their attitudes towards holiday driving, and the presence of the police will be a reminder to obey driving laws and to be more careful when traveling.

With officers located every few miles on state highways, drivers may be deterred from driving too fast or behaving in a dangerous way, if for no other reason than to avoid tickets. Digital signs along the highway will also remind drivers of the dangers of risky driving behaviors and will list updated fatality accounts as a further warning to drivers of the dangers. Hopefully, these efforts will help to prevent fatalities and serious injuries during this holiday season.
Continue reading

According to a recent analysis, the state’s highway system has a $250 million operation shortfall for next year. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is also facing a near $150 million shortfall, according to the Boston Globe.

The Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University conducted the analysis. And this analysis doesn’t even include money for repair or replacement needs to improve any transportation methods. What was analyzed were the costs for running the system. And without a well-funded, well-run system, we can all expected fare hikes, tax increases and even some serious cuts in the near future. Our Quincy personal injury attorneys understand that these funds are critical in helping to keep our roadways and public transportation safe. Cost cutting too often increases the risk of serious or fatal accidents.

The recent analysis was conducted to help to get a handle on the state of transportation in Massachusetts. It took a closer look at the financial state of out transportation system and rated it based on regional equity, infrastructure health and accessibility. The results aren’t too promising. With the transportation department in the hole, it’s our roads and our safety that are going to be compromised.

More than 25,000 of the close to 43,000 people who were killed on U.S. roadways in 2003 were killed when their vehicles left their lane and crashed. Sometimes, these accidents involve cars crossing over the center line. Other times, they involve vehicles crossing over onto the shoulder and flipping, dropping down a slope of even colliding with other objects on the side of the road. Many times, these kinds of accidents are the result of poor road design and poor road maintenance. These “dangerous roads” are increasingly an issue as our transportation infrastructure continues to age.

Hazardous highways are one of the leading causes of auto accidents, leading to injuries and fatalities on the road.

Dangerous Roads:

-Poor Maintenance.

-Failing to Make Shoulders Clearly Visible.

-Dangerous Drop-Offs.

-Obstruction in Visibility.

-Improper Construction.

-Faulty Design.

-Poorly Placed Roadway Signage.

-Defective, or Completely Missing Guardrails.

-Improper Draingage to Keep Water Off of the Roadway.

-Inadequate Skid Resistance on Pavement.

-Faulty Adaptation to Changing Conditions.

About 20 percent of all accidents involve a single car veering off of the road. In many of these cases, these vehicles will rollover or will slam into a fixed object. In these cases, government officials are likely to argue that it was your fault — driver error. The truth of the matter is that it could be the road’s fault, or the design (or lack thereof) that’s to blame.

Contacting an experienced attorney may be one of the only way that you can prove your case. An attorney can help you to get to the bottom of roadway conditions and accident factors before it’s too late.
Continue reading

On Route 128, between Westwood and Randolph, construction crews have started to open a fourth lane.

Motorists will finally have the fallback option of a breakdown lane as that was open and used for rush-hour traffic while construction was underway. It was all a part of a more than $53 million project to widen the roadway, according to the Patriot Ledger.

“The active breakdown lane is not designed to be used as an express lane or high speed passing lane… use extreme caution and drive below the posted speed limit, especially at on and off ramps, where traffic is entering and exiting from this lane,” said the Massachusetts State Police in a flyer explaining the rules of the breakdown lane.

Our Westwood accident lawyers understand how important the breakdown lane is for motorists. We also realize that it can be one of the most dangerous places to be. While this additional lane offers a “safe” place for motorists to go in the event of a breakdown, it also sets them up as a target for irresponsible drivers. Throughout the country, victims of breakdowns are being hit, injured and killed in these lanes. With the busy holiday season approaching, there’s going to be a heck of a lot more traffic out there and your risks for an accident are going to skyrocket. That’s why we’re here to offer you some important safety tips to help keep you safe should you find yourself in a breakdown situation.

If you ever find yourself in a breakdown situation and you’re stranded along our roadways, consider the following tips from officials with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Breakdown Safety:

-Make sure you take all of the appropriate actions to avoid a breakdown. If you start to feel something wrong with your vehicle, check it before you head out.

-Pull as far over to the side of the road as you can. Get away from moving traffic.

-If you need help, turn on your flashing hazard lights and call for roadside help or call 9-1-1.

-Raise your vehicle’s hood. It’s the international distress sign for “help.”

-If you have to get out of your vehicle, make sure you exit on the side that’s not facing traffic.

-Be careful when using flares.

-Keep moving if you can. On the side of the road, and even in a breakdown lane, is one of the most dangerous places you can be. If it’s just a flat tire or something you can drive through — do it and get somewhere safe!

-Protect yourself and get out of your vehicle and behind a guardrail or something protective if you can!

-Don’t attempt to cross a high-speed road on foot. Sit tight!

-Use common sense. There are a number of circumstances that may require different reactions. Survey the area and use good judgment.
Continue reading