Articles Posted in Car Accidents

It’s National Youth Traffic Safety Month and the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) recently announced that four of its members will received grant funding from Ford Driving Skills For Life (Ford DSFL) totaling $80,000. The grant comes in support of a teen driving program developed collaboratively by Ford Motor Company Fund and GHSA.

Highway safety agencies in each of the winning states, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri and New York, are being awarded $20,000. These states will use the funds to administer teen driving initiatives incorporating the Ford DSFL program.

Our Boston car accident lawyers understand that these programs are beneficial to the safety of our roadways and would like to congratulate our very own Highway Safety Division.

GHSA invited its members to apply for the grants earlier this year. The applications were judged by a panel, of GHSA and Ford representatives, and selected winners. The winners will be using the grants to help educate drivers and to help reduce risks of car accidents in Boston and their own states.

Massachusetts plans to put the funds to good use. The state’s Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, Highway Safety Division will be hosting an event, which expects nearly 300 attendees, that will offer elements mirroring Ford DSFL. Massachusetts will partner with a driving school to offer activities to young drivers and their parents. These activities will include crash prevention training, driving simulators and stations featuring new driving technology.

Since the programs beginning, in 2003, Ford DSFL has partnered with roughly 40 GHSA members on various teen driving programs and activities to help educate our younger drivers.

“With state budgets continuing to be very tight, this private sector support is absolutely critical. Ford has stepped in and helped states educate teen drivers in an innovative manner,” says to GHSA Executive Director Barbara Harsha.

In 2008, there were more than 208 million licensed drivers in the United States in 2008, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Drivers between the ages of 15 and 20-years-old made up more than 6 percent, more than 13 million, of the total number of U.S. drivers. Nearly 2,500 of these young drivers were killed in 2009, which illustrates a 15 percent decrease the previous year. In addition, there were nearly 200,000 young drivers injured in motor vehicle accidents in the same year, also a 14 percent decrease from the year before. In Massachusetts, nearly 50 young people were killed because of motor vehicle accidents in 2009.
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Spring is an exciting time for teens and young drivers, with prom and graduation right around the corner. Young drivers are more at risk of a Masscachusetts car accident this time of year given the temptation to drink and drive while attending these kinds of events at the end of the school year.

Our Boston personal injury lawyers know that peer pressure can be a beast to contest at this age. But giving in to a dangerous situation puts your life at risk as well as other motorists who share the road.

We are reminded of the dangers of drinking and driving in a recent article by the Boston Herald which reported the story of a 21-year-old whose life will be changed forever. The alleged drunk driver had a car full of passengers when he lost control of his vehicle coming home from a house party recently. He was allegedly speeding when his vehicle crashed into concrete barriers on McGrath Highway.

One 16-year-old female passenger died at the scene. Another 17-year-old passenger is fighting for her life at Massachusetts General Hospital. The driver and three other passengers in the vehicle were all treated for injuries at MGH. Only three of the six passengers in the vehicle were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.

The driver, with a long list of previous driving violations, is being charged with speeding, marked lane violation, operating under the influence, and motor vehicle homicide.

We posted a series of blogs last month about teen driver safety and the impact that distractions, alcohol, and speeding can have on their driving ability — parents can find these on our Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog.

Mile for mile, teens are involved in 3 times as many crashes in Boston than any other age group. In 2008, 68 motorists were killed in Massachusetts by a young driver involved in the crash.

Parents are urged to speak to your teen about driving safety during this important and exciting time in their life. Communicate the importance of the following safety issues to help ensure their safety:

-Always wear a seatbelt.

-Never drink and drive.

-Maintain the speed limit at all times. Spring weather can bring unsafe driving conditions so traveling under the speed limit may be necessary in certain situations.

-Don’t allow distractions to take eyes or mind away from the task of driving.

-Always call for help rather than risk an accident.
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As the National Safety Council reported an increase in car accidents in the fourth-quarter of last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is now reporting increases in the third and fourth-quarter. The increases are credited to the recovery of the economy.

An NHTSA graph showed Region 1, including Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Vermont, had an 18 percent increase in motor vehicle accidents last year — most in the nation. This increase in our region proves we all must focus on better driving habits in attempt to reduce the risks of car accidents in Massachusetts and elsewhere in New England.

Boston personal injury lawyers understand that while we did, as a state, experience a 3 percent decrease in car accidents from the previous year, we still need to work towards lowing these numbers as the economy improves.

As we recently reported on our Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog, the United States experienced nearly 35,000 car accident fatalities in 2010. We also noted that experts are crediting the recession for the decrease in this number. However, these officials fear that the recovering economy will also result in an increase in car accidents. The NHTSA also notes that the United States has experienced a 25 percent decrease in car accidents since 2005. These rates give us the lowest record of motor vehicle accidents since 1949.

“The decrease in traffic fatalities is a good sign, but we are always working to save lives,” said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland. “NHTSA will continue pressing forward on all of our safety initiatives to make sure our roads are as safe as they can possibly be.”

The NHTSA continues its efforts in reducing the number of car accidents by continuing to launch a number of safe-driving campaigns. The administration has recently launched programs like their “Over the Limit. Under Arrest.” campaign and the “Click It Or Ticket” campaign.

The U.S. Department of Transportation in on board with raising awareness for safe driving as they have launched Distraction.gov, a website dedicated to shining light on the dangers of distracted driving. The DOT devoted 2 national summits committed to educating Americans about this issue. They also continue to urge legislation to adopt various distracted driving laws to keep their citizens safe on the roads.

“Still, too many of our friends and neighbors are killed in preventable roadway tragedies every day. We will continue doing everything possible to make cars safer, increase seat belt use, put a stop to drunk driving and distracted driving and encourage drivers to put safety first,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Continue reading

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation plans on either covering or removing thousands of feet of handrails in the Big Dig tunnels. They’ve chosen to do away with these dangerous features as they have been connected to eight deaths in the area, according to the Boston Herald.

The rails the MassDOT plans on removing line about six miles of tunnels and are located on top of raised walkways to decrease the risks of potentially fatal worker falls. Instead, the rails have been creating an increased risk of serious injury or death duringMassachusetts car accidents. While they are designed to keep maintenance workers from falling into traffic, they seem to be causing more injury than they’re preventing in the long run.

Our Boston personal injury lawyers urge you to practice caution when traveling through these tunnels. While these rails pose serious threats to drivers as vehicles get tangled in them or drivers get entangle in them after accidents.

Massachusetts state officials and Boston officials are planning on kicking off the $72 million safety project after nearly 20 years of planning and funding delays, according to Boston.com. The project in Concord and Lincoln is expected to begin this fall.

As dangerous roads pose a threat to Massachusetts motorists, construction to fix these road conditions may also pose an equal threat to both motorists and construction workers. Locals are urged to practice safe driving habit in these areas, both while the handrails are present, while they’re being removed by work crews. The plan aims to remove approximately 8,000 feet of these handrails and replace them with chain-linked fences.

As we previously reported on our Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog, the conditions of our roadways directly affect the safety of our drivers. In 2009, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation study found more than 50 percent of U.S. fatal car accidents were linked to poor roadway conditions. Nearly 40 percent of non-fatal crashes were linked to the same causes.

If you experience an accident in these tunnels, or with the handrails, it is critical for you to contact an attorney experienced in this area. An attorney may be able to point out causes of the accident that you may not even have been aware of. In many cases, a lawyer may be able to locate negligent municipalities or find property owners that may be liable for the damages.
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An off-duty police offer collided with a Boston fire truck, causing a serious Boston car accident. The Boston Fire Department fire truck was on the way to an accident that had been reported. The big red trick had its lights and siren activated before and during the crash, reports Boston.com. The force from the accident caused the truck to swing around in the intersection, knocking over a traffic light.

Our Boston car accident lawyers urge you to be extra cautious around emergency response vehicles such as police cars, fire trucks and ambulances.

The accident happened around 3:40p.m. when the off-duty cop and the fire truck collided at the intersection of Harvard and Morton streets, according to Steve MacDonald, a spokesman for the fire department. Several lanes were closed as traffic was sent through a detour during rush hour.

The off-duty police offer, on his way to work in his SUV, was hospitalized with serious leg injuries, while the fire truck driver was transported and treated for minor injuries, according to the Boston Herald. It has still not been determined who was at fault. Police are still investigating.

So what do you do when you’re involved in an accident with a government vehicle? These vehicles can include city maintenance vehicles, U.S. Postal Service trucks, police cruisers, fire trucks or ambulances. Typically you would file an injury claim against the other driver, but when it’s a government vehicle you may want to file against the government entity that owns the vehicle. It is important to contact an experienced attorney if you’ve been involved in a motor vehicle accident with a government automobile, as often times it will be your word against theirs. It is vital to get proper representation when up against these highly influential agencies.

Emergency response vehicles are the most technologically crammed vehicles on the road, housing sophisticated radios, dashboard computers, cell phones and navigation systems. Hundreds of thousands of drivers – police officers and paramedics – are required to use them, while weaving through traffic, many times at fast speeds, all while the sirens are blaring. As such, they are the most distracted drivers on the road.

As we recently discussed in our Boston Car Accident Lawyer blog, there have been at least a dozen government vehicle accidents in the past 15 months resulting in serious injury in Massachusetts. The noted causes for the accidents have been speeding, impaired driving and erratic driving.

It is important to remember that police officers and other emergency responder vehicles have a lot going on in their cab. And they typically have the right of way. But that does not automatically absolve them of responsibility when a serious or fatal accident occurs.

“You and I, well we just shouldn’t use our cellphones and we could probably get away without using our GPS devices just fine. We could just drive,” said Andrew Kun, an associate professor at the University of New Hampshire. “Basically, officers have to use the electronic equipment in the car as part of their jobs … while they’re driving.”
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April officially marks National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. It began last year as FocusDriven wished to take a stand against cell phone use and other hand-held device use while operating a motor vehicle. Since the start of this program, the safe driving advocates of the National Safety Council have joined the cause to help decrease the risks of distracted driving car accidents in Boston and elsewhere in the United States.

Boston car accident attorneys urge residents to join the fight against distracted driving — we encourage all drivers to put their full attention on the roads and in-car distractions at all costs to help keep motorists on our roadways safe.


FocusDriven provides these statistics to illustrate just how dangerous distracted driving has become:

-The growing popularity of cell phones has only increased the risks of distracted driving accidents. In 1995, cell phone subscriptions covered a mere 11 percent of the United States population. In 2010, that number grew to 93 percent.

-At any given time, nearly 10 percent of drivers are actively talking on cell phones.

-Using a cell phone behind the wheel makes you four times more likely to be involved in an automobile accident.

-In a recent AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety survey, 70 percent of respondents reportedly admitted to talking on a cell phone while driving in the last month, yet more than half of them acknowledged that the behavior poses a threat to their personal safety.

It is estimated that nearly 20 percent of all reported car accidents that resulted in injury were caused by distracted driving. In 2009, there were nearly 5,500 fatalities and more than 448,000 injuries reportedly influenced by a distracted driver. More specifically, nearly 1,000 of the fatal accidents reported the use of a cell phone as the distraction.

Those under 20 currently have the greatest proportion of distracted drivers, as 16 percent of them involved in fatal car accidents reported distracted driving as the cause. It is not uncommon for a distracted driver to be involved in unsafe conditions on our roadways as driving while distracted gives you the same reaction time as a legally drunk driver, having a blood alcohol content level of more than .08.

The NSC finds National Distracted Driving Awareness Month to be the perfect opportunity for employers to create or enhance cell phone policies in the workplace in order to protect workers. The NSC provides resources for employers looking to enhance on the job safety, including a free Cell Phone Policy Kit.
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