Articles Posted in Car Accidents

With winter weather rapidly approaching and the holiday season just around the corner, our Boston personal injury lawyers urge families to discuss safe driving habits with elderly drivers and to take steps to assure their safety.

The USA Today reports the rapidly expanding population of older drivers will have a huge impact in the years to come. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety reports that fatality rates begin to climb after age 65. From 75 to 84, older drivers are about as dangerous as the most dangerous drivers on the road — teenagers. After age 85, the chances of being involved in a fatal accident skyrocket until the oldest drivers on the road are 400 percent more likely to be involved in a fatal accident than young drivers.

It’s a huge issue because a separate study earlier this year also found that drivers over the age of 75 are much more likely to say they plan to driver into their 90s than are drivers who recently hit retirement age.

And, with the Baby Boomers hitting retirement age, the number of older drivers on the road is expected to explode in the coming years. The number of U.S. residents over the age of 70 is expected to grow from 1 in 10 today to 1 in 5 by 2040. Meanwhile, the number of fatal accidents involving those over 65 is expected to grow to 25 percent, from just 11 percent today.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that more than 183,000 older adults are injured in accidents each year — and they account for about 1 in 5 fatal pedestrian accidents.

Many seniors make concessions when not in denial about their abilities — typically limiting their driving to daylight hours. This is no guarantee. Eighty percent of traffic fatalities involving older drivers happen during daylight hours and 72 percent occur during the week.

Senior drivers were responsible for more than 1 in 5 fatal Massachusetts car accidents, accounting for 74 of the 363 fatalities in 2008.

The USA Today article encourages families to start discussing the issue early — even at the time an older adult retires — so as to make it less contentious. With proper planning, a parent or aging loved one may also move to an area where public transportation is available or make other concessions in preparation for the time when it may no longer be safe to drive.
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A Quincy man is claiming self-defense after a stabbing that police are blaming on road rage, the Boston Globe reports.

Our Boston accident attorneys have reported before on the dangers of road rage and aggressive driving. Aggressive driving involves a number of driving behaviors of which most drivers are guilty of at some point, including speeding, tailgating, changing lanes without using a signal and speeding up for yellow lights. Road rage, as in this case, is usually defined as a criminal offense.

Road rage injures or kills at least 1,500 motorists each year and Massachusetts has been at the forefront of the issue from the beginning. One of the first comprehensive studies of the issue, conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, opens with a 1994 case of road rage in Massachusetts in which a 54-year-old bookkeeper fatally shot a 42-year-old motorist with a crossbow.

In Monday’s case, the 62-year-old motorist said another motorist became angry at him for blocking traffic on Morrissey Boulevard after he was involved in an accident. The defendant claims he was defending himself when he stabbed the motorist. He has pleaded not guilty in Dorchester District Court to assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

The alleged stabbing victim was also issued a summons to appear in court on charges of assault, assault and battery on a person over 60, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and disorderly conduct.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration offers tips for reducing stress while driving and for avoiding road rage in Boston.

-Get out of the Way: Don’t challenge the other driver.
-Put your pride aside: Do not speed up, attempt to hold your own or otherwise provoke the driver.
-Avoid eye contact: Which may enrage an aggressive driver.
-Gestures: Ignore them and don’t return them.
-Report serious aggressive drivers: Pull over to a safe location and alert authorities to the location and description of the vehicle, including license plate number.
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Boston car accident attorneys know there are few things more important to our well-being and, unfortunately, more under-rated, than a good night’s sleep. Aside from the health benefits of regular rest, fatigue has also been found to play a significant role in workplace accidents, machinery-related accidents and motor vehicle crashes.

Driver fatigue is believed to be responsible for more than 100,000 car accidents, resulting in 71,000 injuries and at least 1,500 fatalities annually, the National Sleep Foundation reports. Nearly 11 million drivers have admitted to crashing or narrowly escaping a car accident due to falling asleep behind the wheel. Half of Americans surveyed admit to regularly driving while tired and another 20 percent say they have fallen asleep behind the wheel during the last year.

“When you are behind the wheel of a car, being sleepy is very dangerous. Sleepiness decreases awareness, slows reaction time, and impairs judgment, just like drugs or alcohol, contributing to the possibility of a crash,” said AAA Foundation President and CEO Peter Kissinger. “We need to change the culture so that not only will drivers recognize the dangers of driving while drowsy but will stop doing it.”

Authorities are urging motorists to take the risks serious this week during Drowsy Driving Prevention Week.

To help drivers recognize signs they might be at risk of “driving while drowsy” the NSF offers the following tips and prevention suggestions:

~ If you find it difficult to focus, lose track of time and catch yourself daydreaming or struggling with incoherent thoughts.

~ If the last few miles you’ve driven seem more a blur than a reality, or if you’ve missed an exit or failed to respond properly to traffic signal.

~ If you experience persistent yawning, heavy eyelids, nodding off or feel confused or irritable.

~ Before hitting the road make sure you are well rested and have gotten at least six (preferably eight) hours of sleep. On longer trips, plan regular rest breaks every couple hours.

~ If you feel yourself growing drowsy stop for a jolt of caffeine and a 20 minute rest before getting back behind the wheel. Caffeine and a brief rest offer good short-term fixes, but a better plan is to travel when you would normally be awake.
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Our Massachusetts car accident lawyers have recently reported on our Boston Car Accident Lawyer blog that parents can reduce the risk of their teen being involved in a traffic crash simply by spending more diverse and instructive time supervising them during the permitting process.

Car accidents kill more teenagers each year than suicide, homicide and cancer. The AAA Foundation reports that in 2008, more than 800,000 drivers aged 15 to 18 were involved in car accidents which claimed the lives of 3,431 vehicle occupants and injured 350,000.

Recently the AAA Foundation undertook a year-long in-depth study of supervised driving and found that student drivers were not getting enough practice driving at night, in bad weather, or in heavy-traffic conditions on city roads, highways or interstates. Nor was there enough dialogue between parent and child regarding defensive driving or navigating safely through unexpected driving situations.

One key element to cultivating good driving skills in your teen is being a good example, AAA Massachusetts reports. To help parents and teens make the most of their shared time behind the wheel, the State of Illinois produced a parent-teen driving guide that provides instructive tips for a few common and more complex driving skills teen need to master. They include:

BACKING UP:

~ Before putting the vehicle in reverse, check all around the vehicle for pedestrians, other cars or objects (like mailboxes). Physically turn your body, don’t just rely upon side- and rear-view mirrors.

~ Backing up is a “walking speed” activity. It’s easy to get disoriented with the mechanics of moving in reverse, so you want to tackle the process at a low rate of speed. Keep your foot lightly hovering over the brake pedal and remember that tiny steering corrections can have a big impact in the direction of your vehicle. Turn the wheel gently, slowly and thoughtfully.

ESTABLISHING RIGHT OF WAY:

~ Working emergency vehicle ALWAYS have the right-of-way in any traffic situation and most states have some form of “move over” law on the books that requires drivers to slow down and change lanes when approaching an emergency vehicle or if one is coming up from behind.

~ If another driver isn’t obeying right-of-way “chain of command” – don’t resist or obstruct them. Let them proceed to avoid and accident or prevent a road-rage incident.

~ When making a left turn, oncoming traffic has the right-of-way. Just because you have a green light, does not mean it is safe to proceed. Before you move, check traffic and road conditions to make sure you have a clear path where you are heading and a safe entry zone.
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