Articles Posted in Car Accidents

With 78-million baby boomers edging closer to 70, when and how to address concerns about elderly driving with loved ones is a topic of conversation most families in the United States struggle to address. But having that conversation can boil down to a matter of saving lives, the Washington Post reports.

Older drivers are at increased risk of a Boston car accident, and loved ones, family and friends are increasingly the last line of defense.

One recent MIT AgeLab survey found that as drivers get older, their confidence in their driving improves as their ability to remain safe behind the wheel declines. In fact, drivers over 75 were twice as likely to say they would continue driving at 90 than their 65-74 year old counterparts.

Unfortunately, perception and reality on this issue diverge. In 2007, the Government Accountability Office found that drivers 75 and older were more likely to be involved in a fatal car accident than any other age group, including teens.

While a handful of nationally-publicized, multiple-fatality car accidents involving older drivers has led to some state-by-state tightening of motor vehicle restrictions and driver’s license renewal procedures, the conversation needs to start at home, or with the family physician. And to be effective, hopefully, it must be a carefully crafted discussion. One where respect for the older driver’s sense of freedom and control is taken into consideration and thoughtfully navigated.

In the end, of course, whether or not a driver gives up their license is a matter of ability, not age. The question asked should not be: is dad (or mom) too old to drive, but rather, are they able to drive safely and responsibly?

The Boston car accident lawyers at Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers, LLC, have more than 18 years experience handling personal injury and auto accident claims. Our team understands how difficult it can be to deal with the physical, emotional and financial devastation that often accompanies being injured in a Massachusetts car accident.
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One of the nation’s most prominent highway safety organizations contends the government has gotten sidetracked by safety issues like texting and driving.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the highway safety arm of the insurance industry, claims the government is waging a high-profile campaign against test messaging and runaway Toyotas while doing too little to force automakers to adapt better safety features. Our Boston personal injury lawyers and wrongful death attorneys have reported extensively on the government’s effort to combat texting and cell phone use while driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that 6,000 motorists are killed and more than 500,000 are injured each year in accidents caused by distracted driving, including driver cell phone use.

The IIHS reports about 100 motorists are killed each day in traffic accidents nationwide.

“You’d think from the media coverage, congressional hearings, and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s focus in recent months that separating drivers from their phones would all but solve the public-health problem of crash deaths and injuries,” IIHS President Adrian Lund wrote in the agency’s August status report. “It won’t.”

As the Wall Street Journal points out, car accidents are the number one cause of accidental death in the United States. Naturally, the U.S. Department of Transportation takes issue with the notion that it has been sidetracked.

“Safety is the Department of Transportation’s number one priority, which is why we are aggressively and urgently tackling a number of risks to drivers’ safety,” the DOT said in a statement. “We are going to continue taking drunk drivers off the road, getting people to put down their phones and other distractions, making sure cars and trucks are safe to drive, and doing whatever else is necessary to keep Americans safe behind the wheel.”

While that might be true, the uproar over Toyota consumed the agency earlier this summer. And it has yet to release comprehensive accident statistics for 2009, which are typically released sometime in midsummer each year.
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A Lexington, Massachusetts car accident has claimed the life of a 33-year-old Gardner woman, the Boston Globe reported.

Massachusetts State Police say the victim was driving a subcompact car on Route 2 eastbound in Lexington when she veered into the westbound lanes, crashing into three other vehicles.

She was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, just after 2 p.m. Authorities are investigating what caused the accident. Route 2 was closed for about three hours.

ABC5 reports that four other people were injured; two of the drivers were seriously hurt.

The number of Massachusetts traffic accidents has declined in recent years, from 149,860 in 2006 to 136,384 in 2008, according to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety.

Along with the reduction in accidents has come a reduction in fatalities, from 429 in 2006 to 363 in 2008. Still, more than 3,700 motorists were seriously injured in Massachusetts traffic crashes in 2008, the last year for which statistics are available.

About half of the fatality victims -177- were the drivers of passenger cars.
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A Stoughton car accident claimed the life of a Fall River woman and critically injured her passenger, after their pickup truck rolled over a Route 24 guardrail on Friday morning.

The Enterprise News reported that the vehicle ended up on the wrong side of the highway.

The 51-year-old driver was pronounced dead at the scene. Her 54-year-old passenger was transported to Boston Medical Center with serious injuries. Both drivers were wearing seat belts and neither was ejected.

Police believe the driver may have fallen asleep at the wheel of her 1995 Toyota T100 while northbound on Route 24. The vehicle veered off the right side of the road shortly after 2 a.m. The driver apparently overcorrected, crossed all three lanes and slammed into the median guardrail. The truck then rolled over the guardrail and landed on the other side of the highway.

DrowsyDriving.org reports that 100,000 crashes a year are the direct result of driver fatigue. An estimated 1,550 motorists are killed and 71,000 are injured each year in accidents caused by drowsy drivers, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Those at highest risk include:

-Adults between the ages of 18-29 are the most at-risk age group.

-Men are twice as likely as women to fall asleep while driving.

-Adults with children in the home are more likely to drive drowsy.

-Shift workers are at increased risk.

-Sleep deprivation puts a driver at twice the risk of an accident, when compared to drivers who get at least 8 hours of sleep per night.
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State police have identified the seven areas where motorists are most at-risk for being victimized by crime or involvement in a Massachusetts car accident and are hoping increased patrols and other measures will help reduce the risk.

The Boston Herald reports that common dangers in these hot spots include drunken driving, speeding and motorcycle drag racing and that such behaviors threaten public safety and the lives of other motorists on the road.

“This summer is a pretty bad summer for traffic-related issues,” said Maj. Edward Amodeo, commander of Troop A, which covers north of Boston to New Hampshire and west to Interstate 495 and portions of Interstate 93, Route 128 and Route 1. “There’s a high volume of traffic. People are out enjoying the summer. As a result we are having more interactions, more issues, more crashes, higher citations than last year.”

In June, the Massachusetts Highway Patrol moved 37 additional troopers into areas with the highest crash and arrest rates.

While overall traffic fatalities have fallen to 145 from 184 during the same period a year ago, fatal crashes are up in several areas of the state. Hotspots include Springfield, north of Boston and south of Boston.

Troop H, which covers Boston to the Rhode Island border, has seen an increase in crashes this summer. As has Troop B in Springfield and Troop A, where the busy Medford barrack has covered 2,118 crashes.
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