Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog

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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Our Quincy car accident lawyers have blogged about the advancements in connected cars in recent posts.

Now, Toyota Motor Corp. is getting in on the action. These connected cars allow vehicles to talk to one another and to talk to the roadways to help to avoid car accidents. According to the Boston Globe, Toyota just completed its creation of a facility that’s the size of three baseball stadiums in central Japan to test out their technology. Toyota calls it the Transport System site. Transmitters and sensors on participating cars are working to find the hazards and dangers on the roads before you do. They’re going to help to react to them before you do as well!

When the technology senses a danger, the vehicle sends off a beeping sound and displays a picture in front of the driver. Some of the warnings are even automated.

Our Boston car accident attorneys understand that this kind of technology might not be far from becoming a reality. We’ve still all got to rely on driver awareness though. There’s nothing in our vehicles warning us of dangers except our own two eyes. Drivers need to be on the ball and alert behind the wheel to help to do their part in preventing car accidents out there!

“Technology is available so that connected cars could be on the road nationwide in under 10 years,” said Peter Sweatman with the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute
According to officials with Toyota, the vehicles are expected to be out of test mode and on Japanese roads by 2014. The U.S. is also onboard with these kinds of technologies, with pilot projects going down in Ann Arbor, Michigan already.

This kind of technology is expected to be especially effective near intersections. In these areas, drivers have to worry about paying attention to road signs and traffic lights, all while looking out for red-light runners, pedestrians, bicyclists and other hazards. Officials are estimating that this technology will be able to help cut the number of intersection car accidents across the nation in half.

Moritaka Yoshida, Managing Officer with Toyota, also believes that this kind of technology is going to help our elderly drivers. It’s going to pick up the hazards that elderly drivers are likely to miss.

The truth of the matter is that most automakers are working on this kind of technology. They see it as not only a way to help to reduce the risks of accidents, but as also a way to help to add value to their vehicles.

Toyota has come catching up to do though and automakers are working diligently to do so. Nissan Motor Co. has already unveiled vehicles that can park on their own, swerve away from pedestrians and can make complete stops on their own.

Regardless, Toyota says their technology will be released “soon.” No official date has been given.
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Officials with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) have teamed up with FOX’s “Glee” to help to reduce the risks of distracted driving among younger drivers.

The country is in the middle of a distracted driving epidemic and younger drivers and text messages are central to the discussion. It’s a problem that’s not only threatening these young drivers, but it’s threatening the safety of everyone else on the road.

Recently, one of Glee’s shows featured the dangers of distracted driving. One of the series’ main characters, played by Dianna Agron, was seriously injured after she was involved in a car accident that was caused by text messaging while driving. Footage from that very episode will be used in a new public service announcement (PSA) that has been created to get the message out to young drivers.

What’s that message? Distracted Driving Kills!

The new PSA, “On My Way” emphasizes just how long you take your eyes off of the road when to read a text message. It’s an average of 5 seconds. Our Boston car accident lawyers understand that you can travel the length of a football field and never even lay eyes on the road. And it only takes a second for a fatal accident to occur.

This PSA comes as a part of the national campaign “Stop the Texts. Stop the Wrecks.” They’re being releases in conjunction with FOX Home Entertainment, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the DOT, state consumer protection agencies, state Attorneys General and the Ad Council.

It’s important that we target younger drivers when talking about distracted driving. These drivers are more at risk for these kinds of accidents than any other age group of drivers.

A grant program from the NHTSA is also providing efforts against distracted driving with more than $17 million to states that have laws in place to ban distracted driving habits.

In the state of Massachusetts, drivers under the age of 18 are prohibited from talking on cell phones behind the wheel. Drivers of all ages are banned from text messaging behind the wheel too, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA).

According to Distraction.gov, there were more than 3,000 people killed in distracted driving car crashes in 2010 alone. In addition to these fatalities, there were another 420,000 people injured. These kinds of crashes accounted for close to 20 percent of all injury accidents over the year. And young drivers are most likely to be involved in them.

And it’s only getting worse!

In June of 2011, there were close to 200 billion text message sent/received in the United States. That’s a statistic that’s up close to 50 percent from June of 2009. It’s important that we keep the distractions out of the driver’s seat. Remember that it’s our youngest driver who are most at risk here. It’s especially important to talk with our young ones about this dangerous driving behavior. Your talk could help to save their life and the lives of innocent people along our roadways.
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Staying awake at the wheel — it’s a lot harder than you might think.

According to DrowsyDriving.org, there are close to 2,000 people killed every year in these kinds of accidents. Another 70,000 are injured. And these are only the accidents that are reported. Officials believe that many times, drivers are not willing to admit to an officer that they were drowsy at the time of a collision, leading to the likelihood of tired drivers being responsible for many more crashes each year..

To try to shine light on this danger, officials with the National Sleep Foundation have declared November 12th through the 18th as National Drowsy Driving Prevention Week. This week is 7 days of public awareness and education revolved around sleep safety.

Our Massachusetts accident attorneys understand that this condition affects nearly all drivers. Transportation workers are at some of the highest risks. According to a recent study, about 20 percent of pilots say that they’ve made a serious error and another 20 percent of truck drivers and 20 percent of train operators say they’ve had a “near miss” because of sleepiness.

The truth of the matter is that sleepiness and driving don’t mix together at all. Unfortunately, most drivers are completely oblivious to drowsy driving. They’re aware of the dangers of drinking and driving though, which in the end are no different. In the grand scheme of things, drowsy driving might actually be more dangerous than drunk driving. Like alcohol, sleep deprivation can slow you reaction time behind the wheel. It can also decrease your awareness, impair your judgment and increase your risks for getting into an accident.

Who is most at risk for these kinds of accidents?

-Adult drivers between the ages of 18 and 29 are more likely than any other age group of drivers to drive while drowsy.

-Men are more likely than women to drive drowsy.

-Drivers who have children in their household are more likely than those who have none.

-Drivers who are shift workers are more likely than those with regularly-scheduled jobs to drive while drowsy.

-Those who suffer from sleep deprivation and other sleep-related conditions are more likely to get into drowsy driving car accidents.

-Drivers who get six to seven hours of sleep each night are twice as likely to be involved a drowsy driving car accident as someone who gets an average of 8 hours or more a night. Those who continuously sleep less than 5 hours, increase their risks four to five times.

Your best bet in avoiding these kinds of accidents is to avoid driving during times when you would normally be sleeping. You want to make sure that you get plenty of sleep each night and that you’re able to recognize sleepiness behind the wheel. One of the worst things that you could ever do is try to push through your tiredness. When you feel sleepy, it’s important that you switch roles with a passenger or you pull over in a safe area, stop and get some rest. Caffeine, loud music and open windows are only a temporary fix to wake you up and will ultimately not prevent you from falling asleep at the wheel if you push your luck.
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