Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog

Our roadways aren’t getting any safer, according to a recent release from the National Safety Council (NSC).

Recent statistics conclude that we’ve seen an approximate 12 percent increase in the number of fatal car accidents in Boston and elsewhere during the first three months on 2012 in comparison to the first three months of 2011.

The increase is worrying safe driving advocates and officials are looking to target the cause.

During this time in 2011, there were approximately 7,300 roadway fatalities across the U.S. During the same time in 2012, there were approximately 8,200.

Our Boston car accident attorneys understand that a number of factors could have contributed to the increase. Some are saying that it came with the improving economy. With a better economy, residents feel more comfortable dishing out gas money for road trips. With more vehicle miles traveled come higher risks for accidents. Others think that the increase is a result of the mild winter we just experienced. With a calmer winter season, residents may have felt more comfortable getting out on our roadways for those much-needed vacations. Again with more travel came higher risks for accidents across the nation.

“The Council will be keeping a close eye on our monthly traffic fatality estimates to discern if this increase is just a temporary blip,” said Janet Froetscher, president and CEO of the NSC.

In addition to all of the lives that we lost on our roadways during this time, our country also took a hit with these costs. In 2011, fatal car accidents cost nearly $300 billion. Included in these costs were employer costs, medical expenses, property damage, lost wages and productivity and administrative costs.

To help to make our roadways safer for all, Boston Discover Guide offers the cold, hard truth about driving in the city of Boston:

-Avoid driving whenever possible. The city offers various modes of public transportation to help keep road congestion at a minimum. Take advantage of these options!

-Try to park your car outside of the city whenever possible. You won’t need your car inside the city, so you’re best, and probably most inexpensive, option is to just leave it outside. You can go to the MBTA’s website for a parking list.

-Keep a close eye on traffic signals and be sure to obey.

-Don’t expect turn signals. Studies show that not many Boston drivers actually use their turn signals.

-Be on the lookout for pedestrians. In the city, pedestrians are abundant and can seemingly come out of nowhere. Pedestrians are also likely to jaywalk in the city, so keep an eye out even when traveling through non-intersection areas.

-In rotaries, assume that the other driver has the right of way.
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A recent head-on car accident sent three local teens to the hospital. Two of them were even transported with life-threatening injuries. Just before 10:00 a.m., dispatchers received a number of 9-1-1- calls about two vehicles that hit head-on on Holliston Street. The Medford car accident happened just south of Fairway Lane.

According to The Milford Daily News, a 17- and an 18-year-old girl were in one of the vehicles while a 16-year-old boy was in the second vehicle. After the collision, both motorists were stuck inside their vehicles. The boy was from Holliston and the girls were from Medway, according to Police Chief Allen Tingley. Officers and emergency response teams from four separate departments responded to the accident. Hydraulic rescue tools were used to get the teens out.

Our Boston car accident lawyers understand that we’re entering the season in which teens have the highest risks for accidents on our roadways. They’re being let out of school for summer break and with more teens behind the wheel on our roadways, the risks for accidents involving them increase dramatically. Parents are urged to step in and to talk about the importance of being safe and responsible behind the wheel. Talk with them about the consequences of dangerous driving habits.

Car accidents continue to be the leading killer of teens in the United States. It’s important for us to talk with these young drivers and help them to develop safe driving habits. Hitting them with this knowledge early on can help to create life-long habits that can help to keep them safe behind the wheel.

The drivers of the two vehicles in the Medford accident were taken via helicopter to the UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester to its trauma center.

“We had people trapped in two separate vehicles, and then the scene at the middle school for the helicopters’ landing zone, so it stretched our manpower,” said Fire Chief Paul Trufant.

Even the ambulances and the paramedics came to the scene of the accident with Advanced Life Support.

According to initial investigations, the male driver was heading north on Holliston when he crossed over the center lane of traffic, went into the southbound lanes of traffic and hit the females’ vehicle head on.

There was a third vehicle that was involved in the accident, but that person was not injured.

Preliminary investigations reveal that the driver was trying to pass another vehicle when he veered into oncoming traffic and hit the other vehicle.

Just in April, a 22-year-old man was killed on that same stretch of road. In that same accident, another 22-year-old was seriously injured. In this accident, officials with the Massachusetts State Police Accident Reconstruction Unit were on the scene until nearly 3:00 a.m.

As we’ve been talking about, teen motorists are at some serious risks for accidents during this time of the year. Talk to your teen about the risks they’re facing on our roadways and make sure they understand the consequences of dangerous driving habits.
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It’s Global Youth Traffic Safety Month and to help to kick off the event, officials with the National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS) and teens from around the country are teaming up to fight for a safe summer on our roadways. They’re targeting motor-vehicle accidents in Boston and elsewhere considering these accidents are the number one cause of death for teens in the country.

Every year, there are more than 5,000 drivers, aged 16- to 20-years-old, who are killed in motor vehicles accidents, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Our Boston personal injury attorneys understand that summer is the deadliest time on our roadways for these young motorists. As we head into the summer, more and more teens will be released from school for summer break and will be hitting our roadways in search of some real fun. With more teens behind the wheel, risks for accidents increase. That’s why it’s important for parents and guardians to talk with their young drivers about the risks they’re facing during this time of the year. Be sure to review safe driving habits with them to make sure they’re on their very best and safest behavior. Your talk can help to save lives.

“Summer is the deadliest time of year on the roads for teens,” said the Executive Director of NOYS, Sandy Spavone.

The NHTSA reports that more than 400 teens die in traffic accidents during each of the summer month. This is compared to an average of less than 365 teen deaths for non-summer months.

During this event, schools across the country will be holding rallies to help get these young drivers to avoid impaired driving as well as distracted driving, which contribute to a large number of these summer traffic accidents. Teens are asked to make the pledge to commit to safe driving habits and to help promote the message of it. To help to raise awareness, students will be displaying pledge links around their community.

Visiting these rallies are Ray LaHood, the Transportation Secretary of U.S. Department of Transportation, Robert Sumwalt, a Board Member National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as well as Peter Kissinger President and CEO of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (AAAFTS).

National Youth Traffic Safety Month is a very important to help keep teens safe on our roadways. Families are urged to talk to the teen drivers in their lives about safe driving habits and the importance of them on our roadways. Keeping safe driving habits as a frequent topic of conversation can help to reduce the risks of accidents on our roadways over the summer months.

Parents are urged to keep an eye on how many passengers are riding with their young drivers to make sure they’re not driving too late at night and to make sure they’re aware of the state’s driving laws.
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Teens have some seriously high risks for car accidents in Taunton and elsewhere. Their risks can get a whole lot higher when passengers are in the vehicle, according to a recent study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. The recent study, “Teen Driver Risk in Relation to Age and Number of Passengers,” looked at the driving habits of 16- and 17-year-old drivers and looked at their actions with passengers present in the vehicle. With each additional young passenger in the vehicle, the risks for accidents shot up!

Our Taunton car accident attorneys understand that teens need some serious guidance through the first few years of their driving career. This is when these young drivers establish their lifelong driving habits. It’s our job to make sure that these lifelong habits are safe ones. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), drivers in the state of Massachusetts with a restricted driver’s license are not allowed to have any passengers in the vehicle under the age of 18. This only applies to the first six months of this licensing stage. Strict graduated driver’s licensing programs have been proven to help to significantly cut down on the risks for car accidents among teen drivers. Our state doesn’t have the strictest GDL program when it comes to passenger restrictions. That’s where we ask parents to step in.

Parents are urged to step up, create and enact driving restrictions within their household. Make sure you keep an eye on how many passengers they’re driving with, how late they’re driving and how well they’re following road laws. Parental involvement may be one of the best ways to help shape up the driving habits of our teens!

According to the recent study, teen drivers’ risks for car accidents increase by more than 40 percent when there’s one passenger present in the vehicle who is under the age of 21. These risks double with two young passengers and quadruple when there are three or more young passengers in the vehicle.

When there are passengers present and they’re 35-years-old or older, the risks for accidents among these teen drivers fall more than 60 percent. This is a perfect example as to why riding along with your teen driver is so important! Riding with them can help to mold their safe driving habits at an early age and can help them to develop lifelong safe habits behind the wheel. When you’re not able to be in the car with them, make sure that there are rules they know to follow, including passenger restrictions, nighttime driving restrictions and other useful rules to preserve safety.

“We know that carrying young passengers is a huge risk, but it’s also a preventable one,” according to Peter Kissing with AAA.

Parents are asked talk with their teen and consider enacting a parent-teen driving contract to lay down the rules of the road and the consequences of breaking them. As your teen heads into summer break they’ll be on our roadways more often and their risks for accidents will be higher. Help to reduce these risks and get involved with your teens driving.
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Roadway and toll signs are going to be changing soon and drivers are urged to be on the lookout! According to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), signage at the toll plazas on the Tobin Bridge, the Turnpike and the Airport Tunnels will soon be overhauled to meet federal guidelines and help to improve roadway safety.

Proper signage can help to alleviate roadway confusion, can help to keep traffic flowing smoothly and can help to reduce the risks of car accidents in Boston and elsewhere in the area. Now, drivers will see the ‘Fast Lane” signs disappear and the “E-ZPass” signs appear. ‘Cash Only’ signs will also be updated along our roadways.

“Driver hesitation and confusion can jeopardize safety at our toll plazas,” said Richard A. Davey MassDOT CEO and Secretary.

Our Boston car accident attorneys understand that MassDOT has an obligation to make sure that the more than 1.5 million transponder holders and the general public knows that that the ‘Fast Lane’ and the ‘E-ZPass’ lane are now the same. Changes in road traffic are to be simply conveyed along these roadways. Transportation officials also have the obligation to make sure that these roadways are safe for all drivers and minimize all hazards. Roadway signs are one of the most effective ways to alleviate these hazards and confusion. The proper signage should be displayed to make sure that motorists can travel where they need to safety.

Currently, there are more than 20 million E-ZPass holders throughout the U.S. The signs for this program are most often displayed in purple and white, to make them uniform to all users. These signs can be found in more than 12 states, including New York, New Hampshire and Maine.

Now, ‘Fast Lane’ customers will still be driving through our electronic lanes just like they were before, only now there will be the new signs displayed over them. Customers don’t need to do anything differently as their transponders will still work and other personal information tied to the transponder will remain the same. Just drive on and be sure to be cautious in these areas.

This is a project that cost more than $1 million, but was funded mostly through a federal safety grant. Nearly $200,000 came from the Western Turnpike Capital fund.

The project is expected to continue on through the summer months. Motorists are urged to be on the lookout on these roadways in the meantime. Workers will be on our roadways during off-peak commuting hours, from 9:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. These scheduled work hours were designed to help to keep rush hours flowing smoothly.

First, motorists will see the ‘COMING SOON: We are Changing Our Name’ signs located along our Turnpike. First, Route 122, or the Interchange 11, will see the sign change. Then, the project will move along Interchanges 1, 2 and 3 until it finally comes to an end at Tobin Bridge.
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Back in 1930, Massachusetts state senator George Parker attempted to prohibit car radios in motor vehicles because he felt that they were too distracting for drivers. Drivers weren’t happy with this movement and protested outside his office. After much concern and opposition from the public, Parker dropped the issue and moved on to targeting drunk drivers instead to help to reduce the risks of car accidents in Boston and elsewhere throughout the state.

According to USA TODAY, the same problem is going on today. Drivers are all too attached to their cell phones and their in-car electronics and will stop at nothing to keep them in their vehicles, despite the largely recognized dangers of the devices.

According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, about 90 percent of residents acknowledge that texting while driving is a serious threat, but still roughly 70 percent of drivers admit to using this technology behind the wheel. Nowadays, it’s more of a blame game, trying to figure out if the cell phone or the auto industry is at fault. Auto manufacturers work to intertwine this technology into our vehicles while safe driving advocates say that’s a move that comes with far too many risks.

Our Boston car accident attorneys understand that distracted driving has been made a key point of safety topics since 2009. According to the US Department of Transportation’s Secretary, Ray LaHood, it’s so big of a deal that national organizations have even gone as far as calling on states to enact bans on both hands-free and hand-held cell phone use behind the wheel. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), cell phones and similar distractions played a part in roughly 20 percent of fatal accidents in 2011.

Other advocacy groups are saying that the focus is on the wrong issue and that we need to be looking at better technologies, like crash-avoidance technologies, to help make our roadways safe, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

“Distracted driving is a problem, but it isn’t new, and the data don’t show that it has gotten worse during the rise of cellphones and the use of other electronics by drivers,” says IIHS spokesman Russ Rader. “While all the studies clearly show cellphone use is a distraction, the use of phones by drivers hasn’t resulted in an epidemic of crashes.”

Most car and mobile communication makers work together in an effort called the Car Connectivity Consortium, which works to link smartphones and our vehicles. That’s where the problem is, says many driving advocates. As a matter of fact, some groups have gone as far as petitioning that automakers make these kinds of devices disabled while the vehicle is in drive.

“We think that there’s a way to feel connected, while keeping primary focus on the driving,” says Alfred Tom, a General Motors advanced “infotainment” researcher.

As the battle continues, drivers are asked to take the problem into their own hands and act on what is generally known by the public, that distracted driving kills. Studies illustrate that distracted drivers cause fatal accidents. We know the problem, we just may not know who to blame. We do know how to fix it though!
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