Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog

Newly licensed drivers may think they know all the rules of the road, but do they know how to properly maintain a car? Owning a vehicle is a lot of responsibility, and teen drivers may be virtually clueless when it comes to keeping up with safety checks and car maintenance. What these young drivers may also be unaware of is the effect of vehicle maintenance on their risks of being involved in a car accident in Massachusetts.

With proper car care, there are a number of dangerous scenarios that can be avoided, including brake failure and blown out tires. Both of these scenarios are extremely dangerous and can cause serious injury, but they are also preventable.

Our Boston teen car accident attorneys understand how important it is to perform frequent checkups to your vehicle. Parents are urged not only to discuss with teen drivers the importance of this safety precaution but also to help them to perform a few car safety checks. Build them up to where they can start performing these checks on their own. These lifelong habits will help to greatly reduce their risks of an accident on our roadways.

A recent survey from AutoMD concluded the following about teen drivers:

-More than 95 percent of parents said that if there was information online that could help their teen to repair a vehicle, they would encourage their teen driver to use it.

-Nearly 70 percent of teens rate their knowledge of car maintenance as “somewhat or completely clueless,” or “average.”

-More than 60 percent of teens believe that it’s extremely important for young drivers to be educated about the major and important parts of a car.

-Roughly 80 percent of parents believe that teens will turn to parents to learn about vehicle repair and maintenance. Only 6 percent said that their teen would probably learn car repair and maintenance information from a driver’s education course.

According to the National Organizations for Youth Safety, there are a few simple ways that you can get your child to take interest in car maintenance. The organization has provided this back-to-school car care checklist to help them to get started on the right path to keeping a properly maintained vehicle.

Parents should talk with their teen driver about the following:

-The importance of reviewing the vehicle’s owner’s manual to learn what the lights and gauges mean.

-The importance of keeping an eye on fluid levels under the hood. Parents should also teach their teen driver how to check the battery.

-How to listen for abnormal noises coming from underneath the hood. Know when to have the car checked out by a professional mechanic.

-How often and how to check the tire pressure. Urge them to check the tires each month. Be sure that your child keeps a jack and a lug wrench in the trunk just in case there’s ever a flat tire.

-Keep garbage out of the car so that nothing will interfere with the accelerator or brake pedals.

Parents are urged to keep safe driving habits and vehicle maintenance checks as frequent topics of conversation at home. Get out there are help get your kid started on maintaining a safe vehicle!
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October 3rd through the 7th has been dubbed “Drive Safely Work Week (DSWW) 2011.” This year’s campaign theme is “Focus 360°: Getting there safely is everyone’s business.” The Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) has joined forces with the U.S. Department of Transportation to help reduce the risks of work-related car accidents in Massachusetts and elsewhere.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, work-related car accidents are the number one cause of on-the-job work fatalities. In 2010, Massachusetts experienced nearly 100 work-related car accident fatalities. These accidents took more lives than those involved in violent acts, assaults, falls, fires, explosions or any other type of work-related accidents.

This campaign involves all employees whose job involves traveling. This applies to cyclists, drivers and passengers across the country. There are things that each of us can do to prevent one of these accidents. Our Boston car accident attorneys ask that everyone do their part to set a good example for others. All too often, we understand and recognize the importance of safe driving habits but fail to actively practice them.

Employers are urged to complete one of the following:

-Create a cell phone policy for your workplace. Stick to this plan and be sure to enforce it among workers.

-If you already have a cell phone policy kit established at your company, you’re urged to review the risks and consequences associated with distracted driving-related accidents. Consider sharing tips and creating activities to help enforce the current policy.

-For those who don’t want to create or enact a policy, you’re still urged to discuss the facts about distracted driving with your workers.

According to statistics from last year’s campaign, approximately 5,000 organizations participated in the week-long event. Nearly 90 percent of these organizations currently have some kind of cell phone policy kit within their companies.

“Employers have the potential to reach up to one-half of the nation’s population, and their support in our fight to stop distracted driving is crucial,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

Distracted driving facts, provided by NETS:

-There are three types of distractions; visual, manual and cognitive.

-Distracted driving takes a driver’s physical and mental attention from the most important task at hand — driving.

-There were nearly 5,500 people killed due to distracted driving-related car accidents on U.S. roadways in 2009. Another 448,000 people were injured in these kinds of accidents.

-Researchers estimate that about a fourth of all traffic accidents are caused by a cell phone-using driver.

-Texting drivers take their eyes off the road roughly 400 percent more than drivers who do not text at the wheel.

-Drivers who use a cell phone behind the wheel reduce their amount of brain activity by nearly 40 percent.

-The more texts that are sent in the U.S., the more fatal car accidents we see. For every one million texts that are sent, we see a 75 percent increase in fatal distraction-related car accidents.

Listed below is each distracting behavior and your crash risk increase:

-Texting/23 times
-Reaching for a moving object/9 times
-Dialing a cell phone/6 times
-Driving drowsy/4 times
-Looking at an external object/3.7 times
-Reading/3.4 times
-Talking on a cell phone/4 times
-Applying makeup/3 times Continue reading

As we recently reported on our Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog, Distractology 101 is an interactive distracted-driving simulator that is making its way around Massachusetts to help teach drivers about the dangers and consequences of distracted driving. According to the Peabody Patch, the simulator is still going strong as its next stop is to teach motorists about the dangers of these types of car accidents in Peabody.

Our Boston car accident attorneys would like to tell you about yet another campaign that is used to raise awareness about this dangerous and deadly driving habit, “Heads-Up Driving Week.” This week-long campaign, organized by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, takes place from October 2nd to the 8th. This is the third year in a row for the campaign as it continues to tackle distracted driving.

During this noteworthy campaign, the Foundation urges drivers to take a week-long pledge to put away all distractions while navigating our roadways. Curbing driver distractions can help to save lives and to provide a safer roadway for all of us. Every day in the U.S. there are roughly 8,000 motor-vehicle accidents caused by distracted drivers.

Distracted driving facts:

-In the last 25 years, there were approximately one million people killed in traffic accidents on U.S. roadways. In 2010 alone there were nearly 34,000 people killed on our roadways. The high number of traffic accident fatalities is believed to be directly related to the increase in distraction-related technology advances.

-Drivers spend about half of their time behind the wheel engaging in dangerous distractions.

-Diversions can include talking on a cell phone, text messaging, putting on makeup, smoking, eating and looking at traffic accidents.

-Using a cell phone while driving increases a driver’s risk for an accident that results in injury by nearly four times.

-Passengers have been reported as the most common form of distraction causing an accident.

According to AAA’s Traffic Safety Culture Index, more than 90 percent of drivers believe that phone calls and text messaging by drivers is a dangerous and unacceptable habit. Nearly 90 percent of surveyed individuals support laws to regulate or ban the dangerous behavior. Still, about a third of drivers participate in the dangerous behavior. This commonly is referred to as the “do as I say, not as I do” behavior. Drivers are aware of the dangers, but fail to make the change. They expect the abilities of other drivers to affect their safety more than the abilities they possess. Most drivers believe that can handle both driving and a distraction at the same time with little or no consequence.

We would like to invite you, your family members and your other loved ones to participate in the week-long “Heads-Up Driving Week” pledge. AAA has even provided you 10 simple ways to minimize driver distractions. The first step in making our roadways safer is to make the change in our own driving behaviors.

“Distracted driving accidents are often some of the most dangerous and yet they are entirely preventable,” said Phil Richard of Phil Richard Insurance.
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A former Harvard Law School Professor, 82-year-old Detlev F. Vagts, previously entered a guilty plea for motor-vehicle homicide after a fatal scooter and car accident in Massachusetts. He has since been sentenced to six months of house arrest and three years of probation, according to The Harvard Crimson.

Our Boston car accident attorneys remember this accident from last summer. Vagts hit and killed a 54-year-old Newton Country Day School of the Sacred Heart teacher who was riding a scooter. Vagts was reportedly driving in the wrong lane and hit the woman at the corner of Warn Street and Grant Avenue. He reportedly drove approximately 450 feet before be turned around to return to the scene of the accident. The woman and her scooter were located more than 80 feet from the scene of the accident.

Vagts and his wife reportedly were running late for a dentist appointment, and they also confessed to being lost.

Newton District Court Judge Dyanne J. Klein, who meted out the sentencing, also ordered Vagts to stay in his home and wear a GPS monitoring bracelet. The judge has granted him permission to leave the house for medical appointments only. He has had his driving privilege revoked in addition to the mandatory 15-year license revocation associated with vehicular homicide. Under the circumstances of this accident, the man could have faced nearly three years in jail.

“This defendant has now admitted and accepted responsibility for his role in the death of Marcia Kearney,” said Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone.

Vagts has also been sentenced to pay restitution to the woman’s family for storage fees, as well as to write a letter of apology.

These types of accidents, ones that involve senior-citizen drivers, oftentimes bring up questions and concerns regarding these individuals’ ability to safely navigate our roadways in a motor vehicle. Unfortunately, many of these elderly drivers are unable to recognize when their driving skills have diminished, and that they’ve likely become a hazard on Boston roads. Loved ones of these individuals are oftentimes hesitant to bring up this problem with an elderly family member in fear of offending anyone.

Here are some signs to help identify whether an elderly driver is at a significant risk for a car accident:

-Getting lost in areas that were at one time familiar.

-Dents and scratches appearing on the vehicle with no memory of how they got there.

-Failing to abide by speed limits.

-Frequent occurrences of near-hit accidents.

-Overwhelming sensation from road signs, signals and traffic.

If you feel that an elderly family member or other loved one may be experiencing any of the signs listed above, you’re urged to talk to them about their safety on our roadways. Bringing it to their attention may be the only way to help keep them from a serious accident. Remember, giving up the ability to drive has nothing to do with their independence and they can still leave a healthy and exciting, but safe, life!
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In a recent study, more than 90 percent of 16-year-old drivers said their driving skills are above average, and in fact were better than half of all drivers on our roadways. CNN reports that this is an impossible mathematical equation!

Psychologists have dubbed this perspective illusive superiority, which means that an individual has a tendency to overestimate his or her positive qualities while underestimating negative ones. Many of these teen drivers feel that their driving skills are too advanced to ever be involved in a car accident in Massachusetts or elsewhere.

Our Boston teen car accident attorneys understand that these young drivers need extra education and supervision to help ensure their safety on our roadways. In an attempt to help reduce their risks of accidents, Toyota is funding 10 research projects at six U.S. universities. These projects are different in that instead of looking at the dynamics of a vehicle, they’ll be examining characteristics of the driver. The studies will focus on newly-licensed drivers and the effects of driver distractions. Additionally, to help teens cut down on this dangerous driving behavior, Toyota is offering free 2.5 hour, hands-on defensive driving programs.

The car company may have ulterior motives, like cleaning up its reputation. About two years ago, Toyota’s reputation was smashed when a recall crisis involving faulty brakes plagued the nation. Although NASA officials faulty gas pedals and flimsy floor mats, conclusions later suggested that the accidents were mostly caused by driver error.

A study that took place at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute revealed some alarming footage from dashboard cameras, including teens applying makeup, talking, texting and eating while behind the wheel. In one vehicle, researchers witnessed a car accident that threw a distracted driver out of the window. The teen was not wearing a seat belt. As a matter of fact, most teens don’t wear a seat belt in a vehicle even though these young motorists are three times more likely to be involved in a deadly car accident.

Researchers have concluded that many motorists find driving to be boring, which is why many drivers engage in distracting behaviors. In a study that examined 69 accidents, 54 of them were caused by driver inattention.

According to distraction.gov, there were nearly 5,500 people killed in traffic accidents in the U.S. in 2009 that involved a distracted driver. Drivers under the age of 20 are most likely to be involved in a distraction-related accident. Distractions delay a driver’s ability to react to the same level as a driver who is legally drunk.

In Massachusetts, drivers who are under the age of 18, as well as bus drivers, are prohibited from using a hand-held communications device including cell phones while operating a motor vehicle. All drivers in the state are banned from text messaging while behind the wheel.
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are a number of weather and street conditions that can contribute to your risks of being involved in a car accident in Massachusetts. According to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Motor Vehicle Crash Operator Report, you are required to report the condition of the weather and the road during the accident. You can report if the weather/roads were, dry, wet, snowy, icy, sandy, muddy, dirty, oily, slushy, foggy, windy or any other condition.

Our Boston car accident attorneys would like to remind motorists to adjust their driving habits according to the weather conditions. As we head into fall and eventually into winter, weather conditions can make driving rather difficult. When these conditions are poor, your risks for being involved in an accident increase.

The time or day also has an impact on your safety and your risks of a car accident. The accident report also leaves a section for you to check off the light conditions; daylight, dawn, dusk, dark, etc.

Poor weather conditions can contribute to accidents that normal weather would typically not cause. Because of the number of storms that we’ve already experienced this year, many residents cannot afford to take any more days off of work and will make the trek through any ad all dangerous weather conditions.

“Police continue to respond to numerous spinouts, disabled motor vehicles and minor crashes caused by the weather,” said the Massachusetts State Police.

As the temperature drops, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety offers drivers these reminders:

-Get enough sleep and avoid driving while drowsy.

-Never attempt to warm up your car in a garage or any other enclosed area.

-Make sure that your tired are properly inflated. Underinflated tires increase your risks of an accident on our roadways.

-Never combine radial tires with any other type of tire on your vehicle. Make sure that all four tires are the same and are properly fitted for your car.

-Always keep your gas tank half full so that you’re less likely to experience gas line freeze-up.

-Try not to use your parking brake in snowy, cold or rainy weather.

-Never use cruise control when you’re navigating along a slippery surface, whether it be icy, snowy or sandy.

-Always buckle up when your drive, regardless of how short your trip may be.

-Keep an eye on the local weather reports.

-Make sure to have a safety kit in your vehicle that includes gloves, hats, food, water, a cell phone and blankets.

-If you’ve broken down, tie a brightly colors piece of cloth to eh top of your vehicle’s antenna to help to alert motorists and to signal distress. Keep the dome light on in your vehicle if possible. This light only uses a tiny bit of electricity and will help emergency response personnel so find you.

-Always make sure that your exhaust pipe is clear of any snow.

Severe weather is both frightening and dangerous. Drivers are urged to review these rules and consider creating a safety plan to deal with a roadside emergency. Practice extreme caution when driving in shoddy weather conditions.
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