Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog
A 31-year-old Massachusetts woman recently killed in a traffic accidnet was still reeling from the loss of her 40-year-old half-brother, according to a recent news report from the Boston Globe. He died from an illness in September 2016. She had just gotten a tattoo on her wrist with his name and astrological sign.
She said that looking at the tattoo helped keep him alive. This was two weeks before she herself died in a tragic Middleboro car accident. On that day, she reportedly got in her 2011 Infiniti and got on Interstate 495. However, for reasons that are not fully known at this time, she entered via the off-ramp and began traveling in the wrong direction. Her car then car struck another vehicle carrying four college students that was traveling in the correct direction. These students attended various colleges in the Central Massachusetts area. They were all between the age of 18 and 20. All four students were killed in this wrong-way crash in addition to the woman alleged to be responsible for the crash.
As this crash is still under investigation, they do not know why she was traveling in the wrong direction. They have no indication that she was under the influence of alcohol, but a spokesperson for the Massachusetts State Police (MSP) said it is standard practice following a deadly car accident to do a full autopsy with toxicology.
If you are involved in a serious Boston car accident involving multiple victims, you want to call an experienced attorney as soon as possible. The reason for this is because all car insurance policies have a limit on the total amount of money they will pay to a single accident victim for a single accident (per person/per personal injury) and a total they will pay for all injuries resulting from the accident (per claim). In an accident where four to five people were killed, it is not hard to imagine that the total policy limits will be exceeded rather quickly. It should also be noted that, in many cases, the insurance company might pay claims as they get them and has no interest in dividing the money equally. This is to say that, in some cases, they settle claims in a first come first served manner and you do not want to be the last one to file.
This is not to say that the defendant’s insurance policy is your only way to recover money for your losses. If you own a vehicle or someone in your household owns a vehicle, and that vehicle is insured, you may be able to collect under what is known as underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage. Whenever you get an insurance policy for your vehicle, you have the limits your company will pay in liability for property damage and personal injury to others. These limits are also the same limits they will pay you or someone in your household when a UIM claim is made. Even if you have never heard of UIM insurance, the law in Massachusetts states that, unless you specifically rejected UIM coverage, you have it. It should also be noted that you do not have to be in the vehicle at the time of the accident to make a claim for UIM payment.
If you are injured in an accident in Massachusetts, call Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers for a free and confidential appointment — (617) 777-7777.
Additional Resources:
Wrong-way crash leaves families shattered, October 25, 2016, By Laura Crimaldi and Cristela Guerra, Boston Globe
More Blog Entries:
Boy Survives Internal Decapitation in Car Accident, June 21, 2016, Boston Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer Blog