car accident attorney

March 23, 2018

Street De-Icers Cause Billions a Year in Vehicle Rust Damage, Placing Road Users at Risk

Modern road de-icing techniques, which employ chemicals over the traditional salt, results in $3 billion in damage annually in vehicle rust damage, according to AAA. U.S. drivers paid approximately $15.5 billion over the last five years on repairing vehicles damaged by rust. The exact extent of the problem is likely even worse because those only account for the drivers who took the time to address their rust-related car problems.

Rust on cars is nothing new. Several businesses capitalize on it, selling special car covers and anti-rust treatments. One episode of the once-beloved NPR show Car Talk focused on the type of havoc rust can wreak on a vehicle. One listener wrote into the show to ask if the owner of a car with excessive rust in the suspension, braking and fuel lines should be concerned with the overall general safety of the vehicle. The hosts responded with an emphatic, “Yes!” noting that while most people think of rust as a cosmetic problem, the reality is that when rust works its way into the structure or frame of the car, it poses a serious safety issue.

Vehicle owners who fail to address obvious rust may find themselves facing a liability lawsuit for negligent maintenance of a vehicle. While we tend to see this claim more often in truck accident cases where large corporate carriers don’t adequately maintain their fleet, we can also bring such a claim against private vehicle owners when there is evidence they neglected to address basic maintenance issues that could foreseeably impact safety and played a role in the crash. Continue reading

April 23, 2017

Woman Killed After Crashing Car into Eyeglass Store in Medford

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent news article from The Boston Herald, a woman was killed after crashing her car into an eyeglass store in Medford, Massachusetts just north of Boston. The accident occurred in the early morning hours.

A spokesperson for the Massachusetts State Police (MSP) has said victim was the only person in the car, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities do not know of the cause of the accident, but they are not ruling out a medical cause. Continue reading

March 26, 2017

Taxi Company Liable for Injuries Caused by Negligent Driver/ Non-Employee

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

The doctrine of respondeat superior (Latin for “let the master answer”) holds that an employer can be vicariously liable for the actions of an employee who is acting in the course and scope of employment.

That sounds fairly simple, but there is actually a lot to unpack in that statement. For example, vicarious liability means the company can be liable even if it didn’t directly do anything wrong. There is also the distinction between, say, an independent contractor, and an actual employee. Questions might also be raised about whether a worker was acting in the course and scope of employment, even if he or she wasn’t technically on-the-clock.

This brings us to a recent case out of California, considered by the California Court of Appeals for the Second Appellate District, Division Five. The car accident injury lawsuit involved a motorcyclist who was struck by a man driving a taxi. The taxi driver turned left into the path of the man on the motorcycle, who was ejected from his bike. The motorcyclist suffered serious injuries as a result and filed a lawsuit against not just the driver, but the the company whose insignia and branding was emblazoned on the vehicle. Continue reading

March 15, 2017

Auto Insurance Complications When Vehicle Use is Both Professional and Personal

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Many people drive as part of their daily work routine. Some do so specifically to further the business of their employer. In cases where an at-fault driver was acting in the course and scope of employment, the employer may be found vicariously liable for its employee’s negligence – even if the employer wasn’t in any way directly negligent (i.e., negligent hiring, negligent supervision, failure to properly maintain vehicle, etc.).

However, when someone has permission to use a company-owned vehicle both for work and personal reasons, questions of liability can get complicated.

This was the matter at hand in a recent case weighed by a California appellate court, where the question was whether the at-fault driver’s personal insurer should be liable to pay a $500,000 arbitration award for a crash that happened while the driver was operating a company vehicle, but not in the course and scope of employment. Continue reading

July 29, 2016

Could Pokemon Go Creators Be Liable for Accidents?

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

The Pokemon Go craze that swept the country resulted in all sorts of bizarre stories about video gamers trolling lawns late at night trying to “catch” the cartoon creatures. But there was on recent report that piqued the interest of our Boston car accident lawyers: That of a 26-year-old man who caused a major accident in Massachusetts after stopping in the middle of the highway to nab a Pikachu.

As it turns out, the story is 100 percent false. Although it gained some traction on social media, it was published on a phony news site.

However, that doesn’t mean the potential for an incident isn’t there. Reports have been made concerning motorists who are hunting down the characters while behind the wheel. What does this mean in terms of liability? Continue reading

July 26, 2016

Report: Massachusetts Auto Insurance Rates to Spike

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Auto insurance rates are expected to rise by nearly 10 percent in the next few months, growing by the fastest rate in more than half a decade.

According to The Boston Globe, insurance companies pin responsibility on falling gas prices and a steadily climbing economy. In turn, officials say, there has been an uptick in Boston car accidents and collisions overall throughout Massachusetts. There was also a record snowfall last year, which also contributed to a large number of accidents.

Of course, the risk with higher auto insurance rates is that not as many people will be able to afford it. Some may opt for bare bones coverage, while others may drop their coverage altogether. This is a bad situation for those injured in car accidents because it limits their legal options for compensation. Continue reading

July 11, 2016

Rental Car Companies Now Have to Repair Recalled Vehicles in Fleet

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

There was a time when nothing would stop rental car companies from renting vehicles that had been recalled without first repairing them. In fact, rental car staffers didn’t even have to disclose to customers that the car had been recalled or that it wasn’t yet fixed. That time was over as of June 1, 2016.

Now, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act of 2015 is now formally in effect, which means rental car companies are prohibited by law from renting out recalled vehicles. Previously, the law only barred selling someone a car with unfixed recalls, but there was no law against renting such a vehicle to the unsuspecting public.

Of course, there are a few exceptions. For example, if the company has fewer than 35 vehicles, it’s exempt. But the good news is most rental car companies have fleets that are much larger than that. Continue reading

July 3, 2016

Cincinnati Ins. Co. v. Estate of Chee – Maximizing Insurance Benefits After Crash

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Boston car accident lawsuits can sometimes involve family members or friends suing one another or the estates of those who did not survive. We know this sometimes sounds kind of terrible. After all, no one wants to sue their loved one. But the goal in these cases is usually not to collect damages from that individual, but rather from the auto insurance or other coverage those individuals might hold.

Let’s face it: If you’re in a serious crash, the bills are going to add up quickly. It’s compounded by the fact that the victim often can’t work during recovery. In some cases, recovery can take months or even years, and victims can be left with lifelong ailments and disabilities. It could also be a matter of helping a decedent’s family regain financial footing after a sudden loss.

But insurance companies are not eager to pay damages, either to their own insureds or to third parties. They are looking to reduce costs wherever they can. Although insurers can’t be named as defendants in car accident lawsuits (liability of the insured first has to be established), there are sometimes disputes against insurance companies that can arise within the context of an accident lawsuit. Let’s take for example Cincinnati Ins. Co. v. Estate of Chee. Continue reading

April 14, 2016

Boston Accident Lawyers Offer Ways to Be a Better Driver

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Boston is the worst.

That is, if you’re driving. Or on a bicycle. Or walking somewhere.

As Boston car accident attorneys, we could have told you that based on our decades of experience. But we’re not the only ones who know. In 2015, Allstate ranked 200 major U.S. cities for the best and worst drivers in the country. Boston ranked dead last. 200th. Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise either that Worcester, MA ranked 199th, Springfield ranked 196th.

So given what we know about the poor driving habits in Boston and beyond, what can we do about it? Continue reading