Car Accidents

January 1, 2016

Boston Motorists Can Become Better Drivers in 2016

The vast majority of motorists believe themselves to be good drivers. In fact, CNN reported on motorists interviewed by Allstate who touted their own driving abilities and indicated they had good skills behind the wheel. Although motorists were confident in their own abilities, they were less confident about the skills of others. In fact, the majority of motorists who were surveyed said most others were bad drivers.

While you may believe yourself to be a good driver, the reality is most motorists have dangerous habits- even those who said they were safe behind the wheel.

As the new year approaches, it may be time to make a change and curb the behaviors which are putting you at risk due to unsafe driving. When you make your resolutions this year, you should strongly consider resolving to become a better driver in 2016.

December 22, 2015

Holiday Travel Safety Key for Boston Drivers to Avoid Collisions

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

The holiday season is one of the busiest travel times of the entire year. This means an increased risk of motor vehicle collisions because of more drivers on the roads. Not only do motorists have to contend with roads that are more crowded, but the holidays are also a time when a lot of people consume alcohol, which means there could be drunk drivers on the road to deal with as well.

Drivers need to understand the added risks associated with the holiday travel season and should do everything they can to try to reduce the chances they will get hurt or hurt others.

December 18, 2015

Boston Drivers Can Stay Safe While Operating on Ice

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Motorists face many winter car accident risks, but ice is one of the most dangerous conditions in terms of increasing the chances an accident will happen.

Massachusetts Department of Transportation has many tips for motorists to stay safe during winter driving season, including clearing snow and ice from vehicles, paying attention at all times, and leaving plenty of room to stop a vehicle.

No matter how careful you are, however, there is always a chance you will hit a patch of ice. When you do, you need to make sure you know how to respond safely so you can reduce the chances of losing control of your car and hitting another object or individual.

December 15, 2015

Tips for Boston Drivers to Avoid Winter Car Accidents

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

DCF 1.0 Boston winters are notorious for being dangerous for motorists. High wind speed, snow and rain, fog, and cold pavement temperatures can all significantly increase the risk motorists will get hurt on the roads.

Drivers need to be aware of some of the biggest dangers associated with winter car accidents and need to make sure they are taking precautions so they can keep themselves safe and so they can reduce the chance of hurting themselves or others. Continue reading

December 13, 2015

Stensland v. Harding County: Assumption of Risk

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Stensland v. Harding County, a personal injury case from the Supreme Court of South Dakota, involved a plaintiff who was injured when he drove over a washed out portion of the road. Prior to his accident, a local resident, whose driveway was along a county road, was traveling east with his family on the county road after it had been snowing and raining during the prior week. He ran over a ditch and then stopped to further investigate the condition of the road.

Wrong way sign post

Upon further investigation, he noticed a hole in the road and water in another ditch. He stomped down on that section of road with his foot, and it collapsed. His wife called county officials to tell them of the collapse and the condition of the road in general. During the trial, the county official who received the warning call said he placed signs on that section of road, and he put what he referred to as a type I barricade near that section with a road closed sign prominently displayed. Continue reading

December 9, 2015

Natick Car Crash Proves Fatal

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent report from WHDH Boston, one man died in a fatal car accident in Natick, Massachusetts in Middlesex County just outside of Boston. Authorities have said three pedestrians were in front of a store when a car came flying toward them and hit them.

The alleged at-fault driver was an 80-year-old woman in a Buick, of which she apparently lost control before hitting the group of men. Other witnesses to the horrific accident said she was clearly driving above the posted speed limit, which caused the vehicle to lose control, hit a curb, and fly into the air before crashing into the three men. Continue reading

November 30, 2015

For Elderly, Not Driving May Avoid Accidents But Linked to Health Concerns

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Many people have parents or other relativities who are getting older, and it may seem like it may be best for everyone if they are no longer driving. This can be a particularly difficult conversation to have, but, in the end, many will do whatever they have to in order to keep the person from driving in the future.

While everyone’s intentions are good, a recent news feature from AAA suggests that taking away an elderly family member’s keys can put that individual at a higher risk for serious health problems. A recent study has found that elderly adults who are no longer driving are nearly twice as a likely to suffer from depression. These non-drivers are also around five times as likely to move into a nursing home or other long term care residence than adults of the same age who are still driving. Continue reading

November 28, 2015

Automatic Emergency Braking Added to Five Star Car Crash Safety Rating

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Every year we hear about new safety features available on new cars. There was a time when people wanted nothing to do with safety features. For example, when the first seatbelt was invented, as adapted from airplane technology, drivers wanted nothing to do with it. This was also at a time when dashboards were made out of wood and other hard materials not designed to absorb impact.

These days, people generally want safety features on their cars, especially if they have a family car. Today, we generally see new safety features first available on luxury cars, and then eventually become standard equipment. Since car buyers pay a lot of attention to safety ratings and look for that 5-Star rating, manufacturers will try to get their cars highly rated. The criteria of that rating system is constantly changing, and, according to a recent news release from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), NHTSA is adding automatic emergency braking to the five-star criteria. Automatic braking will be required to get a five-star safety rating beginning with 2018 model year vehicles. Continue reading

November 26, 2015

NHTSA Offers Advice on How Parents Should Speak with Teens About Safe Driving

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

The time between Memorial Day and Labor Day each year is known as the “100 Deadliest Days” for teen driving. It is during this time of year that teens are out of school and on the roads. These leads to a lot of car accidents, some of them involving serious bodily injury or death.

There are a lot of reasons for this annual increase in teen driving accidents, including teens not wearing seatbelts, riding with more passengers than the car was designed to handle, and underage drinking of alcohol combined with driving. With respect to extra passengers, it should be noted that it is never safe for anyone, whether it is an adult or a child, to ride as a passenger in someone else’s lap, or to have anyone riding in the bed of a pickup truck or cargo area of an SUV. These areas are extremely dangerous, and there is no safety mechanism in place to prevent injuries to these extra passengers. Continue reading

November 22, 2015

Cranberry Truck Crash Results in Serious Injury

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Many people may remember a time when cranberries were only eaten on Thanksgiving. Around the late 1980s and into the early 1990s, Ocean Spray and other large producers spent a great deal of money marketing the cranberry as a year-round food. They created recipes for things such as cranberry muffins, which never existed before, but, in time, people began to eat these products all year, and the price of the berries rose dramatically.

While these companies have tried to grow the berries in other countries with lax ecological and agricultural laws, allowing them to use floating combine harvesters, which kill the plants, many of the berries are still grown in bogs in New England, as they have for many years. Continue reading