Articles Posted in Car Accidents

In Floyd-Tunnell v. Shelter Mut. Ins. Co., an appeal argued in the Missouri Supreme Court, the plaintiff’s husband was killed in a car crash with an at-fault driver who did not have car insurance. As your Boston car accident lawyer can explain, courts refer to this type of driver as an uninsured motorist (UM).

At the time this fatal car accident occurred, the plaintiff and her husband were the named insured drivers on three liability policies for three vehicles that they owned. All three car insurance policies where purchased with the same carrier. Each of these policies provided UM limits of $100,000.

UM coverage is a type of insurance that a driver can purchase to cover himself or herself in the event of an accident with someone who does not have car insurance. While it is illegal to drive without car insurance, many people are out on the roads with no insurance every day. In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, driving an uninsured motor vehicle is a crime punishable by up to a year in the house of corrections.

If someone who does not have insurance hits you, and you have UM coverage, the idea is that your insurance will pay you for your losses up to the limits of your UM insurance. If you have more than one vehicle, you may be able to apply the coverage from those other vehicles through what is called the stacking of UM coverage. In other words, if you are in an accident with an uninsured motorist, and you have $30,000 of UM coverage on the car you are driving, you could get that money to help with the losses you experienced from the car accident. If you have another car at home with UM coverage, you could possibly get that $30,000, as well, by stacking the two UM plans together.
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According to a recent article from Boston.com, a clown suffered what is being reported as minor injuries when she crashed her clown car into a utility pole. The woman was driving home from a show at a local elementary school and was still wearing her clown makeup and costume.

Approximately 10 of her friends (also clowns) arrived on scene to help the woman. It is alleged that the victim was attempting to operate her GPS and was looking away from the road when she ran into the utility pole. As noted by the author of the article, her friends drove away from the accident in separate cars instead of all crowding into the tiny clown car.

While this story ended without any significant injuries, our Boston car accident lawyers know that distracted drivers cause many serious and sometimes fatal car accidents each year. According to statistical information provided by the US. Government, in 2012, it was estimated that more than 420,000 people were injured car accidents caused by distracted drivers. The number of distracted driving-related fatalities that year was around 3,300 people.
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Inman v. Boykin, an appeal heard in the Supreme Court of Wyoming, involved a driver of a rental car who was allegedly driving in a negligent manner and crashed into another vehicle.

The first issue that arose is that the plaintiff filed the lawsuit against the both the driver and the rental car company. As your Boston car accident lawyer can explain, there is often an issue as to who is a proper party to the action in the case of a rental van or truck. There tend to be a lot of accidents in rental moving trucks because drivers are not properly trained and generally lack experience driving such large vehicles.

In Inman, the plaintiff filed the lawsuit against both defendants but did not immediately serve the either party. The plaintiff was having difficulty serving the defendants and moved for additional time for service. The trial court granted the plaintiff an additional 120 days to serve the plaintiff, based upon excusable neglect.

The plaintiff eventually served the defendant with an out-of-state summons form that was not properly authorized by the clerk of court. The defendant moved to dismiss on grounds that service was improper and that the plaintiff was time-barred from filing a civil lawsuit. The plaintiff filed a reply, but the court dismissed the plaintiff’s case with prejudice.
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According to a recent story in the Boston Herald, a car containing three people crashed into a Boston Fire Department station located in the Charlestown neighborhood of the city. Emergency personnel were able to quickly respond to the vehicle and transport the three occupants to a local hospital. Two of the people in the car were reported as being in life-threatening condition due to their substantial injuries.

The vehicle reportedly hit a gas pump located at the fire station. The pump was damaged but, luckily, there was not a gasoline leak that could have caused an explosion or fire. Firefighters used the Jaws of Life to cut the victims out of the car. Authorities have not released a cause of the accident.

Our Boston car accident attorneys understand that a single-vehicle accident caused by a negligent driver may result in serious personal injuries to passengers. These injured passengers may be required to file a personal injury claim against the driver.
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Our Boston car accident lawyers know that victims of traffic collisions can get caught in the middle of a fight between doctors and insurance companies who are more concerned with making money than helping accident victims.

MI Spine & Brain Surgeons, PLLC v. State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co., an appeal from the U.S. Sixth Circuit, involves a lawsuit between a surgical clinic and their patient’s car insurance company. According to court records, the car accident victim sustained injures that required more than $26,000 in neurological treatment.

The doctor’s office submitted the bill to the car insurance company, but the company rejected the claim. The reason for the rejection was that the medical condition for which the patient was treated was not related to any injuries sustained in the car accident. The insurance company alleged that their insured was suffering from a preexisting condition that was not covered under the policy.
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Our Boston car accident lawyers regularly handle cases involving hit-and-run drivers and know that these situations often require the assistance of a crash investigator.

According to a recent article in the Boston Globe, a man from Chelsea is alleged to have made an improper lane change while speeding on the lower level of the Tobin Bridge.

The Massachusetts State Police reported the driver caused a three-car accident on the bridge and then fled the scene on foot, leaving a female passenger in his own vehicle. The two other cars involved in the accident contained a total of two children and five adults who were taken to Massachusetts General Hospital for their injures.

While the at-fault driver did not stay on the scene, the police were easily able to obtain his identification from his passenger and vehicle and have issued a summons to court to address charges related this hit-and-run accident.
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Our Boston car accident lawyers know traffic accidents are seldom “accidents.”

According to a recent report in the Boston Globe, four people were injured in a head-on collision in East Dennis, Massachusetts. Police are saying that the driver of one of the vehicles involved in the crash drifted over the center line and hit another vehicle carrying three people.

The driver of the vehicle alleged to be at-fault suffered severe injuries to her chest and abdomen and was flown in a medevac helicopter to a trauma center. The driver of the other vehicle suffered serious injuries to her head and neck. In addition to the serious injures sustained by the driver, her two young grandchildren suffered what are being reported as minor injuries from the car accident.
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In Carter v. Progressive Mountain Ins., the Supreme Court of Georgia explored the issue of whether Underinsured Motorist (UM) coverage could based upon the wording of a settlement with the at-fault driver’s insurance company.

In Carter, the plaintiff was in a car accident that was allegedly caused by an intoxicated driver. The drunk driver had a policy with a maximum of $30,000 in coverage per personal injury. The plaintiff entered into a settlement with the at-fault driver’s carrier in the amount of thirty thousand dollars. However, the settlement agreement provided that $29,000 of the settlement payment would be for punitive damages and the remaining $1,000 would be for compensatory damages.

The plaintiff then filed with her own insurance carrier to collect on her UM policy. She had a UM policy in the amount of $25,000. As your Boston car accident lawyer can explain, UM coverage can be purchased from your own insurance company and is designed to compensate you for any damages that are over and above what is paid by the at-fault driver’s insurance company.
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A 2005 study revealed as many as one driver out of every 10 at-fault drivers flee after a motor vehicle accident. As the Gazette reported, however, drivers who flee from a crash tend to leave evidence behind that can make it possible for law enforcement to find them.

When a driver leaves the scene of a collision, this has serious consequences for the victim. If the hit-and-run driver is not found, the victim could be unable to make an injury claim against the motorist responsible for causing injuries. An uninsured motorist claim may be the only option for the victim to obtain compensation for losses. An experienced Boston hit and run accident lawyer can help motorists who have been injured in a hit-and-run to understand their options and take action.
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The nations roads and bridges are in serious trouble, and drivers are facing the consequences. As USA Today reports, a lack of money to repair roads and bridges may soon cause “seemingly endless traffic backups.” Unfortunately, when roads and bridges are not properly maintained, auto accidents result.

Collisions caused by defective roads can give rise to injury claims. These types of cases are complicated because victims who wish to pursue legal action may need to deal with laws granting limited government immunity. An experienced Boston car accident lawyer should be consulted for help after a collision that occurs due to problems with roadways.
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