Car Accidents

January 24, 2018

Litigating a Fatal Boston Car Crash Lawsuit

Each year car accidents many car accidents in Boston result in serious personal injury, but some result in death. Unfortunately, the numbers are getting worse instead of better as the Boston Globe reported the number of traffic deaths has risen nearly 50 percent in recent years. When a victim dies in a car accident, as opposed to only suffering injuries, decedent is still the plaintiff, but the case is filed in the name of decedent’s estate, and a representative of plaintiff stands in for the decedent when it comes to settlement negotiations or going to court should the case fail to settle.

The Need for a Probate Estate in a Boston Wrongful Death Car Crash

These cases will be filed with the name of the decedent’s estate on the caption as well as name of the estate’s representative. This representative is ultimately chosen by the Family and Probate court in Suffolk County, but the decedent, through a last will and testament may have a say in the matter posthumously. In the event decedent died with a valid last will and testament, this instrument will declare who he or she had selected as the personal representative of his or her probate estate. If it is clear, and this person is willing and able to accept responsibility, courts generally honor a decedent’s request. Hopefully, a lawyer prepared decedent’s will because when people attempt to use so-called online legal help services, things can get very messy and lead to a lot of problems between family members. Continue reading

January 17, 2018

T-Bone Car Crashes in Boston Area Cause Serious Damage

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

T-bone accidents occur all the time and they can result in some of the most severe damage in any type of car accident. A T-bone accident involves the front-end of one car colliding with the plaintiff’s car on the side where the doors are located. A Boston T-bone car accident can involve the driver’s side or the passenger side of the vehicle. The reason they are potentially so dangerous or even deadly is because the side of a vehicle offers much less protection than the front or rear of a vehicle. Fortunately, modern cars do have one or more airbags located on the vehicle to protect from side impacts, but while they do help, they are not perfect and plaintiffs are still severely injured.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Highway Loss Data Institute (IIHSHLDI) has been keeping statistics for years and has determined that improvements designed to reduce front-impact damage have been far more successful than efforts to reduce the number of serious injuries in side-impact car accidents. To make matters worse, as the size of SUVs and Pickup trucks have increased over the years, especially with the use of lift-kits, the point of impact on the front end of a typical defendant’s car is much higher than in decades past so this has also increased the number of T-bone car crashes with serious or fatal injuries that occur in the Greater Boston area. Continue reading

January 5, 2018

Boston Car Crashes Involving Government Vehicles

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Most car crashes in Boston involve two or more vehicles, typically owned by private citizens, though sometimes by corporations. In some cases, vehicles involved may be owned by a local, state, or federal agency. If the driver deemed to be at-fault in the accident was driving a government vehicle, this may complicate the matter of compensation due to the doctrine of sovereign immunity.

The doctrine of sovereign immunity comes from British common law, where essentially held the king was above the law. This term sovereign have been retained long after kings and queens ruled the land. Today, the term is used to refer to a state or federal government or what are known as political subdivisions of the government in the Massachusetts General Laws.

Cases involving government vehicles or employees must be carefully handled by an experienced Boston car accident attorney. Continue reading

December 19, 2017

A Mistake Can Still Be Negligence in Boston Car Accidents

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Although many car accidents do not involve any malicious intent by the at-fault driver, and may indeed by “honest mistakes,” that’s still not necessarily the accurate legal conclusion. That’s because each and every time a motorist gets behind the wheel of a vehicle in Massachusetts, he or she owes a duty of care to use reasonable and prudent caution.

Failure to do so – even in the event it was not intentional – is negligence, and grounds for compensation if injuries resulted.

So for instance, accidentally stepping on the gas when you mean to hit the break could be failure to use reasonable care, even if you didn’t mean to take the action you did.

December 13, 2017

Litigating Boston Truck-Car Accidents in Boston

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Boston truck accidents are often inherently more serious and legally complex than a typical auto accident case. First, there are often more personal injuries, given the weight and size differential of semi-trucks to passenger vehicles. The chances of death may be much higher given the sheer force of impact.

From a legal standpoint, we are often dealing with numerous defendants. While some drivers own their rigs, it’s more typical for a carrier to own the rig and either hire the driver as an employee or an independent contractor. In some cases, the trailer may be owned by an entity other than the carrier. This was done in part to shield these companies from liability as much as possible, and it does make it trickier for injury lawyers to sort through the web of business contracts and liability insurance policies that may be applicable.

If the driver is an employee, the trucking company can be held vicariously liable per the legal doctrine of respondeat superior, or Latin for “let the master answer.” It isn’t necessary to prove the trucking company did anything wrong, only that the driver was negligent and acting in the course and scope of employment. However, that same doctrine does not apply when truckers are independent contractors. That doesn’t mean legal action against the company is impossible, but it does mean negligence will need to be proven, and there will most likely be numerous defendants.

December 7, 2017

Litigating a Fatal Boston Car Accident

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Fatal car accident lawsuits in Boston are often very complex and best handled by an experienced personal injury lawyer who has a track record of success in deadly crash litigation. While fault may seem a fairly straightforward issue, there are also matters of causation and comparative negligence and damages that have to be sorted out. Many of these cases require hundreds of hours of research and analysis and usually necessitate expert witness testimony.

According to a recent article from News 7 Boston, one person was killed in a three-car accident in Medfield, Massachusetts. Medfield is located to the south and east of the city of Boston. Authorities have said the fatal crash, which occurred on Route 109, occurred at around 2 p.m. and involved the driver of a Jeep who was allegedly speeding prior to the accident that involved a collision with two other vehicles and one where the jeep completed flipped over and came to a stop resting on its roof.

Aside from the man declared dead at the scene, another victim was rushed to Tufts Medical Center, a level-one trauma center located in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood. A third person was also injured, but his injuries were not as severe as the other two. This person was taken to a local hospital in an ambulance.

As our Boston car accident lawyers can explain, the Massachusetts State Police (MSP) will send in an investigation and accident reconstruction team to work with local police in conducting a full investigation into the cause of the crash. This does not mean there will necessarily be any criminal charges filed, as the state police investigate all fatal car accidents.

It should be noted that the conclusions of law enforcement are not necessarily final when it comes to the question of fault. Although those findings can be used in your civil lawsuit, those facts were gathered for the purpose of investigating traffic infractions and criminal charges – the outcome of which will be totally separate from any civil litigation. That’s why contacting an attorney as soon as possible is smart, so we can immediately begin our own gathering of evidence and analysis. Continue reading

November 29, 2017

Using Expert Witnesses in Boston Car Accident Lawsuits

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Most Boston car accident cases will settle prior to even being filed in the Suffolk Superior Court. In some cases, when a settlement offer by the at-fault driver’s insurance company is insufficient, the case will be filed in court, and then often settled prior to trial. A small number of claims will end up going to trial. In these situations, there may be the need for expert witnesses to be consulted and even to testify at trial.

The need for an expert witnesses is determined by the subject matter of the evidence being offered. Many things presented as evidence in the form of witness testimony or exhibits is considered to within the purview of the layperson on the jury. Anyone who is not an exert in a certain field relevant to the evidence is a layperson under the law. Continue reading

November 20, 2017

Statutes of Limitations, Damages in a Fatal Boston Car Accident

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

A car accident often results in serious personal injury. The worst Boston car accidents result in one of more fatalities. These fatal Boston car crashes will obviously be emotionally devastating for friends and family, but they can be financially upending as well. They decedent will no longer be there to work and provide money for his or her family and there will also be all of the costs associated with the burial. These are all types of damages that can be claimed in a car accident wrongful death action filed under the legal theory of negligence.

According to a report from the Mayor’s Office for the City of Boston, as part of the Vision Zero program, the city estimates 25 people are killed annually – and nearly half of them are pedestrians. The name Vision Zero comes from the vision of the program to reduce the number of traffic-related fatalities down to zero.

November 14, 2017

Proving Liability in Car Accidents

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

In many Boston car accidents, there is often no question as to fault. These are called clear liability cases by attorneys and insurance company claims adjusters. For example, if a car is stopped at a red light and the driver behind that person is not paying attention and slams into the back of the plaintiff’s car, there is a presumption of liability. Some accidents such as ones that occur in an intersection may require more investigation to learn who had the right of way to enter the intersection. In some cases, it may seem like it was simply an accident that was not either driver’s fault, yet this may not always be a correct assumption and one of the drivers will have a valid personal injury claim.

Under the law in Massachusetts, a tort is defined as civil wrong for which the law provides a remedy. There are essentially two types of tortiuous conduct including negligent conduct and intentional conduct. Continue reading

November 7, 2017

Teen Driving Accidents in Boston involving Rollovers

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

While many more teen driving accidents occurred during the roughly 100 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day ( the 100 Deadliest Days for Teen Drivers), the winter also posses a significant risk for teen drivers who are not accustomed to driving in winter weather conditions. Teens tend to take unnecessary risks with snow and ice and that makes matters worse. The result is often a serious or even deadly rollover accident.

Rollover Crash Characteristics

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) keeps detailed statistics on rollover crashes across the U.S. including the number of fatal rollover crashes. This data is separated into various “characteristics” of rollover crashes. The following are some significant findings from the study: Continue reading