Articles Posted in Car Accidents

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In Boston, a troubling number of car accidents involve an at-fault driver flees the scene. Some of these are fatal crashes.  The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Highway Loss Data Institute (IIHSHLDI) keeps statistics by states on the number of fatal crashes by year.  According to their findings, in 2015, there were 291 fatal crashes resulting in 306 deaths.  The number of traffic fatalities is lower than the number of deaths because some fatal Massachusetts car crashes result in more than a single fatality.

Boston car accident lawsuits When a driver flees the scene of a crash, it can cause difficulties for those who are trying to obtain compensation for injuries. The good news is there are options (in particular, uninsured motorist coverage). As for the reason these drivers flee, it often comes down to either intoxication and a fear of being charged with serious crimes (such as vehicular homicide) by prosecutors. In other cases, it’s because the fleeing driver did not have a license or the mandated car insurance coverage.  Continue reading

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According to a recent news article from the Boston Globe, firefighters had to cut a woman free from a mangled car in Duxbury, Massachusetts. Authorities have said the vehicle was carrying a 31-year-old mother, her husband, and their eight-month-old daughter at the time of the serious Boston area car crash.

highway accidents BostonWhile the exact cause of the accident is still under investigation, initial findings indicate the driver of the vehicle lost control and spun out before entering the woods.  When the vehicle entered the woods, it was allegedly traveling at a high rate of speed and crashed into a tree.  Continue reading

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Whenever there is a car crash in Boston, the drivers and occupants should call the police and exchange insurance information.  There are various components of a car insurance policy including liability to others for personal property damage (car), liability to others for personal injury, comprehensive coverage, and personal injury protection (PIP) for injury to one’s self.

car accident BostonLiability for injury to others including personal injury and property damage is the most important competent of defendant’s insurance binder when dealing with a Boston car accident lawsuit. When a car insurance policy is sold in the Commonwealth, there is a base amount of liability coverage that must be purchased by the policy holder who is called the insured driver. Continue reading

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While just a few years ago, self-driving cars seemed more like science fiction than reality, it now appears they will be regular fixtures on the road sooner rather than later. While Google is still devolving its system that uses advanced radar, GPS, an an array of camera’s, the high end electric car company Tesla has managed to get its models on the road already.

Boston car accidentsThe Tesla version is not a true self-driving car like have seen in movies such as”Demolition Man.” In that movie, a person could get in the car, tell the car where they want to go and let the car do the rest.  This is what Google is working on, and they have taken some fully automated rides around California, but the company is not where it needs to be yet in terms of safety testing and reliability. Continue reading

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Boston area car accidents often involve only  vehicles owned by private citizens, but on occasion, they can involve vehicles owned by a municipal  government.  If the driver of the government owned vehicle was responsible for the crash, the legal doctrine known as sovereign immunity comes into play.  In the Commonwealth, that doctrine is codified in Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 258, Section 4, which is the tort claims act.

Boston car accidentsThe tort claims act was designed to protect  state and local governments from liability in lawsuits, and to limit the extent of the damages awards in lawsuits that can be filed. This goes back to the time when there was a king of England and he did not want the crown to be sued.  Eventually this morphed into what we know today as the doctrine of sovereign immunity. Continue reading

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It is the responsibility of every motorist to drive in a safe and responsible manner to prevent a foreseeable injury to persons and property.  Failure to do so is considered a form of  negligence. This act of negligence could be the basis for a Boston car accident lawsuit.

Boston Car Accidents While there is a lot of personal responsibility in preventing serious and fatal car accidents, there is also a lot the city can do to prevent car accidents.  This involves making the streets as safe as possible for everyone driving, walking, and riding a bike on the streets of Boston and the surrounding areas.  The city can also make sure signage is helpful and appropriate and drivers are properly educated.

Government agencies that fail to correct poor road design, maintenance or dangerous conditions may also be held liable if it contributes to a crash. These cases, however, can be more complicated than a typical negligence lawsuit because one must first overcome hurdles like sovereign immunity, which is waived under the circumstances outlined in M.G.L. Chapter 258, Section 2.

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The majority of Boston car accidents involve more than one vehicle. Many of these are fender-benders with two vehicles, though chain reaction crashes are fairly common on highways and other roads with heavy congestion. car accident

However, getting rear-ended or t-boned may by another car or truck may not be the most dangerous scenario you encounter. In fact, 1 in 5 fatal accidents involves a single vehicle that runs off the road, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Single-vehicle accidents carry their own challenges in terms of compensation. While multiple-vehicle accidents usually have multi-person/ business liability, the same is generally not to true for single-vehicle crashes. There is often only one person to blame – the driver. There may be exceptions in cases where the driver was impaired (per the principle of dram shop liability for violation of MGL Ch. 138 section 34), or in cases where the road was improperly maintained or the vehicle defectively manufactured.

By-and-large, though, single-vehicle crashes are the fault of the driver. In these instances, drivers may be entitled to compensation through their own insurer, while passengers could receive compensation from driver’s insurer and potentially their own uninsured/ underinsured motorist coverage carrier.

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Whenever a car accident occurs in which a vehicle hits a pedestrian, the result is often fatal, and if not fatal, results in serious personal injury that has lifelong damage. There are a variety of ways a pedestrian can be hit by a car, but some accidents do not involve pedestrians in the typical sense of the word.

Boston car accidentsA recent news article from the CBS Local Boston describes one of these accidents that unfortunately proved fatal for a 10-year-old girl.  In that accident, which occurred on the Massachusetts Turnpike (Mass Pike) outside of Boston, two cars had been traveling together to New York and were trying to stay close to each other, as people often do when they are driving in more than one vehicle. Continue reading

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When we think of an auto accident, we normally think of one car hitting another car or truck, or perhaps a collision involving multiple vehicles. While this certainly accounts for most of the car accidents we see in the greater Boston area, there are other types of accidents.

Boston Train Accident According to a recent news article from CBS Local Boston, a man was killed when the pickup truck which he was he was driving was hit by a commuter rail train operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA or “T”). The driver of the truck was 78 years old at the time of this death. Continue reading

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While some cases will go to court and require an actual trial before a judge (bench trial) or even a jury, the clear majority of Boston car accidents will settle prior to going to trial.  The reason for this is because, whenever there is a car accident, we are virtually always dealing with an insurance company.

Boston Car Accident Lawyer Car insurance companies make a lot of money in what is essentially a gamble.  They are taking money from the insured and betting there will not be an accident, or at least if there is, it will cost less to pay for that accident than the amount they receive in premium payments.  However, the insurance company really can’t lose this bet, because they have more than one insured motorist.    They have so many clients that the risk is spread over a pool of drivers.  This means that, as long as they do not pay out more in claims for all of the their insured than they collect in premiums, they will make money. Continue reading

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