Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog

According to a Operation Lifesaver, a non-profit that focuses on rail safety across the country, there were 305 deaths at highway-rail grade crossings nationwide in 2007. Mansfield, Norton, and Foxboro have closet to 20 highway-rail grade crossings and those communities have recently experienced tragic train accidents, so state Rep. Jay Barrwos, of Mansfield, and Rep. Betty Poirier, of North Attleboro, teamed up to sponsor a train safety seminar with Operation Lifesaver.

The seminar was held at the Mansfield Public Library and emphasized the importance of being aware when trains are crossing. Look, listen, live. According to Ed O’Connor, the Massachusetts coordinator for Operation Lifesaver, a freight train rolling over a mid-sized sedan can have the same impact on the sedan that a sedan would have running over a 12-ounce soda can. O’Connor added that drivers and pedestrians should not assume that the train will run according to schedule.

All highway-rail grade crossing have signs on the roadside and pavement, but those signs are often overlooked. “Active” crossings ring a bell, flash lights, and block access with a gate when a train in approaching. Drivers who pass over the train tracks in front of an oncoming train incur a $250 fine, plus get $50 a year added to their driver’s insurance policy.

Legislators push for train safety awareness, WickedLocal.com, January 21, 2009

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The Boston Globe recently reported on so-called safekeeping towing practices in which officers tow vandalized cars to protect them from further damage or theft.

It happened recently to Ashley Bitar, when her 2009 Mazda was vandalized outside her apartment in South Boston. The pharmaceutical sales rep had to go on her morning sales calls, so she taped up the broken window and drove off. But several hours later, she discovered that her car had disappeared outside of a client’s office on Massachusetts Avenue.

Police told her the car had been towed for “safekeeping,” but she would have to pay a towing bill and storage fee amounting to $132. Boston police said they are not at liberty to reduce or waive towing fees, because towing regulations treat car vandalism victims in the same manner as those drivers who break the law. Sometimes safekeeping tows are ordered to prevent a drunk driver from getting behind the wheel.

However, drivers can request reimbursement for towing fees from their insurance companies when they file a vandalism claim.

Towing for safety has its costs, Boston Globe, January 25, 2009

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In Grafton, Massachusetts, authorities are looking into the bus crash that injured five people earlier in January. Passengers were treated for minor injuries at UMass Medical Center in Worcester, according to a state police spokesman.

After the traffic accident, the bus company sent another bus to pick up the passengers who were stuck on the Massachusetts turnpike and take them back to the Boston. The original bus was en route to Mohegan Sun Casino.

Authorities still do not know what caused the bus to veer off the Grafton highway, and messages from the Boston Globe to the bus company, Sunshine Travel Services, were not returned. At the same time, all but two commuter rail lines were experiencing weather-related delays, according to the MBTA.

Inquiry launched into Pike bus crash, Boston Globe, January 20, 2009

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Yesterday morning, a car crashed into a Sutton police cruiser at Route 146 and Boston Road. The police cruiser was on its way to investigate an unrelated traffic accident on Route 146.

Neither the policeman nor the driver of the driver of the car, a 36-year-old Auburn woman, were injured in the car crash, though the police car was severely damaged. Both vehicles were towed away.

According to state police Sgt. David Mahan, all drivers at the four-way intersection yielded for the police cruiser except for the driver of the car that collided with the police cruiser. That intersection is the only one on Massachusetts’ Route 146 that has a traffic signal.

Police are investing the car crash involving the police cruiser and the car accident that the policeman was about to investigate.

Car collides with cruiser on its way to an accident, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, January 22, 2009

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Late Sunday night, a Morning Star coach bus carrying 31 passenger crashed into a ravine on the westbound side of the Massachusetts Turnpike in Grafton. Emergency crews remained on the scene of the bus accident early Monday morning.

Police told the Boston Channel that five passengers were transported to UMass Medical Center in Worcester to be treated for back and neck injuries.

The bus was traveling to Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut when the bus accident occurred just after 11pm Sunday evening. Though the cause of the bus accident has not been confirmed, snowy conditions may have been a factor in the accident.

Bus Skids, Crashes Down Ravine, The Boston Channel, January 19, 2009

Bus crashes in Grafton, Boston Globe, January 19, 2009

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An out-of-control fire engine rammed through a gate and crashed into a Mission Hill apartment building, killing a firefighter and seriously injuring another. The firefighter sitting in the driver’s seat died instantly, while the severely injured firefighter was transported to Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he was treated for a head injury. Two more sustained minor injuries and were treated at Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center in Boston.

A nurse who had just parked his car on his way to work at Brigham and Women’s Hospital rushed to aid the injured passengers. "It was a mess, he told the Boston Globe. I'm a little overwhelmed by it all. I just think it was an instinctual thing to help."

City officials speaking to the Globe on condition of anonymity said that the fire truck's breaks may have failed, though the cause of the fire truck has not been confirmed. That same truck was involved in a traffic accident on December 10, but city officials determined that the driver who had crashed into the truck was at fault.

Horrific crash kills firefighter, Boston Globe, January 10, 2009

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On Thursday, an Enfield police officer was traveling south on I-91 when a tractor-trailer changed lanes unexpectedly and hit the officer’s car. Fortunately, the officer and his police dog Niko were not injured in the crash. As the tractor-trailer forced the officer’s car into the guardrail, the officer kept control of his vehicle and pulled over the truck. He then called the Massachusetts state police.

According to police, the truck’s wheels practically reached the hood of the officer’s car, which was heavily damaged. Police said the damaged vehicle was a spare, because the officer’s new car was being outfitted with radios and other items.

The truck driver who crashed into the officer's car received a moving violation from Massachusetts state police.

SPRINGFIELD/ENFIELD: Officer, Dog Unhurt In Crash, Harford Courant, January 17, 2009

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Massachusetts lawmakers have unveiled a new state policy that would remove the appeals process that allows Mass. drivers to appeal a rate hike in their insurance coverage after a car accident. The current appeals process takes about seven months and costs drivers $50, so the change in policy is being touted as a faster, cheaper option for drivers.

The new policy, which goes into effect of April 2009, requires drivers who were involved in a traffic accident but were not at fault to file a complaint with their insurance company. The insurance company will determine whether the driver should pay a rate hike for the accident, and the Insurance Commissioner said that drivers can switch insurance companies if they disagree.

Some are concerned that this new policy will give insurance companies too much power. “You’re letting the fox guard the chicken coup,” said the president of the Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents. “I just don’t see how this is consumer-friendly.”

According to the Boston Herald, Massachusetts is the only state where drivers can contest surcharges before an appellate board if the driver was found at fault.

Massachusetts nixes driver appeals process, Boston Herald, January 9, 2009

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On Sunday morning, snow piling up on the highway forced traffic into a single lane. An estimated 59 vehicles, including 46 cars, eight lightweight trucks, three buses, and two tractor trailer trucks, collided on Interstate 93 in Derry, New Hampshire, but fortunately no one was killed.

Of the one hundred people involved in the collision, only fourteen were transported to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries. A bus carrying the University of Massachusetts at Boston women’s ice hockey team to game in Vermont was involved in the crash, but none of the players were injured. They returned to Boston on another bus.

The traffic accident occurred along an 18-mile stretch of highway that has experienced several other accident in the past. An $800 million improvement project is planned to add an additional two lane of traffic. New Hampshire state police are investigating the accident.

Only cars casualties in mammoth pileup, Boston Globe, January 12, 2009

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NBC reports that as a safety precaution Nissan is recalling trucks sold in several states as the result of an airbag issue. Nissan explains that a crash zone sensor, which triggers the front airbags, can be negatively impacted by snow or road salt, causing the trigger to malfunction in the event of a traffic accident.

The truck recall impacts 2005 to 2009 Nissan Pathfinders, Frontiers, and Xterra trucks, which were originally purchased or are currently registered in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and seventeen other states across the country.

Fortunately, there have been no reports of car crashes or injuries in connection with the faulty sensor.

Nissan Trucks Sold In Four State Region Under Recall, MSNBC.com, January 8, 2009

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In Massachusetts, a two vehicle accident forced road closures in between Ludlow and Granby. In Ludlow, West Street at Brook Street were closed to through traffic, and in Granby, East Street at Truby Street was also closed as a result of the accident, which sent a dump truck and its contents into Stony Brook.

Before they could move the truck and reopen the roads, cleanup crews had to empty the contents of the truck. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection also worked to protect the water supply from gas and oil leaks from the damaged truck.

The names or conditions of the drivers involved with the truck accident were not released to the public.

Rollover closes Ludlow & Granby roads, WWLP.com, January 7, 2009

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On Sunday evening around 5pm, a car crash left five people injured and caused significant structural damage to a home, which was later condemned as a result of the car accident.

Crystal S. Chaney, 28, was driving a 1993 Chevrolet Lumina when she ran a stop sign and was hit by a 2008 Buick Enclave driven by Doyle W. Kincaid, 52. The impact caused Chaney’s vehicle to spin off the road and crash into the corner a house.

All three passengers in the Lumina had to be cut out of the vehicle by rescue crews. Two passengers, one in serious condition, were airlifted to a local hospital. The driver of the Buick and his wife suffered minor injuries as a result of the traffic accident. Police cited Chaney for false registration, driving on a suspended license, and disregarding a stop sign.

Car crash leaves 5 hurt, house condemned, The Journal Gazette, January 5, 2009

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A Massachusetts man driving a 2003 GMC Sierra in Derry, New Hampshire is in critical condition after suffering serious injuries in an early morning truck accident a few days after Christmas.

Police say Travis Cook, 20, of Chelmsford, Massachusetts was driving on Island Pond Road toward Route 111 when his pickup truck crossed the median, crashing into a stone wall. The collision occurred just after 2am.

After emergency medical responders discovered the truck accident victim lying in the road, Cook was transported to Parkland Medical Center and later moved to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he is listed in critical condition.

Mass. man in critical after Derry accident, The Eagle-Tribune, December 30, 2008

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Last Tuesday morning, a truck driver with Calex Trucking was turning onto Route 9 when the top of his truck grazed the underside of a bridge, pulling several pieces of granite with it. Two pieces still rested on top of the truck when four Newton Police cars and one state trooper arrived at the scene.

Police did not disclose the cost to repair the bridge, which is estimated to be almost a hundred years old. Ken Weaver, who was driving the truck when it grazed the bridge, was uninjured, though he said “I’ve had a bad day since I woke up.” Already, he had faced snowy conditions in Connective and heavy traffic on his way to Massachusetts.

Truck hits Rte. 9 overpass in Needham and takes piece with it, The Daily News Tribune, December 30, 2008

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Boston Celtics forward Glen (Big Baby) missed a recent game against the Knicks after his SUV spun out of control on the snowy Massachusetts turnpike. Davis suffered whiplash and a concussion after he shattered the driver’s side window with his head. He was wearing a seatbelt when the turnpike accident occurred.

Davis was transported to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he was visited by Celtics general manager Danny Ainge and several teammates. Fortunately, there were no major injuries in the three-car accident.

After missing two basketball games, Davis returned to the court to face-off against the LA Lakers, scoring four points and four rebounds in just 13 minutes.

Davis told the Boston Herald that the car crash “was scary. Any accident you get in is scary. You know, you’ve just got to appreciate life and really understand the reason why you’re here. I’m always thankful for that, and thank God that nobody got seriously injured.”

Christmas Eve a bummer on road for Celtics, Boston Herald, December 26, 2008

Glen (Big Baby) Davis injured in car accident on way to game, New York Daily News, December 21, 2008

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