Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog

Earlier this week, a 92-year-old woman from Milford, Massachusetts was injured in a car accident and later succumbed to those injuries. After being flown by medical helicopter to the hospital, she died late Monday at UMass Memorial Medical Center.

The woman's 82-year-old sister was found to be at fault for the four-car accident, and police say they are considering holding her criminally responsible for the death. Ultimately, that determination will be made by the district attorney, they say.

The younger sister was driving a 1998 Dodge Stratus that set off the chain-reaction crash. She was not seriously injured and has already been cited for following too closely.

Source: 92-year-old passenger in Milford crash dies from injuries, Milford Daily News, March 10, 2010

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Almost a year after a fire truck crash killed a Massachusetts firefighter returning from a routine medical call, the Suffolk County district attorney has released a lengthy report showing that no one was criminally responsible for the truck accident.

The DA had considered possible charges of manslaughter and motor vehicle homicide for negligent operation but concluded that many factors contributed to the truck accident. The investigation includes 400 pages of reports on safety inspections and 30 interviews.

The truck crash occurred when a 22-ton fire truck crashed into a concrete wall near Parker Hill due to a brake failure. The firefighter sounded the horn of the truck as it descended down the hill to warn other vehicles and pedestrians.

A report from the Boston Fire Department showed that the department had not adequately maintained its fire trucks.

Source: No criminal charges in fatal Boston fire truck crash, NECN.com, December 11, 2009

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A recent Massachusetts car accident underscores the dangers of text messaging while driving. The driver, a 22-year-old man from Tewksbury, was traveling at least 50 miles per hour over the weekend when his car went off the road and collided with a tree. The fatal car crash occurred around 11:10am on Sunday morning.

Police discovered the driver's cell phone with the keyboard exposed on the passenger-side floor of the car. Phone records proved that the driver had been sending and receiving text messages shortly before the auto accident. He was taken to Saints Medical Center in Lowell, where he was pronounced dead. In addition to texting, the driver was not wearing his seat belt.

So far, efforts to make text messaging a primary offense in Massachusetts have failed, but perhaps this will serve as a reminder of the seriousness of driver distraction.

Source: Lowell: Tewksbury man killed in Lowell crash was texting, TMCNet.com, December 15, 2009

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In Clarksburg, Massachusetts, two motor vehicle accidents occurred on Sunday afternoon. An elderly Clarksburg man was killed a Ford Focus crashed into a Ford pick-up truck. Massachusetts state police said the car crash occurred at the intersection of Route 8 and Henderson Road just after 5:30pm. Clarence Demers, 87, died. The other drive, Peter Eoisvert, 44, was not injured, according to police.

The cause of that truck accident is being investigated.

Earlier in the afternoon, a woman was injured when her Toyota Tercel hit a Ford F-250 pick-up truck on Curran Highway (Route 8) in Adams. She was taken to North Adams Regional Hospital for medical care. Police did not reveal the identities of either person involved in that auto accident, which occurred around 3:45pm. The impact of the crash was so strong that it knocked the spare tire out from underneath the truck.

Clarksburg: 1 dead in crash, Berkshire Eagle, June 1

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A report on worker safety that was released by the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Heath found that 66 Massachusetts workers died on the job or from work-related injuries last year. A ceremony yesterday on the steps of Boston's statehouse memorialized these workers.

One of workers mentioned in the report, which is called "Dying for Work in Massachusetts: The Loss of Life and Limb in Massachusetts Workplaces," is David Gonzalez, a 24-year-old paper manufacturing employee. Gonzalez died when his clothing got caught in a piece of machinery and the machinery pulled him in and crushed him.

Inspectors from OSHA found 12 serious safety violations at the paper manufacturing plant after the machinery accident. The company appealed the proposed fines of $29,500 and OSHA settled on nine violations and a fine of $16,125.

According to the executive director of MassCOSH, "the report demonstrates that the cost of cutting corners on safety is paid in human lives."

Safety issues cited in worker deaths, Worcester Telegram, April 29, 2009

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In Northwestern Massachusetts, a snowmobile accident in Adams killed one man and seriously injured another. The crash was reported at 12:19 Saturday morning and claimed the life of Michael J. Bresett, 42. Ryan Ziemalak was injured, but the 22-year-old’s condition was upgraded from serious to stable over the weekend.

State law requires snowmobile riders to wear an approved helmet. According to the Massachusetts Environmental Police, neither man was wearing head protection at the time of the snowmobile accident, which was Berkshire County’s second fatal snowmobile crash this year. The law also prohibits riders from “traveling on a public way,” which the pair were doing at the time of the crash.

Police do not know which man was driving the snowmobile, and the accident is under investigation.

Snowmobile victim failed to wear helmet, Berkshire Eagle, April 6, 2009

1 dead, 1 injured in Mass. snowmobile crash, Boston Herald, April 5, 2009

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According to a survey of state highway safety agencies, deaths caused by motor vehicle accidents declined in 40 states, including Massachusetts, last year. Some are predicting that traffic deaths in the United States could decrease to their lowest levels in forty years.

Of the 44 states surveyed, the average decline was 10.7 percent. The executive director of the Governors Safety Association said that higher use of seat belts and an increased enforcement of traffic laws may have played a role in decreasing traffic fatalities. In addition, many states are noticing drivers reducing speed to increase fuel efficiency.

Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, and four other states reported over a twenty percent decline in auto fatalities during 2008. Two New England states noted an increase in fatalities and several large states were not included in the survey.

Survey reveals that auto accident deaths drop in 40 states in 2008, MedicineHatNews.com, February 4, 2009

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Last Friday in Mansfield, Massachusetts, a female pedestrian was hit and killed by a high-speed Amtrak Acela train. Police have not publicly identified the train accident victim by name, but she was reportedly a 55-year-old Mansfield woman.

The train was traveling from Boston to New York City to Washington, DC when the accident occurred at around 3:40pm, shutting the track down for close to 40 minutes. After that, trains were permitted to use the track at reduced speeds, but the train accident did cause delays during the Friday afternoon commute.

The train accident occurred on Track 1, where riders wait to board the trains. However, it is illegal to be on the tracks and several warning signs are posted. The nature of the accident was unknown as of Saturday; however the Massachusetts Transit Police is leading an investigation of the accident.

Police seek clues in train fatality, The Sun Chronicle, November 9, 2008

Person killed by train in Mansfield, Boston Herald, November 8, 2008

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In Fall River, Massachusetts, a car crash on Route 24 killed an elderly woman driving a 1997 Pontiac Sunfire.

Evelyn Rebello, 85, of Fall River, reportedly lost control of her car and struck the guardrail, veering right across several lanes of traffic and stopping in the breakdown lane.

Emergency crews transported the car crash victim to Rhode Island Hospital. She suffered serious injuries and died the day after the auto accident.

The Massachusetts State Police are investigating the fatal crash.

Woman dies in Fall River car crash, EyeWitnessNewsTV.com, September 30, 2008

State Police investigate fatal crash on Route 24 in Fall River, SouthCoastToday.com, September 30, 2008

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A bicyclist who was hit by a police car in Everett, Massachusetts last week has been taken off life support. An officer whose name has not been released was responding to a 911 call when he hit Reda Rouf, 19, of Everett, near the intersection of Ferry and Glendale streets.

Those who witnessed the accident said Rouf was riding at high speed into the intersection before the police cruiser hit him. The driver immediately helped the victim after he was hit. Rouf remains in critical condition at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Everett police told WBZ-TV that the 911 call was for an unrelated accident. The officer involved in the accident has been placed on paid administrative leave while the accident is under investigation.

Cyclist Hit By Police Car Taken Off Life Support, WBZTV.com, September 18, 2008

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In Barnstable, Massachusetts, a 24-year old has pleaded guilty to manslaughter by motor vehicle. Michael Catarius has admitted he was drunk when he caused a car accident that killed two men. Prior to the crash, Catarius had left a party in Sandwich, Massachusetts.

The car accident victims were Michael Warren, 26, a passenger, and Edward Kipp, 48, who was driving a pick-up truck. Prosecutors claimed Catarius barreled through a locked gate after guards stopped him at the Massachusetts Military Reservation in July 2007. He then ran a red light, hit a car, and became airborne, hitting Kipp’s pickup truck.

Last Friday at Barntable Superior Court, Catarius was sentenced to seven to ten years in prison.

Cape man pleads guilty in crash that killed 2, Boston Herald, September 20, 2008

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In Attleboro, Massachusetts, a 24-year old driver of a sport utility vehicle died after colliding with a Jeep on Thatcher Street last Wednesday night.

Randy Cummings was driving east on Thatcher Street around 11:45 pm when he rear-ended the Jeep, which was driven by Sean M. Caponigro, 31, of Attleboro. Cummings’ car continued several hundred feet before hitting a cement wall. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the car accident.

Police suspect that Cummings may have been speeding and may have been driving under the influence of alcohol, but they will not know more until they receive the results of the toxicology tests and work with state police reconstruction experts to determine how fast he was driving.

The motor vehicle accident is under investigation by Massachusetts state police detectives and the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office.

Police: Speed caused crash, The Sun-Chronicle, September 12, 2008

Somersworth man dies in Mass. car crash, Fosters.com, September 12, 2008

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A driver from North Weymouth, Massachusetts was killed in a car crash on Route 1 last month. Jason Gambon’s black Nissan sedan swerved to the left, crossed the center line, and hit an 18-wheel tractor trailer head-on around 7:10pm on Tuesday, August 26. According to reports, the driver of the tractor-trailer did not sustain any serious injuries.

Emergency crews had to use hydraulic rescue tools to extricate the injured driver from his car. The road was closed for several hours and Gambon, 24, was taken by ambulance to Portsmouth Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The reason that Gambon swerved and hit the tractor-trailer is still under investigation. An unnamed witness said that the two vehicles were very badly damaged. The witness said, “nobody’s going to walk away from that.”

Massachusetts man killed in North Hampton crash, Seacoastonline.com, August 29, 2008

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The town of Wayland, Massachusetts was hit by tragedy last week. Marie Martino, 80, of Wayland was hit by a car on Thursday night while trying to cross a street in Wayland.

A Wayland ambulance took the car accident victim to MetroWest Medical Center in Natick, where she was pronounced dead around 9pm.

The driver of the gray Ford van that hit Martino has been identified as Lawrence Vannerderynen of Natick, Massachusetts. As of late last week, no charges have been filed.

Meanwhile, in Hudson, Massachusetts, Jayne E. Lombardo, 44, was hit by a car around the same time. She was taken to St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, but as of last week, her condition was still unknown.

Woman identified in Wayland fatal crash, WickedLocal.com, September 5, 2008

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Last year, a Massachusetts woman crashed her car into Brockton Hospital, killing a doctor and a secretary and seriously injuring a radiation therapist at the hospital. A wrongful death lawsuit against the driver, 77-year-old Jane Bergland, of Rockland, has already been dropped after a settlement was reached out of court.

Now several of Bergland’s doctors face potential lawsuits for failing to warn their patient, who was taking insulin for diabetes, among other medications, that her medication might impair her ability to drive. She was also taking powerful painkillers and undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

Less than a year ago, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled in a similar case that a Brockton doctor could be sued for failing to warn a patient about the potential side effects of prescriptions. That case is scheduled to go to trial in November. The newer case against Bergland’s doctors is still going through the legal process.

Driver’s doctors sued over fatal Brockton Hospital crash, WickedLocal.com, September 6, 2008

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According to Leicester, Massachusetts police, an elderly couple died last week as the result of a head-on car crash on Route 9. Russel Mosman, 83, and his wife, Dorothy, 89, of North Brookfield, Massachusetts were struck by an eastbound car driven by Adwoa Gyamfi of Worcester, Massachusetts.

After the crash at the intersection of Route 9 and Town Beach Road, emergency medical personnel transported Russell Mosman to UMass Memorial Medical Center, where he died from his injuries.

Dorothy Mosman was pronounced dead at the hospital soon after the car accident. Gyamfi was also transported to the hospital, but local police report that her injuries are not considered serious.

The motor vehicle accident is under investigation, butso far no one has been charged.

Elderly couple die in car crash, Boston Herald, August 29, 2008

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