Fatal Accidents

August 27, 2012

Cyclist hit by unknown motorist

Massachusetts bears the distinction of being ranked the United States’ third most “Bicycle Friendly State” for 2012. The Bay State placed 9th in 2011, 16th in 2010, and 19th in 2009. The secretary of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Secretary Richard A. Davey, said that the state’s rising rank over the years accurately reflects the department’s commitment to providing safe and healthy transportation. Massachusetts’ climbing status as a hub for cyclists also substantiates the efforts behind the three-prong policy of the environmental initiative, GreenDOT: 1) Reduce Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) 2) Promote the healthy transportation options of walking, bicycling, and public transit, and 3) Support smart growth development.

Sadly, with all the new bike paths and community efforts to promote cycling, like Boston’s Bike Week, mishaps occasionally still lead to tragedy.

Wellesley police report that on Friday, August 24, 2012, at around 1:58pm, 41 year old cyclist Alexander Motsenigos, husband of nearly ten years and father to a six year old boy, was struck and killed near the intersection of Weston Road and Linden Street, otherwise known as Wellesley Square. Motsenigos was wearing a helmet. And neighbors have said that the point of the collision, an intersection resting at the bottom of a short but steep hill, was a dangerous place.

Lieutenant Maria Cleary confirms that both Motsenigos and the vehicle were headed north. An
investigation is underway because the vehicle sped off, possibly unaware that someone had been struck. The public is being asked to provide any information. But because there were conflicting accounts of the automobile’s make and model, the police are unable to submit a definitive description.

I drive a lot. But I’m currently looking for a good bike in the interest of diversifying my workouts and getting a little more “green.” And I’m well aware of the friction that exists between Continue reading

July 25, 2012

Traffic Fatalities Increase Significantly in First Quarter of 2012

by Altman & Altman

A recent report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that included an early estimate of motor vehicle traffic fatalities for the first quarter of 2012 has indicated a sharp increase in this figure compared with last year’s statistics. The projection estimates that 7,630 people died in motor vehicle accidents between January and March of this year. It comes amid reports from automakers that they are intensifying efforts to build cars that are safer and better-able to reduce the threats of distracted driving.

The NHTSA reports that the rise in fatalities translates to a roughly 13.5% increase from the number reported for the first quarter of 2011, which was 6,720. The NHTSA declined to include in the report any mention of contributing factors or implications of the data. However, a spokesman for the agency said, “It’s too soon to speculate…on any increase in deaths on our roadways.”

Perhaps the most puzzling part of this increase is that previous years all demonstrated a downward trend in roadway fatalities. In addition, many transportation safety officials commented that the figure is generally lowest for the first quarter of any given year, which is in large part due to the winter weather that usually accompanies those months. According to officials, the fact that this year’s winter was much warmer than usual, which meant that there were more drivers on the road than in other past years, could be a factor in the increase in fatalities.
Continue reading

June 18, 2012

Wareham Man Killed in Head-On Collision

by Altman & Altman

Christopher Elicier, a resident of Wareham, Mass., was killed Saturday night after his vehicle was struck head-on by another vehicle traveling in the wrong direction. Elicier was traveling on Interstate 495 in Wareham late Saturday night when another motorist, Phendy Pamphile, 26, of Brockton, driving in the opposite direction collided with him at about 10:20 p.m. According to State Police, Elicier was ejected from his vehicle, a 2012 Hyundai Veloster coupe, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Pamphile sustained a serious leg injury and was trapped in his vehicle immediately following the crash. The Jaws of Life were used to remove him and he was transported to Tobey Hospital in Wareham, but he was later moved to Rhode Island Hospital. According to the hospital, Pamphile was listed in critical condition as of Sunday afternoon. Neither of the drivers was wearing a seatbelt.
Continue reading

March 18, 2012

Boston is 3rd on Safe Driver List, Survey Reports

by Altman & Altman

I know-we couldn’t believe it either. Haven’t most of us been nearly hit by a crazy driver zooming ahead on the narrow, winding Boston streets? Or witnessed such a driver? Or been that driver himself? In a shocking a recent survey from Men’s Health magazine, Boston was ranked third out of 100 cities in the U.S. with the least dangerous drivers. If this is the case, pondering the drivers in other cities is a scary thought.

The least “crash-prone” city was St. Paul, Minnesota, and second-place was awarded to Lincoln, Nebraska. Providence, Rhode Island, was ranked 95 on the list.

Men’s Health apparently came to their conclusions via a combined calculation of the following statistics: rate of fatal crashes, percentage of deaths involving alcohol, speeding or hit-and-run, rate of seat belt use, cell phone laws while driving, and number of years between accidents.

February 17, 2012

Brighton Woman Struck by Company Tow Truck & Dies

by Altman & Altman

A woman from Brighton was struck by a tow truck as she was crossing the street on Thursday evening. The woman was rushed to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for treatment, but was pronounced dead today. The name of the trucking company has not been given, but the company is believed to be based in Brighton or Allston. According to reports, the woman was hit crossing market street, near the intersection of Chestnut Hill Avenue and Washington Street.

According to a passenger in the tow truck at the time of the accident, the tow truck allegedly had the green light to turn from Chestnut Hill Avenue to Washington Street but had already begun to turn when it saw the woman and was unable to stop. Further details, including whether or not the trucking driver/company will face charges, have not been released. The case is being investigated by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.

Our sympathies are with the family of the deceased. If you or a loved one has been injured as a driver or pedestrian in a car or truck crash in Massachusetts, you should contact an experienced car accident attorney to determine whether you may be able to financially recover.

February 16, 2012

High Speed Danvers Car Crash Results in Death of a Peabody Man

by Altman & Altman

According to State Police, a 30-year-old Peabody man was killed in a car crash on Route 128 in Danvers due to high speed. Police report that Reginaldo Dasilva Souza was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash and his passenger was seriously injured. At approximately 8 p.m. on February 5, troopers from the Danvers State Police Barracks responded to reports of a single-car crash on Route 128 southbound at Route 35. The preliminary investigation revealed that Souza`s 1991 Honda Accord was traveling at a high speed when it crashed into a guardrail before veering across two lanes, hit a jersey barrier, and then continued onto a ramp to Route 35 and then crashed into two other jersey barriers. Police reported that the impact of the crash not only knocked over the jersey barriers but resulted in the car to roll over onto its roof where it finally came to rest. Although Souza was wearing his seatbelt, his passenger, Sidney Gomes Dasilva, 37, was not wearing his safety belt and was taken with serious life-threatening injuries by medical helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital.

Section 13A, Chapter 90, of the Commonwealth´s General Laws, states that all occupants of motor vehicles in a private vehicle, including vans and trucks, are required to be properly restrained by a seatbelt: “No person shall operate a private passenger motor vehicle or ride in a private passenger motor vehicle, a vanpool vehicle or truck under eighteen thousand pounds on any way unless such person is wearing a safety belt which is properly adjusted and fastened.”

The investigation continues and is being carried out by Troop A of the Massachusetts State Police, along with the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, and the State Police Crime Scene Services Section. State Troopers were assisted at the scene of the crash by the Danvers police, fire, and EMS departments.

In a statement, police said: “The facts and circumstances of the crash remain under investigation; preliminary evidence suggests that excessive speed was a factor, and troopers are additionally investigating whether alcohol was a factor.”

Although the circumstances and exact cause of the accident are still under investigation, possible inebriation along high speed are potential factors. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that in 2006 alone, 17,941 people died because of alcohol-related collisions in the United States.

If you or your loved one has been involved in a road accident, it is in your best interest to contact an experienced Massachusetts car accident lawyer as soon as possible.

Sources:

Peabody man dies in Danvers car crash last night, www.boston.com, February 6, 2012
Commonwealth´s General Laws, Section 13A, Chapter 90
Related Blog Posts:

Recent Accidents Spark Seatbelt Enforcement Debate in Massachusetts

Peabody Teenager Survives After Crashing into House and Catching Fire

Woman Charged for Fatal Crash in Stoughton Held on $100,000 Bail

Man Indicted for Fatal Crash in Somerville

Drunk Driver Kills Two Teens Not Wearing Seatbelts in Somerville

Victims of Fatal Crash Not Wearing Seatbelts

Drunk Driver Causes Fatal Accident on Interstate 95
Continue reading

January 10, 2012

Recent Accidents Spark Seatbelt Enforcement Debate in Massachusetts

by Altman & Altman

Recent car crashes in December involving drivers or passengers not wearing seatbelts has resulted in a strong response from seatbelt advocates. Advocates are calling for stricter enforcement of the state’s seat belt law after these car crashes, many of which ended fatally. They are arguing that this is more than enough evidence that seatbelts save lives and they are calling on lawmakers to act in the New Year.

Massachusetts law already requires drivers and passengers to wear seat belts; however, police can only enforce the rule if they have stopped the vehicle for another violation, such as running a red light or speeding. Senator Patricia Jehlen, D-Somerville, and Representative Patricia Haddad, D-Somerset, are the chief sponsors of a bill that would make Massachusetts the 32nd state in the nation to let police pull over drivers for seat belt violations.

A recent UMass-Amherst study found that approximately 73 percent of Massachusetts drivers use seat belts, which is the lowest seatbelt usage rate in the United States and has thus sparked this debate. This number is also slightly lower than last year´s percentage of seatbelt users. All of the accident victims of the four accidents that occurred in December were young adults. Deborah Pentecost, a trauma program manager at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, witnesses the flux of young victims entered into the emergency room who were not wearing seatbelts and believes that the message must also come from education. She commented “It’s the younger population that takes the risks…I think we’ve gotten the message to adults that have kids…and the population over 50.”

Mary Maguire, a spokeswoman for AAA Southern New England and co-chairwoman of Belts Ensure a Safer Tomorrow (BEST), a coalition of about 60 health, law enforcement and driver-safety groups, said “When there’s stronger, more effective enforcement, compliance increases.” BEST estimates that a stricter seat belt law could save Massachusetts approximately $1 billion over six years, because of avoided hospital bills, lower insurance premiums, and eligibility for federal grants.

The legislation to update the seatbelt law died in a tie vote in the House in 2004. In 2006, a similar bill passed both chambers in 2006, but was later shot down in a procedural vote in the House when three representatives changed their votes. Robert Fitzpatrick, Senator Jehlen’s chief of staff, said “We think we have the votes in the Senate…(In the House) it’s hard to know.”

Opponents to the bill, such as civil liberty groups, argue that the stricter seat belt law could give the opportunity to police to easily abuse the law by making unnecessary traffic stops or as an excuse for racial profiling.

If you have been involved in a road accident, it is in your best interest to contact an experienced Massachusetts car accident lawyer as soon as possible.

Sources:

Groups calling for tougher seat belt laws, Taunton Daily Gazette, January 5, 2012
Update sought on Massachusetts seat belt law, The Patriot Ledger, January 3, 2012
Related Blog Posts:

Woman Charged for Fatal Crash in Stoughton Held on $100,000 Bail

Man Indicted for Fatal Crash in Somerville

Drunk Driver Kills Two Teens Not Wearing Seatbelts in Somerville

Victims of Fatal Crash Not Wearing Seatbelts

Drunk Driver Causes Fatal Accident on Interstate 95
Continue reading

January 1, 2012

Bicyclist Hit and Killed by Oil Tanker in Cambridge

by Altman & Altman

Phyo Kyaw, a 2010 Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate, age 23, was killed on campus on Tuesday night after his bicycle was hit by an oil tanker. At approximately 7:40 p.m., he was riding his bicycle at the intersection of Vassar Street and Massachusetts Avenue when the oil tanker was turning from Massachusetts Avenue onto Vassar Street, towards Main Street. Kyaw was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Kyaw, from the Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar, graduated from MIT in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical-biological engineering. According to the MIT News Office, Kyaw was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. After he graduated, he was working as a research scientist at Soane Labs in Cambridge.

Cambridge police said that there have been 27 recorded accidents at the Massachusetts Avenue and Vassar Street intersection since January 2010. MIT Chancellor Eric Grimson commented “This death, so tragic and so close to home, touches and concerns our entire community…Our thoughts go out to Phyo Kyaw’s family, friends, and classmates. We share their sense of loss and grief.”

The Middlesex District Attorney’s office is leading the investigation into the crash and is working with the Cambridge and MIT police departments. The truck driver was uninjured in the accident and he has not been charged.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, from 2002 through 2009, approximately 400 car crashes, fatal and non-fatal, were involving cyclists. Statistics additionally reveal that more bike and car accidents happen in Cambridge more than in any other Massachusetts community. As a preventative measure to bike accidents with vehicles, MassDOT provides these helpful safety guidelines for bicyclists:

• Give yourself space from cars • Ride in the same direction as traffic • Always wear your helmet • Stop at red lights and stop signs • Put front and back lights on your bike at night
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that in 2009 alone, 630 cyclists were killed in the United States. In addition to this, 51,000 were injured in motor vehicle traffic accidents. Cyclist deaths thus made up 2% of all motor vehicle accident fatalities. Approximately 70% of all bicycle fatalities happen in urban centers or college campuses, such as the case here, where there are more cars and bikes on the road together. The NHTSA also reports that bicycle helmets are 85% to 88% effective at preventing head injuries and death. However, the statistics show that less than 25% of all bicyclists wear a helmet.

If you have been injured or involved in a Massachusetts car or bike accident, it is in your best interest to contact an experienced Massachusetts lawyer.

Sources:

Cyclist killed in Cambridge accident ID´d, The Boston Herald, December 29, 2011
MIT graduate is identified as victim in bicycle-truck collision, The Boston Globe, December 28, 2011
Related Blog Posts:

Boy On Bike Hit By Police Cruiser in Avon

Fatal Hit And Run Accident in Dorchester Kills 39-Year-Old Mother

74-year-old Bicyclist Killed in Boston

Wheelchair-bound Man Struck by Oil Truck in New Bedford
Continue reading

November 30, 2011

Motorists Encouraged to Remain in Vehicles After an Accident Following Multiple Massachusetts Highway Fatalities

by Altman & Altman

After a series of deaths in which drivers have stepped out of their vehicles on Massachusetts highways, Massachusetts State Police are reminding drivers to always remain in their vehicles after an accident until police arrive. After these three recent accidents, all of which appear to have initially been minor auto accidents, three people have died as a result of exiting their vehicles and stepping out into traffic. The first of these three incidents occurred on Friday morning, when a 75-year-old Somerville man was struck and killed in the Tip O’Neill Tunnel in Boston. Before hit by oncoming traffic, David Dang was reportedly standing in the traffic lane when he got out of his car after what seems to have been a minor car accident.

Just a few hours later, two other motorists were hit after getting out of their car in Lynnfield, just fifteen miles north of Boston. State Police report that a 2000 Saturn SL2 sedan had halted in the median on the southbound side of Route 128, at approximately 11:45 p.m. Two of the four occupants of the vehicle then exited the car and were standing in the travel lane when they were both hit by a vehicle. Police said Conner Toscano, 18, of Billerica was pronounced dead at the scene and 17-year-old Billerica woman was severely injured. She was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

At approximately 1:15 a.m. on Saturday morning, Massachusetts State Police responded to yet another similar accident in Lancaster. On Route 190 northbound, just north of Exit 7, authorities reported that a 2005 Toyota Camry had hit the guardrail and was disabled in the median. The driver, Scott Symonds, 38, of West Boylston, then exited his vehicle and was hit by a 2006 Ford pickup truck driven by Eric Sifert, 42, of Westminster. Symonds was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

David Procopio, spokesperson for the state police, said “The crash remains under investigation to determine if any charges are warranted…The investigation is being conducted by Troop C of the Massachusetts State Police, along with the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section and the State Police Crime Scene Services Section.”

Each of these highway-related fatalities involving people getting out of vehicles remain under investigation by Massachusetts State Police. State police are reminding motorists in disabled cars to try to get their vehicles out of the road immediately following an accident and to stay in their cars until police arrive at the scene of a reported crash.

If you have been involved in a Massachusetts car accident, it is in your best interest to contact an experienced a Massachusetts car accident lawyer.

Sources:

2 Killed Standing On Highways, www.thebostonchannel.com, November 27, 2011
Massachusetts man killed on highway after exiting vehicle following minor crash, www.MassLive.com, November 26, 2011
Related Blog Posts:

Man in Wheelchair Killed on Busy Street in Brockton

Boy On Bike Hit By Police Cruiser in Avon

Fatal Hit And Run Accident in Dorchester Kills 39-Year-Old Mother

74-year-old Bicyclist Killed in Boston

Wheelchair-bound Man Struck by Oil Truck in New Bedford
Continue reading

October 28, 2011

Man in Wheelchair Killed on Busy Street in Brockton

by Altman & Altman

U.S. Marine Corps veteran Edwin Nelson, 65, was killed when his motorized wheelchair was hit by oncoming traffic earlier this week in Brockton. According to witnesses, Nelson was crossing in a crosswalk on Belmont Street, also known as Route 123, when a Hyundai Elantra driven by 26-year-old Frank Dernoga, of Taunton, crashed into his wheelchair. He was knocked off his wheelchair near the crosswalk and rolled into the street. He was taken to Good Samaritan Medical Center and was pronounced dead.

Nelson was living at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center which is located less than a mile away from the crash site. He was a Vietnam veteran with a spinal cord injury that led to the amputation of both of his legs. His son, Geoff Nelson, wrote that his father had been a part of research to help pioneer spinal-cord medicine over the past 36 years, along with many other spinal-cord injury patients at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Nelson’s fatal accident has drawn attention to safety issues for pedestrians on Belmont Street, especially for disabled veterans who frequent the notoriously busy street. A spokeswoman for the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Pallis Wahl, said that a treatment team including a doctor, nurse, and social worker, evaluates each patient on an individual basis to determine the necessary care and whether or not a patient needs to be escorted when outside of the facility. It was determined that Nelson was fit to be outside of the facility without supervision from an escort. Wahl said, “It’s a case-by-case basis.”

Some local residents believe that the disabled patients should always have an escort for their own safety given the circumstances of Belmont Street. One resident commented, “It is sad…I’ve seen the conditions of driving on Belmont Street. It’s atrocious.”

Police are reportedly reviewing surveillance video from a business close to the scene of the accident that captured the crash. There has not been any decision as of this week as to whether Dernoga will face charges.

If you have been injured in a Massachusetts car accident or involved in a pedestrian, wheelchair, or bike accident, it is in your best interest to contact an experienced Massachusetts lawyer.

Sources:

Disabled vet killed in Brockton accident helped pioneer spinal-cord medicine, Taunton Daily Gazette, October 26, 2011
Military veteran killed in Brockton road crash, www.Boston.com, October 24, 2011
Related Blog Posts:

Boy On Bike Hit By Police Cruiser in Avon

Fatal Hit And Run Accident in Dorchester Kills 39-Year-Old Mother

74-year-old Bicyclist Killed in Boston

Wheelchair-bound Man Struck by Oil Truck in New Bedford
Continue reading