Articles Posted in Interstate Driving

Boston’s rich history, diverse neighborhoods, vibrant culture, and northern climate contribute to a unique driving experience. The city’s busy streets can be both exciting and challenging. Driving in Boston comes with specific hazards that drivers and pedestrians alike should be aware of.

Below are a few of Boston’s common driving hazards and how to avoid related injury or property damage. If you’ve been harmed due to another’s negligence, it is in your best interest to seek immediate legal counsel. You may be entitled to compensation for traffic-related injuries in Boston and the surrounding areas.

Pothole Predicaments

Although self-driving cars are undoubtedly the wave of the future, they are not perfect just yet. In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has investigated dozens of crashes involving Tesla vehicles believed to be using partially automated driving systems. Now, in a trial currently underway against Tesla in a California court, a lawyer for the plaintiff has criticized car manufacturers for selling “experimental vehicles” to consumers.

According to Reuters, the civil case stems from a 2019 accident in which a Tesla Model 3 — said to be equipped with a “beta” version of the full-self-driving package — suddenly veered off a highway at 65 miles per hour, hit a palm tree, and burst into flames. The crash killed the driver and seriously injured his two passengers, including an 8-year-old boy. The lawsuit blames Tesla’s Autopilot for the collision, and accuses Tesla of knowing the safety systems were defective when the car was sold.

Tesla Autopilot Accidents

A new regulation proposed in May by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) would require new vehicles to come equipped with automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems. These systems detect potential collisions and automatically apply the brakes to lessen the impact of a crash — or avoid it altogether. NHTSA estimates that the new regulation could prevent at least 360 deaths and 24,000 injuries annually.

This technology has been available on many automotive models for years, but it hasn’t yet been mandated. If the new regulation is adopted as proposed, it would require almost all US passenger vehicles and light trucks to have AEB systems three years after the publication of a final rule. In addition, NHTSA and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced in June that they plan to require AEB technology on heavy vehicles as well.

What Exactly is AEB Technology?

According to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), 2021 marked the deadliest year on Massachusetts roads in over a decade. And the data on motorcycle riders was even more shocking: motorcyclist deaths in the state reached a 25-year high. In fact, the MA Highway Safety Division noted motorcycle fatalities as one of the main reasons for 2021’s high overall numbers — along with excessive speed and lack of seatbelt use.

Is Riding a Motorcycle Really Dangerous?

Although many people find the excitement and freedom of riding a motorcycle attractive, motorcycles do have downsides. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), motorcyclists are overrepresented in fatal traffic crashes. Below are a few statistics about motorcycle accidents from NHTSA and the National Safety Council:

As Life Returns to Normal in Massachusetts, Car Accidents Increase

The coronavirus pandemic affected life in ways large and small, and traffic was no exception. In the early days of COVID-19, Massachusetts traffic volumes plummeted, as did crashes. When society opened back up, traffic returned in full force. As MassDOT Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said in 2021, “Traffic, for all intents and purposes, is back to about 2019 levels on most roadways in Massachusetts.”

More motor vehicles on the roads generally means more crashes. And that holds true for MA car accidents in virtually every category. The worst statistic? Over 400 people died in Massachusetts crashes in 2021– the highest number of fatalities in over a decade.

According to the National Safety Council, more than 40,000 people died in motor vehicle accidents in 2017. If these numbers are accurate, 2017 is the second year in a row with over 40,000 crash-related deaths. These high figures have prompted officials to call our nation’s vehicle death toll a public health crisis.

Even so, authorities and policymakers have an uphill battle to climb if they want to create laws that will actually improve the current situation. With ever-advancing vehicle technology and an increase in new laws aimed at keeping our roadways safe, one would think that vehicle fatalities would drop. However, reckless driving is at the core of many of these fatalities. Unfortunately, reckless driving is hard to solve with laws and technology alone. A Boston car crash attorney can help you determine how to proceed if you’ve been injured due to another’s negligence.

What is Considered Reckless Driving?

The term reckless driving doesn’t only apply to speeding down the road in the wrong direction with no lights on. Even not wearing a seatbelt is a form of reckless driving. The most common examples include:

  • Distracted driving: About 64 percent of all traffic accidents in the U.S. involve a cell phone, and 421,000 people are injured in distracted driving-related accidents annually. Shockingly, texting and driving is six times more likely to result in an accident than drunk driving.
  • Speeding: Excessive speed is involved in one-third of all crashes and about 33 percent of all fatal crashes. Approximately 13,000 die annually because of speeding.
  • Drowsy driving: According to the National Sleep Foundation, about 64 percent of drivers admit to driving while drowsy in the past year, and 37 percent say they’ve actually fallen asleep behind the wheel.

What’s the Solution?

Designers of self-driving vehicles are under an increased sense of urgency with the rise in traffic deaths. But self-driving cars are a long-term solution. What can be done today to stop this deadly problem? A MA motor vehicle accident lawyer can help you recover damages if you’ve been injured in a crash.

Until self-driving cars are as common as cell phones, we need to utilize safe driving practices at all times if we want to avoid becoming a statistic. To protect yourself, your family and everyone with whom you share the road, follow the safety tips below:

  • Never use your cell phone or any other hand-held device when behind the wheel. If your smart phone has a driving mode, use it when you are en route to avoid getting texts and other alerts. If you absolutely must make a call or send a text, pull over in a safe location before doing so.
  • Always wear your seatbelt.
  • Don’t speed.
  • Don’t drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Ever.
  • If you feel tired, pull over and take a power nap. Avoid driving for long stretches – especially late at night – if possible. Check any medications you are taking to see if they cause drowsiness.
  • Avoid driving in inclement weather if possible.
  • Allow ample space between you and the car ahead of you, and avoid driving aggressively.

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Lindsay Corporation, manufacturer of the X-LITE highway guardrail, is facing lawsuits for negligence after 11 deaths have been attributed to its product. Last week, two lawsuits were filed in Tennessee and South Carolina, both alleging that the company’s guardrails fail to protect motorists involved in collisions due to their defective design.

According to the lawsuits, the “end terminal” of the X-LITE guardrail, which rounds out the sharp edges at either end of the guardrail, is the defective component. During a collision, this end component allegedly fails to “telescope,” or slide properly into the rail line. By reducing the force of impact in a collision, the process of telescoping can prevent the guardrail beams from penetrating a vehicle and seriously injuring or killing its occupants. Unfortunately, the X-LITE’s end terminal hasn’t telescoped properly during multiple collisions. And several people have died as a result.

Last April, Tennessee vowed to replace about 1,700 X-LITE end rails. But such a large undertaking doesn’t come cheap. Removing and replacing these end rails is projected to cost the state of Tennessee several million dollars. And although the defective end rails are installed across 29 states, about 80 percent are installed in Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. A MA defective products attorney can help you recover damages if you’ve been injured by a faulty or dangerous product.

Types of Defects Under Product Liability Law

Thousands of people are injured or killed by defective products every year. Many decide to seek compensation for their injuries by bringing a defective product lawsuit against the manufacturer under product liability law. A product may be considered defective if it malfunctions during proper use. The three types of defects under product liability law are:

  1. Design Defect – These flaws occur before the product is even manufactured. For example, a company designing a playground system could accidentally design a slide to be too short. Let’s say the manufacturer (a separate company) develops the playground equipment based on the faulty design. Children keep getting injured when they fall from the slide. In such a case, the design firm alone may be liable. But the manufacturer may also be on the hook; if they specialize in playground equipment, a judge might determine that the manufacturer should have noticed the short slide.
  2. Manufacturing Defect – These flaws occur occur during the manufacturing process. The design is good, but the product becomes flawed during development. For example, if the slide in the above example is designed properly but a broken mold causes the bottom edge to be sharp, this would be a manufacturing defect.
  3. Marketing Defects – When a product is properly designed and manufactured, injuries can still occur because of marketing defects. These flaws occur in the advertising process or due to faulty or misleading labeling. If a certain medication interacts with another medication but lacks a warning label with this information, injuries could occur. This would be an example of a marketing defect.

A Boston defective products lawyer can help you determine how to proceed if you’ve been injured due to defective design, manufacturing, marketing, or all three. Continue reading

Summer is the most popular season for day trips, road trips, and trips to the lake or beach. Although the more obvious hazards of winter, such as snow and ice, have vanished for the foreseeable future, summer driving carries its own set of risks. In fact, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), July and August are the two deadliest months for car accidents. What makes summer driving so dangerous, and how can you avoid becoming a statistic?

Common Hazards

There are multiple factors that increase the risk of driving in summer, but the main issue is the significant uptick in traffic. More people on the road equals more opportunities for accidents. Summer driving hazards include:

 

  • Novice drivers: Suddenly, millions of teens who were previously in school Monday through Friday are now on the open road, with little to do but celebrate. In addition to their lack of experience, young drivers often have a sense of invincibility and adventure that can result in dangerous driving behaviors, such as speeding. You can reduce this risk by traveling at off-peak hours, always driving defensively, and teaching your teen child about the risks of speeding, and reckless or distracted driving.

 

  • Heavy traffic: As stated above, there are more people on the road in summer than during any other season. In addition to school vacation and trips to the beach, there are also festivals, fairs and concerts just about every night of the week. Traffic can be especially heavy in tourist areas and around cities. Use caution; always leave ample space between your car and the car in front of you, drive defensively, and never allow yourself to be distracted when driving on a congested roadway. A Boston auto accident attorney can help you determine how to proceed if you’ve been injured in a car accident.

 

  • Construction: Summer is construction season. The sight of orange traffic cones is a good indicator that warmer weather is on the horizon. Construction zones are inherently dangerous. Lane changes can be confusing, and not everyone slows down to the required speed. And to make things even more harrowing, men and women working in the construction zone may be difficult to see. When approaching a construction zone, reduce your speed immediately, and avoid any type of distraction; don’t even adjust the air conditioning.

 

  • Cyclists and motorcycles: Cycling and riding are synonymous with summer. These environmentally-sound and economical modes of transportation are a good thing, but it may be difficult to see riders and cyclists due to their small size. Before switching lanes, always double check for motorcycles and cyclists in your blind spots. A MA motor vehicle accident lawyer can help you recover damages if you’ve been injured in an accident involving a motorcycle.

 

  • Heavy rain: Heavy storms, and even light rain, can make roadways dangerous. Hydroplaning occurs when tires lose traction with the road. Anyone who has ever hydroplaned knows how scary it can be; you temporarily lose control of the vehicle, much like on icy roads. To avoid hydroplaning, reduce speeds during rainfall, avoid driving during heavy rains if possible, and make sure your tires have adequate traction.

 

  • Blowouts: Hot roads and hot air during summer months can cause the air inside of tires to expand. If a tire is excessively worn, air expansion can result in a tire blowout. Blowouts, especially at high speeds, can be disastrous. To prevent this type of accident, you should replace your tires at least once every five years, and check them regularly for proper traction and inflation.

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Reuters reported in late October that Toyota had invested around $10 million in Getaround, a ride-sharing service based out of San Francisco that was founded in 2009. Getaround is different from services like Uber, as users of Getaround can search their local area for available privately-owned rental cars that they can rent and use personally for as little at $5.  Users have access to these rental vehicles for a certain amount of time, rather than simply being ferried from one location to the next like with Lyft or Uber. Automotive speculative analysts have reasoned that Toyota’s investment in a ride-sharing entity indicates they are stacking their chips for the upcoming industrial boom of driverless taxi services. Some project that the first fully-automated driving services will be enacted by 2020.

The potential benefits of driverless taxi services are multiple, and are enough for more than 18 large companies to invest resources into at least studying its practicality. In theory, they can create less traffic, lessen pollution, and increase the efficiency and safety of roads. Of course, on the other hand, a world filled with driverless taxis means millions of taxi drivers and drivers who work for companies like Uber will be out of a job.  While the technology is essentially ready for implementation, the legal framework surrounding driverless cars and taxis is a continuously-developing headache. There is no telling how legislation will translate between federal, state, and local lines, or if it will be possible to form any solid ground rules anytime soon.

After all, who is at fault when an accident inevitably occurs between a human driver and a driverless car? How about an accident that occurs between two autonomous vehicles? There are hundreds of possible factors in play and dozens of parties that could be at fault. Taking into consideration these uncertainties, most analysts don’t foresee driverless taxis making a significant impact on the world for at least a decade or two.  No matter how this industry, plucked straight from the pages of science fiction, pans out in the future, the fact that huge companies such as Toyota are entering the driverless car game proves that this is no fad or silly pie-in-the-sky fantasy. Driverless cars, and taxis, are coming sooner rather than later.

Nothing spells summer like days spent at the beach. As we enter the dog days of summer here in Boston, there are a number things you can do to prepare for a safe trip to the beach. You’ve packed up your gear and are ready to ride the waves and bask in the sun. But with lots of novice and distracted drivers on the road, summer is also prime time for motor vehicle accidents. Keep yourself and your family safe by following some basic summer driving tips.

Driving Vacation

Before heading out on a long trip, have your car serviced. Even if you consistently have the oil changed and tires rotated on schedule, it doesn’t hurt to have your mechanic check out the vehicle before embarking on a long-distance vacation. While you always want to avoid a breakdown, it is especially important when you are far from home.

If your vehicle does not pass muster for a long drive, consider renting a car for your beach vacation needs.

Make Sure the Air Conditioning Works

Many people don’t use the air conditioning in their car on a regular basis. If you’re heading out for a long trip in hot, muggy weather, a broken AC can be more than just uncomfortable. Check your air conditioning before taking the car in for service, so it can be repaired before the onset of your trip.

Do Not Leave Kids or Pets in a Hot Car

If you’re tempted to leave your children or dog in the car “for a minute or two” while you run into a store, avoid that temptation. On a hot day, the temperature inside a closed car can soar to dangerous levels in short order. Not only are you putting your kids or pets at risk, you could face arrest if someone sees them unattended and calls police.

Watch Out for Trucks

Eighteen-wheelers take a long time to stop and have considerable blind spots. When traveling, avoid driving directly beside a semi. Either pass it when safe to do so, or stay behind it. Never cut off a truck. It could be the last thing you ever do.

Avoid Distractions

You know you should never text while driving. But what about when you’re stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic en route to the beach. It is always dangerous to take your eyes off the road, and that is especially true in an unfamiliar area. Police officers are on the lookout for distracted drivers, and you could receive a ticket, or worse.

Seat Belts and Car Seats

Safety is critical, and you are a role model for your children. When leaving the beach, resist the urge to not buckle damp, sandy children into their cat seats. Small children are not sufficiently protected by seat belts, so car seats are a must no matter the circumstances. By the same token, always wear your seat belt.

Emergency Kits

Carry two types of emergency kits – one for first-aid and another for roadside assistance. You also want to ensure that your cell phone is always charged, and that you have phone numbers and membership information for your roadside assistance plan. Continue reading

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