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Several Massachusetts car insurance companies have been accused of failing to correct at-fault car accident findings reported to private data collection companies after the board overturned those at-fault findings. Four more auto insurers have settled with Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley to the tune of more than $100,000.

The settlement requires these four companies to correct their at-fault accident findings reported to private data collectors. They must also report these corrections to insurers who actively use this information to calculate premiums for Massachusetts drivers. In addition, the companies will be required to pay any driver surcharged as a result of an at-fault report that should have been corrected.

According to Coakley’s office, the settlement could impact the driving records of 10,000 Massachusetts motorists.

Source: Mass. AG settles with four more insurers over at-fault accident reports, IFAWebNews.com, May 11, 2010 Continue reading

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The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office is investigating a Waltham pizza delivery driver who was reportedly involved in a motor vehicle accident that claimed the life of a 9-year-old boy. The 19-year-old Waltham man has not yet been charged in connection with the fatal crash, but his license was automatically revoked after the incident and records from the Registry of Motor Vehicles show that the driver was found more than 50 percent at fault for his involvement in another Waltham accident on March 27.

The fatal car accident occurred last Wednesday when a Mazda Protégé collided at an intersection with a Jeep Cherokee. Police believe that the Mazda driver may have run a stop sign after making a pizza delivery.

According to registry records, the driver of the Jeep Cherokee was driving without a Massachusetts driver’s license. Her 9-year-old son was killed, but her 1-year-old daughter survived the accident without injury.

Source: Teen investigated in fatal Waltham crash, Boston Herald, May 8, 2010 Continue reading

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Just over a year has passed since the May 8 trolley crash that injured 62 passengers and caused an estimated $9 million in equipment damage. The T operator who ran through yellow and red lights as he was text messaging was dismissed by the MBTA and faces trial next October. In addition, the MBTA has disciplined 18 workers for using or carrying cell phones on the job as part of the text messaging ban that followed swiftly on the heels of the MBTA accident. Ten of those workers were fired.

In contrast to the MBTA’s quick reaction, the writer of a Boston Globe article points out that the Massachusetts House and Senate have been slower to pass a texting ban for Massachusetts drivers. The Senate is requiring that drivers age 75 and older undergo medical screenings to maintain their driver’s licenses. On the House side, the bill is hung up over a provision that mandate handsfree cell phones.

However, the House Speaker assured the writer that the bill will pass before the sessions ends at the end of July.

Source: 18 T operators punished under year-old texting ban, Boston Globe, May 7, 2010 Continue reading

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Earlier this week, a 27-year-old motorcyclist was transported to a Massachusetts hospital after his Suzuki bike collided with a Toyota Camry. Police said the motorcycle accident occurred when the vehicle in front of him made an abrupt right turn. The motorcyclist suffered serious leg injuries.

The driver of the Camry, a 19-year-old man from York, Maine, was apparently not injured. This is often the case when a motorcycle collides with another vehicle, because the cyclist has little to cushion their fall or protect them from outside elements.

The police department’s Traffic Accident Reconstruction Team is still investing the motorcycle crash.

Source: Hooksett motorcyclist injured in crash, UnionLeader.com, May 4, 2010 Continue reading

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Last month, a 15-year-old Massachusetts boy was driving a sport utility vehicle when the vehicle crashed into a tree in Newton. All four of the SUV’s occupants were age 15 and were taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for injuries.

Police have announced that the boy will face charges of driving to endanger, operating without a license, and using a motor vehicle without authority. In addition to these charges, the teen was cited for speeding.

Three of the teens injured in the SUV crash have been released from the hospital. As of a few weeks ago, the other teen was in critical but stable condition, according to the Boston Globe.

Source: Driver, 15, to face charges in Newton crash, Boston Globe, April 26, 2010 Continue reading

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On Thursday, a three-alarm electrical fire on the tracks north of Downtown Crossing station in Boston send at least 17 MBTA passengers to local hospitals, where they were treated for smoke inhalation. According to one passenger, the train had pulled into the station and the subway operator quickly closed the doors after noticing the intense smoke in the station. The MBTA also evacuated several hundred passengers from the train and station.

In response to the fire, the MBTA shut down service on several subway lines. Buses replaced service between Broadway Station and Harvard Square on the Red Line, Arlington Station and North Station on the Green Line, and Back Bay Station and North Station on the Orange Line.

None of the passengers’ injuries appeared to be life-threatening.

Source: MBTA Fire Shuts Down Subways, Injures Dozens, TheBostonChannel.com, April 29, 2010 Continue reading

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A group of Brookline school children have approached the town’s transportation administration about creating stricter fines for drivers parked in bike lanes. Currently, Brookline issues $25 “double parking” tickets to cars parked in bike lanes, but there isn’t a steeper fine to protect the bike lanes. According to the websites for Boston and Cambridge, those cities each have $100 fines for cars parked in marked bike lanes.

Cars parked in bike lanes can pose a safety risk to bicyclists, who are forced to maneuver around parked cars or in traffic. Just a few weeks ago, a 22-year-old bicyclist died after being hit by an MBTA bus. While bicycle activists say that traffic fatalities are rare, they point out that it’s very common to see motorists parked in bike lanes while they drop someone off or make a delivery.

Almost 700 bicyclists died in traffic accidents in 2007, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Ten of those fatalities were in Massachusetts.

Source: Brookline kids pitch fine for parking in bike lanes, WickedLocal.com, April 14, 2010 Continue reading

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On Saturday afternoon, two men died in separate Massachusetts highway crashes. Both traffic accidents occurred between 3 and 4pm.

In the first crash, a car headed east on Interstate 195 hit a guard rail and flipped over. EMTs pronounced the driver dead at the scene of the car crash. He was the only person in the vehicle.

A second highway accident involved a man on a motorcycle, who was traveling south on Route 146. He was thrown from his motorcycle after hitting the median. The motorcycle accident victim was transported to UMass Memorial Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.

Both fatal accidents are being investigated. Authorities have not released the victims’ names pending notification of relatives.

Source: Two killed in highway accidents, Boston Globe, April 24, 2010 Continue reading

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On Sunday evening around 9pm, a 24-year-old Springfield man crashed his vehicle into a home in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. The impact of his Acura hitting the house caused an estimated $25,000 in damage, but fortunately none of the home’s occupants were injured.

The driver admitted to text-messaging at the time of the car accident. He was released from the hospital later that night.

Lawmakers say this car crash underscores the hazards of texting behind the wheel and the need for legislation to ban the practice. Regardless of whether texting is legal or illegal, police say they hope that other Massachusetts drivers will take heed.

Source: 24-year-old Springfield man tells Wilbraham police he had been texting when he lost control of his Acura and crashed into a home at 11 Pleasant View Road, MassLive.com, April 26, 2010
Texting Driver Crashes into House, CBS3Springfield.com, April 26, 2010 Continue reading

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According to Massachusetts transit police, a Green Line trolley collided with a black Jeep Cherokee around midnight on Sunday. The Jeep Cherokee reportedly carried eight Boston College students, including four college athletes, all under the legal drinking age. Several of the students were injured and treated at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, but neither the driver of the trolley nor any of its passengers were hurt.

Police apparently searched the vehicle after the MBTA crash and found several open and unopened beer cans, as well as an unopened 1.75 liter bottle of vodka. They also found “flood smeared beer cans” at the site of the trolley accident.

The MBTA has announced that it will hold the students responsible for the SUV accident and wants them to pay repair costs. The eight students will also face citations for being minors in possession of alcohol.

Source: Four BC athletes to face alcohol charges after Green Line collision, The Boston Globe, April 26, 2010 Continue reading

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