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A joint investigation between Brockton police and state Department of Transportation authorities revealed serious violations among Massachusetts drivers of vans and station wagons transporting students to elementary schools and day care centers. Dozens of drivers received citations for violations including driving without a license, overloading vehicles, and bald tires.

The crackdown, dubbed Operation Clean Sweep, involved a dozen surprise checkpoints. Of the 85 transport vehicles investigated, there were 52 violations discovered. One company actually faces a criminal complaint for overloading vehicles with too many children, because not securing children in a car sweat or making sure that they wear seat belts significantly increases the rick of fatality in the event of a motor vehicle collision.

Another concern was that not all of the drivers had a 7-D license, which signifies that the driver has undergone a criminal background check to ensure that they qualified to transport Massachusetts students. The holder of a 7-D license is also required to pass inspections twice a year to ensure vehicle safety.

Source: Drivers of students cited after inspections, Boston Globe, December 21, 2009 Continue reading

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In Middleboro, Massachusetts last week, a motor vehicle crash involving a tractor-trailer and two cars seriously injured a 41-year-old Falmouth man. State police say the accident occurred on Route 495 near Exit 6 around 8:11am when a 2002 Volkswagon hit a tractor-trailer that was stopped in the breakdown lane. That crash sent a 2007 Toyota Corola off the road and into a wooded area, seriously injuring the driver of the Toyota and the Volkswagon.

One of the auto accident victims was taken to Boston Medical Center and the other to Morton Hospital in Taunton. The tractor-trailer operator was not injured.

Following the motor vehicle collision, Route 495 South was closed for approximately two hours. Traffic was diverted onto Route 24 North during the initial investigation. Massachusetts State Police, along with several other agencies, are still investigating the car crash.

Source: Falmouth man injured in Route 495 crash, CapeCodOnline, December 17, 2009 Continue reading

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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 Continue reading

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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 Continue reading

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A bus crash last week near Boston’s Copley Place injured a 54-year-old pedestrian. According to a press release issued by the Suffolk district attorney’s office, the MBTA bus accident occurred just after midnight near the intersection of Ring Road and Huntington Avenue.

The Route 9 bus was headed west on Huntington Avenue and did not have any passengers at the time of the bus crash. As of Friday, the pedestrian was still in the intensive care unit at Boston Medical Center.

The bus driver will be tested for drug or alcohol impairment in accordance with the MBTA’s standard policy, but investigators say he did not show any signs of impairment following the collision.

Source: Pedestrian critical after MBTA bus collision in Back Bay, Boston Globe, December 11, 2009 Continue reading

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Yesterday afternoon, an outbound MBTA trolley carrying 90 people derailed at Copley Station, shutting down MBTA service for several hours. According to the Boston Herald, the subway accident sparked a small fire, which crews extinguished quickly.

The MBTA provided bus replacement service between Kenmore Station and Park Street on the Green Line as crews worked to clear up the accident.

An MBTA spokesman said there no injuries in the train accident, because the trolley was moving at a very low speed. The accident remains under investigation, but the MBTA says there is no cause to believe that the operator did anything unsafe.

Sources: Green line trolley derails, no injuries, Boston Herald, December 13, 2009
Green Line trolley derails at Copley Station, WHDH.com, December 13, 2009 Continue reading

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In Grafton, Massachusetts, a truck accident on the Massachusetts Turnpike killed a 36-year-old man who had just repaired a disabled tanker truck. He was apparently hit and killed by a 2008 Freightliner box truck that hit the tanker truck, then hit him.

The driver of the tanker truck also sustainer serious injuries including a broken arm and was transported by ambulance to UMass Memorial Medical Center – University Campus in Worchester.

According to the state Department of Transportation, the occurred truck crasharound 9:30am in the westbound portion of the highway. Two lanes of traffic were for roughly two and a half hours during the investigation of the deadly truck accident.

Source: Deadly crash on Pike, Worcester Telegram, December 9, 2009 Continue reading

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Earlier this week, a bus crash injured Weezer frontman River Cuomo and his assistant as they were traveling to a concert scheduled for Monday night at Boston’s Agganis Arena. The tour bus reportedly hit a patch of ice and crashed into a ditch. According to one news source, Cuomo sustained injuries including three cracked ribs and some “painful internal damage.”

Emergency response crews had to use the Jaws of Life to rescue him from the wreckage, but a friend of the band said he is now resting as comfortably as could be expected. Cuomo’s assistant Sarah Kim fractured two ribs and a lower vertebrae. His wife and daughter, who were also traveling on the tour bus, were not injured.

In response to the bus accident, Weezer has canceled the rest of its December tour dates, including the Monday night concert in Boston. However, the band hopes to reschedule once Cuomo recovers, and Agganis Arena is advising ticket holders to keep tickets until a new date is announced.

Sources: Weezer Tour Canceled In Wake of Bus Crash, Boston Globe, December 7, 2009
Rivers Cuomo Injured In Bus Accident; Rest Of Weezer Tour Canceled, RTTNews.com, December 7, 2009 Continue reading

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Last month in Reading, Massachusetts, a motorcycle accident claimed the lives of two. Authorities say both the 32-year-old driver of the motorcycle and his 25-year-old passenger were killed instantly when the cycle collided with as pickup truck.

According to the motorcycle accident victim’s mother, the two were leaving the funeral of a friend who had died in a car accident the previous weekend.

Neighbors in Reading described the intersection at Lowell and High Streets as dangerous. They gathered at the site of the double fatal motorcycle accident, and at least one person left a bouquet of flowers at the accident scene.

Source: Two die in Reading motorcycle accident; Ex-E-T columnist’s daughter a victim, The Eagle-Tribune, November 20, 2009 Continue reading

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On Saturday evening, a retired Haverhill Police officer died in an MBTA commuter train accident. When it pulled into Newburyport station at 5:32pm, the train hit and killed 63-year-old Richard Witkiewicz. MBTA officials and the District Attorney’s office have ruled the death an accident. A spokesperson for the MBTA said the man was crossing the tracks in a pedestrian crosswalk when he was hit.

However, a taxi driver who was the last person to speak to Witkiewicz before he died told the Newburyport News he doesn’t believe Witkiewicz walked in front of the train.

According to the driver, “I saw his body; it wasn’t on the tracks, and if he stepped in front of a train going 30 miles per hour, he would have been mangled. He had a severe head wound. He got clipped by the train.”

The fatal accident is still being investigated.

Source: Witness disputes MBTA’s report on train accident, The Daily News, December 1, 2009 Continue reading

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