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We have been practicing law in Boston and throughout Massachusetts since 1985. I have represented clients in District Courts, Superior Courts, the Appeals Court, Housing Court, Probate Courts, Federal Bankruptcy Court and the Federal District Court.
With bicycles becoming more ubiquitous and despite cities and towns accommodating riders with specially designated bike lanes, markings, and turn signals at intersections, it is inevitable that accidents will happen. Bicycles are not just for racing or for children and more and more people are using them to commute as well as for recreation or health.
A fatal hit-and-run accident this past September on I-95 South in Attleboro, Massachusetts, is still unresolved as police search for a white Cadillac Esplanade that a surveillance camera captured fleeing the scene. Police also described the driver and reported that the subject vehicle might have front end damage and a missing headlight. The unfortunate victim was a homeless individual. Reports did not indicate if the victim had been walking on the highway, though the location of the accident would suggest that. Pedestrians are not allowed to be walking or wandering on interstate highways.
Following a 2018 fatal motorcycle accident that killed a Brewster man, the West Yarmouth driver who collided with the rider in the middle of an intersection was found not guilty by a jury of vehicular homicide by negligent operation but was found guilty of failing to yield.
There are movies and actual stories of escaped animals from zoos that are found roaming in the city park, on a freeway, or digging into in someone’s trash can. And then there are the rare events when someone who keeps a wild animal on his property forgets to lock the cage and the animal goes exploring. In Franklin, Massachusetts, a town located 26 miles south of Boston, a wild emu, an animal not native to America, was sighted at the side of a road and reportedly terrorizing drivers. News reports of the flightless bird, which must have been as bewildered as the drivers, did not exactly describe what the “terror” was that so alarmed motorists but emus are not small animals. Adults are over 5 feet in length and can weigh close to 90 pounds. They are known to be aggressive and can cause serious injury if you disturb it.
Last month, a 62-year old Woodstock woman was killed when she apparently lost control of the 53-foot truck she was driving that was transporting methane gas, a hazardous material, and crashed through a guardrail before the truck rolled onto its side. Police were still investigating the incident to find out why the truck suddenly left the roadway on Route 2 in Orange. Fortunately, no other vehicles were involved. Read more