Springfield Cracks Down on Dirt Bikes – What You Need to Know

Dirtbikes are recreational vehicles for trail riding or on private roads. Most are not street legal, meaning they are not registered and have not met certain standards for safe riding on public roadways. Despite their illegality, riders in Springfield, Massachusetts, and in other communities have taken to the city streets and are creating havoc with motorists and pedestrians. Springfield’s mayor apparently had had enough of these incidents between motorists and dirtbike rider.

10 Most Dangerous Intersections Around Boston

Every large urban area has certain intersections that are notorious for car crashes or are hazardous to pedestrians and bicyclists. These are due to faulty road design, inadequate road maintenance, poor planning for increased traffic and pedestrians, lack of traffic calming measures, crazy configurations that have befuddled highway road designers, or an omission of signage or road markings that only causes confusion. Boston is not alone in having a number of dangerous roadways and intersections where large numbers of accidents occur for these and other reasons. If you were injured as a motorist, passenger, or pedestrian by the negligent driving or conduct of another person, call a car accident lawyer at Burns and Jain.

Cars are Safe – But Pedestrians Are Still at Risk in Massachusetts

The newest reports on pedestrian accidents from the Governor’s Highway Safety Association are a little misleading at first glance. Because of increased safety measures, such as traffic calming, installation of bike lanes, placing flashing lights on crosswalks, constructing safety islands, and decreasing speeds in urban areas, 23 states have reported a decline in pedestrian accidents and fatalities since 2017. There were 6 states that had double-digit declines and 3 had consecutive years of decreased pedestrian incidents. Our sister state, New Hampshire, is apparently the safest state for pedestrians having reported just a single fatality in 2018 representing an astounding 80% drop in pedestrian fatalities.

UMass Pedestrian Accident – Do You Need a Lawyer If You Are Injured?

In April of this year, a grad student at UMass-Amherst was killed by a motorist while apparently in a crosswalk at North Pleasant Street near the Crestview Apartments. It occurred around 10:40 p.m. The motorist did stop at the scene and was cooperative with police. No citations were issued at the time and police did not indicate how the accident occurred or if any one party, or both, were at fault in some way. No witnesses to the accident were identified. Police did say that accident reconstruction experts were being used to determine how the accident occurred.

Pedestrian Struck in Shoplifting Getaway

A police officer in Braintree suffered non-life-threatening injuries recently when he tried to thwart an attempted getaway by shoplifters at the South Shore Plaza. Two teenagers had tried to flee in a car being driven by another teen but were blocked by the officer in the parking lot who was on foot. The driver struck the officer with his car but collided head-on with another vehicle when he attempted to evade a pursuing police cruiser. The driver was taken into custody and charged with various offenses including assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Beach Umbrella Injuries in Massachusetts

Summer in Massachusetts is time for relaxing on one of our numerous beaches. The weather is fabulous, the water is perfect and there are so many beach choices – from the Cape, to Nantucket, to Nantasket, to Cranes Beach. We’ve got bayside and full ocean beaches. But with summer fun comes summer risks. We cover these risks in our blogs from time to time.

Watertown Collision Speed and Distracted Driving is a Dangerous Mix

In late March of this year, a woman driving a 2010 Honda at a high rate of speed in Watertown near Pleasant and Bridge Street lost her life in a horrific accident. According to police investigators who surveyed the debris strewn scene, the woman was traveling at an excessive speed when she ran into a car in front of her that caused her car to flip on its side and into the opposite lane of traffic where the car had a head-on collision with another vehicle. The four occupants of the car that had been hit head-on were taken to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.