As expected from reduced traffic volumes in 2020 due to the pandemic that forced many Massachusetts businesses, especially bars, restaurants, hotels, salons, and gyms to close down or that forced others to work remotely from home, the number of traffic accidents fell dramatically from 2019 levels. However, the incidence of fatal car accidents did not experience a similar decline.
Read MoreA recent car accident in Hyannis, Massachusetts involved 4-5 drunk males whose vehicle had been observed by a passing Uber driver to crash into a barricade. The Uber driver told police that he saw the vehicle impact the barricade before the males, whom he reported from observing their conduct to be visibly intoxicated, attempted to extricate the vehicle from the barricade. The car’s airbags were also deployed, which would make driving it very difficult even if it were operational.
Read MoreIn early March, an 18-year-old driver was killed when his vehicle struck a pole at a high rate of speed, splitting the vehicle in half. The incident occurred at the intersection of McClellan Highway and Addison Street in Boston, Massachusetts. Another vehicle allegedly involved in the incident crashed into a guardrail, but the driver escaped serious injuries.
Read MoreA mid-March motorcycle accident in Haverhill, Massachusetts involving a pickup truck left the motorcycle rider in serious condition and the pickup driver charged with DUI, possession of a Class B drug (cocaine), and leaving the scene of an injury accident among other possible charges. Police reported that the pickup driver had refused a breath test, though officers noted the distinctive odor of alcohol on her breath and numerous open containers of beer and other alcohol in the truck.
Read MoreUnfortunately, people are killed every day in car accidents around the country, but those tragedies are compounded when those killed are teenagers who have yet to make their mark in the world. In early March, a 17-year-old was killed in a rollover accident on I-93 in Canton, Massachusetts when the driver of the Jeep Wrangler, also a 17-year-old, apparently tried to cross over several lanes of traffic to get to an exit. His vehicle struck a Toyota Corolla on the ramp that caused the Jeep to roll over, ejecting the decedent who was a rear-seat passenger. He later died of his injuries at Good Samaritan Hospital in Brockton.
Read MoreWhen the implications of the pandemic became all too clear and states and municipalities began to issue stay-at-home orders, many businesses closed or sent their employees home to work remotely. The impact on Massachusetts roads and highways became evident with the commensurate decrease in traffic. Anyone who drove on a major highway during rush hour could not help but notice that traffic volume was down considerably.
Read MoreWith the pandemic having shuttered many businesses and people being required to adhere to masking and social distancing rules, jury trials had been put on pause for both criminal and civil matters. Reports are that some 2,925 scheduled jury trials in Massachusetts since March 2020 have been put on hold. As any trial attorney can attest to, a significant delay in a trial can seriously jeopardize the rights of criminal and civil litigants. However, the state is now preparing to resume jury trials but with caution and significant safeguards in place.
Read MoreA recent crash in the 100 block of Broadway in Lynn, Massachusetts resulted in a passenger being partially ejected from her vehicle. The badly injured individual had to be fully extricated from the car by the jaws of life before being airlifted to a Boston hospital. There were three other persons who sustained serious injuries according to police reports. No other information on the crash was reported.
Read MoreIf one very cold Massachusetts morning after a snowfall, you decide to skip clearing the snow off your car or pickup truck’s roof or trunk before leaving for work, consider what happened to a New Hampshire small truck driver who neglected to clean off his vehicle. When the snow and ice from his box truck slid off and penetrated the windshield of the car behind him, causing severe eye injuries to the car’s motorist, the truck driver was charged with vehicular assault, reckless conduct, and negligence, not to mention a likely civil suit by the victim, the injured driver.
Read MoreJust recently, the annual statistics on the worst states for drivers during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season were released by ValuePenguin, an online source for financial information including auto insurers, with Mississippi leading the way followed by South Dakota, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Alabama rounding out the worst 5. How can this information help us the rest of the year?
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