Category: Motor Vehicle Accidents

Selfies Gone Wrong: Car Accident Leaves One Dead

In High Point, North Carolina on April 26, 2014, a 32 year old woman was in the process of posting a photograph of herself on Facebook while driving on Interstate 85. Her vehicle veered left, over the middle of the road, causing a head-on collision with a truck coming from the opposite direction. The 2005 Toyota Corolla was pushed into a ditch where it caught on fire. The driver, Courtney Ann Sanford, was killed as a result of the accident.

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Motor Vehicle Accident Resulting in Wrongful Death on Cape Cod

In a horrific accident in Harwich recently two vehicles, driven by teenage drivers were racing along Route 6.  The teenagers were local high school graduates.  18-year-old Michael Lawrence of Osterville was pronounced dead after a single car accident.  He was alone in the vehicle and didn’t even live long enough to make it to a hospital.  A graduate of Barnstable High School, Mr. Lawrence was travelling east at the time of the collision. 

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Accident Lawyer Reports on Top Motor Vehicle Crash Sites in Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation published its updated crash report, which includes all reported motor vehicle and pedestrian accidents through 2011.  The data is interesting in several respects.  The ranking is a matching of property damage reported and injuries reported.  It is a “first brush tool to evaluate top crash intersection locations” so as to improve safety.

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Who is at Fault When Someone Negligently Sells a Bad Driver a Motorcycle?

Can someone injured by the negligence of a motorcycle driver sue the seller of the motorcycle for his injuries?  This was the question recently addressed by the Massachusetts Appeals Court in a decision that came down this month. According to the decision, Red Streak (company), Beverly Fox and Dobay owned a motorcycle.  They intended to transferred title, or sell the motorcycle, to Ms. Rice.  Jayne Rice, the new owner, allowed Mr. Foster to use her motorcycle.  Foster negligently crashed the motorcycle into Timothy O’Leary, who was also operating a motorcycle.  At the time of the collision, the Rice motorcycle was unregistered and uninsured.

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Pedestrian Wrongful Death in Canton in a Motor Vehicle Collision

A car accident in Canton last week resulted in a wrongful death and illustrates several safety lessons for us all.   According to police reports, two teenagers were driving home on a rainy night through a busy street in Canton.  The passenger was texting on his phone – not illegal, or even wrong, but not helpful to a young driver trying to navigate the dark streets with lots of traffic.  The driver, 19, had a concerning driving history.

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Fewer Car Accidents for Massachusetts Teens

Last year there were over 1,500 motor vehicle collisions resulting in personal injury involving 16-17 year old drivers; there were a dozen wrongful deaths from those motor vehicle accidents.  While teen age drivers are three times more likely to be involved in a motor vehicle accident in Massachusetts than older drivers, the gap is narrowing since the 2007 law requiring increased training for Massachusetts drivers.  What is the true cause of reduced accidents?

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Primary Seat Belt Law in Massachusetts to Reduce Wrongful Death?

Massachusetts averages 319 motor vehicle collisions every day, with one wrongful death from motor vehicle accidents. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 102 Massachusetts residents are saved each year by seat belts. Thirty three states have “primary seat belt” laws. These laws allow a police officer to pull over a vehicle when the officer sees that occupants are not wearing seat belts. The NHTSA has statistics to show that states with a primary seat belt law have lower fatality rates.

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Failure to Wear Seat Belts Results in Death of Six Family Members

On October 18, 2013, in Upper Arlington, Ohio, outside Columbus, a driver ran a red light and then stopped in the middle of the intersection. At the same time, a police cruiser responding to a robbery call was entering the intersection with a siren going and emergency lights flashing. Unfortunately, the driver stopped too late to avoid the collision with the police car. The driver and all five of his passengers were killed. The driver and all five passengers were not wearing seat belts.

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