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Two rollover accidents involving tractor-trailers occurred recently on I-291 in Springfield and I-91 with the truckdriver in the first accident suffering serious injuries. State transportation authorities expressed concern about the rising incidences of such accidents, especially in western Massachusetts.
A 21-year old woman was recently identified and arrested for having struck and seriously injured a female pedestrian on Chandler Street in Worcester, Massachusetts on the evening of January 14, 2020 before fleeing the scene. The accident occurred after another motorist from the opposite direction had stopped to allow the pedestrian to cross. Police had been advised to look for a female driving a red car.
In case you missed it, red light cameras may be coming to Massachusetts. Haven’t many folks tried to beat a light, knowing that there are several seconds between the time the light turns red and crossing traffic gets a green light? Now, however, if a bill passes in the state senate, you should think twice about doing that again. Last reports are, though, that the bill is stalled and tabled for the time being.
Unlike the trend in the rest of the state, Peabody, Massachusetts has been experiencing fewer car accidents in the past several years. In 2019, the city had 979 motor vehicle accidents, its lowest number since 2010. These accidents involve cars, motorcycles, bicyclists, and pedestrians.
Drunk driving in Massachusetts and throughout the nation remains a major factor in roadway accidents and account for about 28% of highway fatalities each year. Despite decades of public and media safety campaigns, increased enforcement efforts, and stricter civil and criminal penalties, people continue to drink and drive. One measure to curtail drunk driving that has appeared to be effective has been the installation of interlock ignition devices (IID) on cars driven by individuals convicted of drunk driving. However, there are reportedly unforeseen dangers in how these devices are being used. Read more
Safe driving campaigns are nothing new in Massachusetts. For decades, our state and counties have poured millions of dollars into educating motorists about the need to buckle up, and to refrain from speeding and drinking and driving. More recently, social media and other campaigns were directed toward drivers who text and drive and use hand-held devices. But with the recent legalization of marijuana for recreational use, safety advocates have felt the need to educate the public about this newest hazard to drivers and pedestrians, especially when marijuana is combined with alcohol.
A tragic accident in Sturbridge, Massachusetts a few month ago where a 67-year old man was killed while walking on Main Street underscores the increasing risks that pedestrians appear to be facing. In 2018, there were 6,227 pedestrians killed on our nation’s roadways, which was 250 more than in 2017. Since 2008, the percentage of pedestrians killed has risen by 41% according to the Governor’s Highway Safety Association. Read more
Insurance fraud in Massachusetts and elsewhere comes in many forms. We often think of staged accidents where individuals scheme to cause an accident and then claim it was a hit-and-run. Some schemers collaborate with others to stage a rear-end or other type of accident and then feign injuries, or they deliberately stop their vehicles quickly so as to be rear-ended by an innocent trailing driver. In some of these ruses, there are attorneys, body shops, and medical providers who work in tandem. Even if the accident is real in some cases, the injuries, treatment, wage loss, and medical expenses are contrived.
Most Massachusetts drivers today cannot possibly contemplate what travel in the Boston area and throughout the Northeast was like before the Massachusetts turnpike was built or even imagine a time when it didn’t exist. Before 1957, however, travel to other towns and cities throughout our state and from New York to Maine was on mostly narrow, one- and two-lane roadways that wound their way through farmlands, small towns and along the coast taking many hours for motorists to get to their destinations.
Massachusetts Route 24 is a 40-mile stretch of highway running north-south beginning at Fall River and extending to Randolph. To motorists familiar with Route 24, it has become infamous for the overwhelming number of crashes and fatalities with some motorists calling it the “death highway” or the” highway from hell.” From 2016 to 2019, there were 1,417 crashes in Bristol County with about eight fatalities. In 2016, there were 590 crashes between Randolph and Berkely with 286 reported injuries and two fatalities. Overall, in the past 5-years, there were 3,000 collisions with the roadway between Fall River and Taunton appearing to be the deadliest stretch.