Category: Uncategorized

Train at Crossing Kills One In Springfield

Train crossings are not an uncommon sight in many areas of the country, including Massachusetts. You can generally recognize when a train is crossing your path by flashing lights and a barrier that prevents cars from crossing the tracks. However, serious injuries and fatalities do occur at train crossings. Just this past April, 2018, a Springfield woman ran her SUV into a moving train around 2:00 a.m. on Memorial Drive in Springfield and suffered fatal injuries. It has not yet been established how the accident occurred. Massachusetts has approximately 3000 railroad crossings throughout the state or areas where roads cross railroad tracks instead of over or under them. Between 1975 and 2016, there have been 36 fatalities at such crossings. According to the Federal Railway Administration, in 2017 there were 2,105 collisions between motor vehicles and trains in the U.S., resulting in 807 injuries and 274 fatalities. These incidents have been reduced considerably since 1981 when there were 9,461 collisions with 3,293 injuries and 728 fatalities.

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Should Teen Drivers Use Decals

It only makes sense that young, inexperienced drivers pose a greater risk than those who have been driving for years. Statistics from across the nation are consistent in showing that car accidents are the number one killer of teens. Young drivers are more likely to speed, drink and drive, and use their cell phones than older groups of drivers. They also use seat belts less frequently, a major reason for catastrophic and fatal injuries in a crash.

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Don’t be Like Bill: Driving With Snow on Your Car

Facing another cold, Massachusetts winter morning on your way to your car can be depressing, to say the least. Your car’s windshield is solid snow and ice and it can’t be more than 2 degrees outside. A large pile of snow is also on your roof.  So, you shave off a small amount of ice and snow from the front windshield, just barely enough to see ahead of you, get the car started and you’re off. But you fail to see a car to your right at the next intersection and you slam into it.

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New Law on Driving With a Cell Phone in Massachusetts

Texting while driving has caused too many collisions.  Since 2010, Massachusetts has outlawed texting while driving. This law, however, did not ban using your cellphone for making calls or scrolling through your email unless you are a driver under the age of 21. In the past few years, lawmakers have introduced legislation banning any hand-held use of cellphones for all drivers but the measures either stalled or died quietly in the House. Governor Baker did not endorse a full ban either, feeling it was unfair to drivers in older vehicles that lacked the technology that permitted hands-free use.

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Patriots Rolling Despite Car Accident Injury of Linebacker Langi

In mid-October, New England Patriots defensive end and linebacker Harvey Langi and his wife were injured when their vehicle was rear-ended while stopped for a traffic light, in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Langi’s wife suffered broken ribs and fractures to both her hips. Langi reportedly sustained neck, back and head injuries in the collision. Langi was placed on the non-football injury list and his return to the team this season is questionable. He is a non-drafted rookie having played football at the University of Utah before beginning his two-year mission for the Church of Latter Day Saints. He had resumed his college career at BYU before being picked up by the Patriots for the 2017 season. He has only played one game thus far in his NFL career.

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Is Apple Responsible for Distracted Driving Accidents?

Distracted driving is now the main focus of auto safety advocates, displacing drunk driving though that still remains a major concern and will likely continue until autonomous or self-driving vehicles become the norm. And the concern over distracted driving is really over use of smartphones with Apple becoming the antagonist in the discussion. Apple has been sued in various lawsuits for allowing its phones and apps to be used by motorists despite apparently having the technology that may disable the device while driving or at least give the user an opportunity to do so.

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Drunk Truck Driver Flips Rig This One Takes the Cheese

In a recent trucking accident on Interstate 93 in Milton, Massachusetts, a truck carrying a heavy load of cheese flipped on its side, damaging guard rails, taking down power lines and causing major delays. Fortunately, no one was injured other than the sensitivities of cheese lovers. Although we can make cheese jokes at the driver’s expense, what is frightening is that the truck driver was given a chemical test that revealed he had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level of 0.11%. Motorists cannot legally drive with a BAC of 0.08% or higher. Commercial drivers, like the cheese truck driver, are driving unlawfully if their BAC is at least 0.04%.  Motorists should not drive with any alcohol in their system whatsoever.  It impairs.

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