Articles Posted in MBTA Accidents

Massachusetts state law is what controls the aspects of a wrongful death lawsuit that deals with who has the right to file the lawsuit in court. Typically, only Who Can File A Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Massachusetts New Bedfordimmediate family members of the victim have standing to sue the person or entity that caused the death. But the definition of immediate family is something a court may have to decide in today’s more flexible familial standards.

For the most part, it is simple to determine the immediate family that will seek such a claim. These would be a spouse, including domestic partners, and children of the deceased.

A partner who is not married or registered domestic partner, may have to file a special request to the court to get permission to file a wrongful death lawsuit. The same special permission may be required for step children or parents. If you fall within one of these classifications, the other side will challenge your right to collect in a wrongful death lawsuit. This is why it is important to hire experienced Massachusetts personal injury attorneys for your case.

In Sturbridge, a large pothole at Exit 9 of the Massachusetts Turnpike caused trouble for many vehicles on Monday. The Massachusetts Department of Massachusetts Turnpike pot Hole Disables VehiclesTransportation had to close down several lanes to fill in the pothole. The closure also affected the exit near Interstate 84 west.

The vehicles that came into contact with the potholes could not be moved and needed the assistance of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation emergency service patrol truck.

There is no information on whether any of the drivers suffered injuries.

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Barletta construction workers were on a job location at the East Street Bridge in Westwood on Sunday afternoon. An Westwood Construction Site Accidentemployee was seriously injured in an accident, details of which were not yet released by Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. The workers were altering the bridge over East Street on which the Franklin Commuter Rail Line runs.

Along with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, State Police and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are looking into the incident.

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According to a recent news article from ABC 7 News, a 31-year-old man was killed in a horrific and confusing accident in which he was pinned between a commuter rail train and the station.  The accident happened during the evening rush hour when the victim was on his way home from work.

xrayAuthorities have said the victim, who worked as a mechanic nearby the commuter rail station, was waiting for a train, and, as it was approaching the station, he managed to slip off the edge or the platform and get his waist pinned between the train car and the platform.   While his injuries ultimately proved fatal, he was conscious and talking to firefighters as they worked to free him from the train. Continue reading

Over the past week, we have seen a lot of news coverage on the Amtrak train derailment that resulted in eight dead and many more injured. As this investigation is still very much ongoing, it is expected new details will come out on a daily basis. First, we learned the train was allegedly going 106 mph around a sharp curve where the maximum safe top speed was set at 50 mph. Then we learned the driver supposedly did not attempt to slow the train going into the curve.

Train Sign.jpgNow, according to a breaking news report from CNN, a train conductor told the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) the train might have been hit by something prior to the horrific derailment accident.

The NTSB and FBI are conducting a joint investigation, and during the course of their investigation, there is speculation the locomotive and possibly two other trains were hit by some unknown objects just prior to the crash in Philadelphia. While much of the damage is obviously a result of the derailment and subsequent crash, based upon these tips, investigators have become concerned with damage to the lower portion of the locomotive, which may have been caused by whatever these objects were.
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The latest update from the disastrous Amtrak train crash outside of Philadelphia this week is that at least seven people are dead, more than 200 were injured and several passengers are still unaccounted for as crews continue to search the massive piles of wreckage. amtraktracks.jpg

What’s more, an initial investigation indicates the train was traveling at approximately 102- to 106-mph while negotiating a sharp curve on its way to New York. Trains are supposed to enter that curve traveling just 50 mph. Evidence emerging from the active National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation reveals the train engineer/conductor did apply the brakes, but only after the train had already begun rounding the curve.

This information was gleaned from the train’s “black box” data recorder.
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Another horrific mass transit accident has been reported, this time just outside of Philadelphia, where a passenger train was catapulted off the tracks.
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On Tuesday, May 12 around 9 p.m., an Amtrak train carrying 238 passengers and five crew members from Washington D.C. to New York City derailed, careening off the tracks, causing the seven cars to spin, flip and rip apart. The wreck happened on the busy New York-to-Philadelphia corridor.

In the initial aftermath, authorities are reporting at least six people are dead and 144 are known to be injured. Although most of the others are not seriously hurt, authorities have ominously revealed not all passengers are accounted for. That’s why emergency crews have been toiling away to search for anyone who may still be trapped in the gnarled mess of metal wreckage that remains.
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According to a recent news article from ABC News 40 Springfield, at least 55 people were hurt when an Amtrak passenger train was involved in a crash with a tractor-trailer. At least one victim suffered a serious personal injury.

Train Sign.jpgNorth Carolina state police say a tractor-trailer driver was attempting to make a difficult left turn, when he got his truck stuck on the railroad tracks. Another witness said truck driver was actually attempting to make a right turn when he got stuck on the tracks.

In addition to the discrepancy as to exact course of events leading to this serious accident, there is dispute as to the number of people injured. State agency representatives said 54 people were transported to local hospitals with injuries, which were not life threatening, and one passenger was rushed to a level one trauma center with serious life-threatening injuries. Meanwhile, Federal Railroad Administration officials claim there were 62 total injuries.

The investigation is still ongoing, but it is believed the driver, who wasn’t injured, was able to jump out of his truck before the train made impact with it. After it collided with the truck, the locomotive derailed and fell over it its side, along with the first two cars of the train. The first car to derail was a baggage car, and the second was a passenger car. There were 173 other passengers on the train who were not injured.

Amtrak arranged for coach buses to take them to Richmond, Virginia.
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According to a recent news article from NECN, a twenty-year-veteran MBTA inspector allegedly crashed a company vehicle into a bus operated by the T, and then was allowed to the leave the scene of the accident without submitting to drug or chemical testing as required by United States Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations and Massachusetts law.

tram-car-in-san-francisco-1188963-m.jpgAuthorities say T bus was waiting at crosswalk for a pedestrian to walk across the street when inspector rear-ended bus with his T owned vehicle. Police were called to the scene, as were T supervisors. At this point, it is required T inspector be taken to a testing laboratory certified by the Office of Drug and Alcohol Testing for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and submit to drug and alcohol testing. This normally involves blowing into a breath-testing instrument, and providing a urine sample for chemical testing at a state-approved testing facility.

For reasons not entirely clear, inspector was allowed to leave the scene of the accident without submitting for testing. Authorities later found inspector at his friend’s house and took him for testing. This was at around 4 p.m. and accident had occurred at around 9:30 in the morning. The concern is any alcohol, which may have been in his system, could have been excreted by the time he was eventually tested. It should be noted no reports have suggested any evidence he was actually under the influence of intoxicating alcohol or drugs at time of the T accident.
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A 24-year-old driver from Roxbury was killed after rear-ending a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MTBA) bus at a bus stop, reports CBS Boston. The accident happened on Route 28.
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On the bus, there were nine people who were sent to the hospital with injuries, most complaining of back pain. According to the spokesperson of the MBTA, the bus was legally stopped at its bus stop when the accident happened.

Our MBTA accident lawyers understand that bus stops and other mass transit hazards are scattered throughout the city, and safety navigation around them can be tricky at times. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), there were more than 10,000 injury bus accidents recorded in the U.S. in 2008. Roughly 11,000 vehicles were involved and close to 25,000 passengers injured.
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