Boston Personal Injury Attorney Blog
The Massachusetts State Police superintendent announced a safety study will help determine ways to reduce the risk of serious injury or death resulting in Massachusetts car accidents involving state troopers.
As our Boston injury lawyers have been reporting both here and on our sister site, Boston Car Accident Lawyers Blog, one trooper was killed and four others have been injured in the last month in car accidents that resulted from being struck while conducting car stops at the side of the road.
Patrol Col. Marian McGovern was joined by representative of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts.
Nationwide, car accidents are responsible for more than half of all work injuries involving law enforcement.
“When we sign up for this job, we know that we will be working on the shoulder of busy highways, with cars speeding by, inches away,” McGovern said. “We accept this because it is necessary for the protection of the public we serve and the very essence of our core mission.”
About half of the 87 police officers who have been killed in the line of duty so far this year have died in motor vehicle crashes. In fact, car accidents are a leading cause of all Massachusetts work accidents, not just accidents involving law enforcement officers.
So far this year, 10 cruisers have been hit by drunk drivers. Last year, 20 cruisers were struck by impaired motorists.
The patrol will also conduct a lighting study to see if improvements can be made to a trooper’s visibility while at the side of the road. A decade ago, Ohio troopers switched the color of their cruisers from “asphalt gray” to “bright white” in an effort to make themselves more visible.
If you have been injured in a traffic accident, contact Massachusetts Injury Attorney Jeffrey S. Glassman for a free and confidential appointment to discuss your rights. Call 877-617-5333.