Articles Posted in Drunk Driving Accidents

By all accounts, the scene was horrendous – a telephone pole snapped in half by the Ford Explorer that became wrapped around it after a drunk driving accident in Quincy.

Four people were seriously injured in the single-vehicle Boston car accident.
According to the Melanie’s Law , which increases the penalties for drunk driving in Massachusetts.

Some of the greatest changes under the new law include a requirement for an ignition interlock device for someone who wants to get their license back after their second conviction, even if the prior offense was decades ago. Additionally, your license can be suspended for consecutive terms (rather than concurrent, which means they run together) for DUI convictions or if you refuse a breath test when you’re pulled over. There are also harsher license suspensions for under-21 drivers.

Still, some would like to see even greater penalties. Mothers Against Drunk Driving is hoping that future Massachusetts lawmakers will include provisions that Melanie’s Law did not address, including a requirement for alcohol treatment programs for people who chronically drive drunk (especially for those behind bars). They would also like to see more police officers on the streets for deterrence purposes.

If you see a drunk driver on the road, call the police and report it.

Here are some tips from MADD on how to spot a drunk driver:

1. The person quickly accelerates or decelerates.
2. The driver is tailgating, zig-zagging or weaving across the roadway.
3. The driver may almost strike a curb, object or another vehicle 4. A drunk driver may stop without reason or brake erratically 5. A driver who is drunk will drift in and out of lanes.
6. An impaired driver will use improper signals, such as turning a blinker on when they aren’t turning.
7. A drunk driver is likely to swerve.
8. The person has a slower response to traffic signals, either making a delayed start or sudden stop.
9. The driver may forget to use their headlights, even if it’s dark.
10. A drunk driver may be traveling on the wrong side of the road, into oncoming traffic.
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With the Labor Day drunk driving crackdown in the rearview for drivers and more than 250 Massachusetts law enforcement agencies statewide, Massachusetts State Police are back to their routine of weekend roaming “saturation” patrols that seek out drunk drivers.

The goal is, of course, to reduce the incidence of drunk driving in Massachusetts, the MetroWest Daily News reports. Since the start of 2010, state police have conducted 62 checkpoints and made 462 drunk driving arrests.

As Boston drunk driving accident attorneys at Jeffrey S. Glassman, LLC, reported in a recent Boston Car Accident Lawer Blog, alcohol played a factor in 151 of the 363 fatal Massachusetts car accidents in 2008. We understand the pain, anger and frustration that often results from a serious or fatal drunk driving accidents in Massachusetts and have a proven track record of aggressively representing drunk driving victims.

This ongoing effort to scrub Massachusetts roadways of drunk and impaired drivers is paired with recent legislation – the Safe Driving Act – which aims to make state roads safer for all travelers. This new law, which goes into effect on Sept. 30, targets distracted texting and chatting teens and requires elderly drivers to undergo a more rigorous relicensing process.

Of course, the public is not without their tools of evasion, particularly regarding the more traditional – stationary – sobriety checkpoints. The Daily News reports that oftentimes bars would alert their patrons and friends would turn to texting and “tweeting” to notify fellow drivers of checkpoint locations. To combat this, law enforcement has added the mobile “saturation” patrols to the mix.
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