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A driver involved in a fatal Massachusetts car accident last weekend has a long string of accident and had previously had her license suspended in 2008, the Taunton Gazette reported.

We reported the accident on our Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog. It happened on I-495 Friday night when the woman reportedly lost control. The Toyota Rav4 rolled over and ejected the driver and passenger from the vehicle. The 29-year-old passenger died as a result of his injuries. Authorities say the driver lost control near the weigh stations, where the road narrows from three lanes to two.

Sometimes accidents are unavoidable. And sometimes poor choices can lead to a serious or fatal accident. Unfortunately, drivers with a poor driving record also are frequently uninsured or underinsured — often because they cannot afford the high insurance premiums that come with a poor driving record. A Boston injury lawyer will review the driving record and available insurance of an at-fault driver and use that information when building a case to compensate victims for lost wages, medical expenses, and other costs associated with an accident. In cases where a Massachusetts accident is caused by an uninsured or underinsured motorist, an attorney may be able to help victims collect on the assets of an at-fault driver, or by filing a claim with their own insurance company.

There is no information about whether the driver was insured in this case.

The Gazette reports that Registry of Motor Vehicle records show the driver has been at-fault in five accidents between 2003 and 2008. She was also convicted of two moving violations in 2006 and 2007. Her license was suspended in May of 2008 after she failed to complete a mandatory driver retraining class following her fifth accident. She completed the class in January of 2009 and her license was reinstated. The state revoked her license after last week’s accident pending the resolution of the case, which is still under investigation.
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Two employees of NSTAR were injured in a Massachusetts work accident Thursday afternoon after a reported explosion at the utility’s Charlestown facility, the Boston Globe reported.

One worker was severely burned and another suffered smoke inhalation. Both were transported to Massachusetts General Hospital. The workers were performing routine maintenance at a substation adjacent to the Mystic power plant in Everett when the incident occurred at about 1:30 p.m. Investigators are trying to determine how and why high-voltage electricity escaped from insulated wire, which caused a “flash incident” and injured the workers.

The company said the injuries were not life threatening. However, anyone injured on the job should seek the advice of a Massachusetts workers’ compensation lawyer to help protect their rights. Complying with reporting requirements and other legal mandates is essential to ensuring that you are protected in the event that future complications make it necessary for you to receive additional medical care or take time off from work. In the event that you later become disabled as the result of a Massachusetts work injury, it will be critical to show that your disability stems from an on-the-job injury.

Failure to follow the appropriate steps in the wake of a seemingly minor work injury can have a drastic impact on your future financial well-being. Tragically, some employees who have been injured on the job fail to seek the advice of a qualified attorney. By the time they determine a company is not acting in their best interests, it can be too late to seek the compensation to which they would have been otherwise entitled.

The Boston Herald report is available here.
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A Massachusetts construction accident has led to a stop-work order on the J. Michael Ruane Judicial Center in Salem.

The Salem District Court project on Federal Street in Salem was halted by the state last week after a 500-pound panel fell, seriously injuring a worker. Daniel O’Connell’s Sons of Holyoke, the project’s construction manager, told the Salem News that it has been ordered to stop installing the limestone panels.

The $106.5 million project includes 195,000 square feet of building space. Construction began in June 2007 and is scheduled to be completed in June 2011, according to the Massachusetts Division of Administration and Finance.

Two investigations are under way as officials attempt to determine the cause of the Massachusetts work accident. The construction manager has hired a private engineer to review the installation of the panels. Meanwhile, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is also investigating the incident.

The 34-year-old construction worker was listed in fair condition on Friday at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was hospitalized on Tuesday after his legs were badly injured when a stone panel fell four stories and shattered on the ground.

The man is employed by General Mechanical Contractors of Auburn, a heating and air-conditioning subcontractor. That company said it was not involved in the cause of the accident.

Construction crews continue to work on other parts of the building but the accident scene remains roped off with police tape.
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The death of 52-year-old state police Sgt. Douglas Weddleton, who was run down Friday night while working at a road construction site on I-95, has put the spotlight on Massachusetts road construction accidents and accidents involving police officers and emergency responders.

The Enterprise News reports the story of Trooper Mark Lombardi, who was reaching for the microphone in his cruiser to call a tow truck for an early morning accident on Route 24.

He woke up 12 hours later in the hospital. A drunk driver traveling more than 80 mph slammed into his cruiser in the breakdown lane of Route 24 southbound, near the Route 139 exit in Stoughton.

It was the first of three times his cruiser has been struck on state highways.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation reports that more than half the officers killed accidentally in 2008 died as a result of an automobile accident.

A July 2003 crash on Route 25 in Wareham left Trooper Ellen Engelhardt with permanent brain injuries. She is now in a nursing home.

For every fatal accident, there are 1,000 close calls. Traffic accidents while on the job are a leading cause of Massachusetts workers’ compensation claims.

Massachusetts Move Over Law took effect last March and requires all drivers to move over and/or slow down whenever an emergency or maintenance vehicle is display flashing lights. Please comply with this law. You could not only save yourself the hassle of a ticket, you could save a life and send a father or mother home safe to their family.

Friday’s accident occurred at a road construction zone, where Massachusetts work accidents are a common danger. As we reported last week on our Boston Personal Injury Attorney Blog, the Federal Highway Administration estimates that more than 1,000 workers are killed each year in highway accidents and more than 52,000 are seriously injured.
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A Lowell woman has been charged with vehicular homicide in connection with a December Massachusetts car accident that claimed the life of a man working on Route 3 in Chelmsford, the Newburyport News reported.

Massachusetts State Police charged the 34-year-old woman with motor vehicle homicide, marked lanes violation, operating in the breakdown lane and failing to move over for an emergency vehicle. She was driving a 2001 Acura MDX northbound on Route 3 on Dec. 1, 2009 when her vehicle struck the rear of a 1999 Peterbuilt truck that was parked at a work set-up site, according to authorities. A 44-year-old man was killed and a 30-year-old worker seriously injured after the men were pinned between the truck and the defendant’s vehicle.

Road construction accidents are a frequent cause of Massachusetts work injuries. Workers who are injured on the job should contact a Boston workers’ compensation attorney to discuss their rights.

The Federal Highway Administration reports that more than 1,000 workers are killed each year in highway accidents and another 52,000 are seriously injured. In this case, the men were working for United Oil Recovery Inc., an environmental cleanup company. They were providing cleanup services at the scene of a previous motor vehicle accident.

Massachusetts’ Move Over Law took effect March 22, 2009 and requires drivers to move over and/or slow down when approaching emergency or maintenance vehicles with flashing lights.
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Police are investigating a fatal Boston pedestrian accident that closed several lanes of I-495 early Monday morning, ABC5 reported.

As we reported recently on our Boston Personal Injury Attorney Blog, authorities continue to deal with a large number of serious and fatal pedestrian accidents in Massachusetts. In 2008, a total of 75 people were killed and more than 350 were injured in Massachusetts pedestrian accidents, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The accident occurred in Marlborough at about 5:30 a.m. when a male pedestrian in his 40s was struck by a vehicle south of exit 23C, according to authorities. The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene. Police continue to investigate the accident and the highway was closed until about 10 a.m., at one point backing up traffic for more than 17 miles.

The Boston Herald reported that the man may have been inexplicably in the middle of the highway at the time of the accident, which occurred near the Route 9 exit in Westborough.

Anyone traveling I-495 who has information about the incident is asked to call State Police at 508-832-9124.
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Three people were injured when aerosol paint inside a party truck exploded, causing the victims to be splattered in paint, the Associated Press reported.

Massachusetts trucking accidents are frequently caused by dangerous or unsafe loads, though exploding paint is not an everyday occurrence. Motorists who are injured in a trucking accident should contact a Boston injury lawyer to discuss their rights. In this case, the truck apparently belonged to a party rental company, which could be responsible if customers were injured; just as a Massachusetts premise liability claim would apply if a customer were injured on business property.

Massachusetts State Police reported that the driver was stopped on U.S. Route 3 in Tyngsborough on Wednesday; a passing motorist had alerted the driver to smoke coming from the back of the truck.

Police report the explosion occurred when the truck’s driver and two passengers opened the back door, showering them in orange paint. The driver and one of the passengers suffered serious injuries and were flown to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. The other passenger was taken to Southern New Hampshire Regional Hospital with minor injuries.

State police continue to investigate the cause of the accident.

The Nashua Telegraph reported that the 2004 Mitsubishi box truck was owned by Christian Party Rentals. The State Fire Marshal’s office said equipment — believed to be aerosol cans — malfunctioned, igniting other supplies in the back. When the door was opened, oxygen was added to the mix and resulted in the explosion.
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“Sean’s Bill,” a measure aimed at reducing the risk of Massachusetts ATV accidents involving young children, passed the House 141-12, the Daily News Tribune reported.

The bill changes the state’s minimum age for operating an ATV from 10 to 14 and is named for Sean Kearney, an 8-year-old Waltham boy who was killed in an accident four years ago. State Rep. Peter Koutoujian, D-Waltham, said the child was driving a large ATV at a friend’s house unsupervised when it flipped over and pinned him face down in the sand. The child was pinned beneath the 500-pound vehicle for more than half an hour.
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In 2004 and 2005, a total of 935 ATV accidents involving children occurred in Massachusetts. The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that 2,500 children under the age of 16 have died in ATV accidents in the last two decades.

Just before Memorial Day, a 12-year-old Plymouth girl flipped an ATV into a cranberry bog but was saved. Memorial Day begins the long summer riding season and the most dangerous time of the year for ATV accidents.

“If springtime deaths and injuries are an indication of what’s to come, we urge all ATV riders, young and old, to take all necessary safety precautions,” said CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum. “Far too many people are losing their lives and sustaining life-threatening injuries, which in many cases are preventable. CPSC is working diligently to ensure that the ATVs on the market meet mandatory standards and to promote safe riding practices.”

Anyone injured in a Massachusetts ATV accident should contact a Boston accident attorney to discuss their rights. ATV accidents can involve premise liability, defective product or wrongful death litigation. Additionally, ATV manufacturers and distributors are now required by federal law to provide safety instruction to new riders and their family members. When a business fails to protect consumers in violation of law, it can and should be held responsible if a rider is seriously injured or killed.
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Physicians should warn patients of the dangers of using cell phones or text messaging, just as they would warn about the dangers of smoking, Reuters reported.

As we reported earlier this month on our Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog, distracted driving is a leading cause of Massachusetts car accidents.

Nationwide an estimated 6,000 motorists are killed each year in accidents caused by distracted driving, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Hours before the report was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation approved the Distracted Driving Prevention Act, which will provide incentives to states with distracted driving regulations.

Of primary concern to federal safety officials is drivers who text message behind the wheel, which increases the chance of being involved in an accident by 23 times. But the journal article, published by Dr. Amy Ship of Beth Israel Deacon Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, also urges doctors to talk to patients about the dangers of using a cell phone while driving. She points to a 2006 study that found that using a cell phone while driving poses the same risk as driving while intoxicated.

“Although there are many possible distractions for drivers, more than 275 million Americans own cell phones, and 81 percent of them talk on those phones while driving,” Ship wrote.
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Interstate 93 in Massachusetts is the eighth-deadliest highway in the nation, according to a list compiled by The Daily Beast. Motorists are most likely to be involved in a Massachusetts car accident on I-93 than any other highway in the state.

Between 2004 and 2008, the 47 miles of I-93 in Massachusetts had 61 fatal accidents that claimed 67 lives, or an average of 1.30 fatalities per mile.

Road Safe America has titled summer the “100 Deadliest Days.” More than 50,000 fatal accidents occurred in June, July and August from 2004 to 2008, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Some roads really are more dangerous than others, whether because of poor design, heavy congestion or challenging terrain, including available roadside distractions. In compiling its list, the Daily Beast examined federal crash statistics for nearly 250 stretches of interstate highways to find out, mile-for-mile, which were the deadliest.

The deadliest highway in America — from 2004-2008, the last five years for which statistics are available — was I-95 in Florida. A total of 662 fatal accidents occurred on the 382-mile stretch of highway, claiming 765 lives.

The mile-for-mile comparison ranked I-76 in New Jersey the second-deadliest in the nation, where 3 miles of road saw five fatal accidents, which claimed six lives, or 1.64 fatalities per mile.

Other deadly roads in the Top 10 included:
3) I-4 in Florida: 132 miles of road/234 fatalities.
4) I-15 in California: 287 miles of road/506 fatalities.
5) I-10 in California: 243 miles of road/387 fatalities.
6) I-59 in Louisiana: 11 miles of road/16 fatalities.
7) I-94 in Illinois: 62 miles/89 fatalities.
8) I-93 in Massachusetts: 47 miles/67 fatalities.
9) I-95 in Delaware: 23 miles/30 fatalities.
10) I-55 in Tennessee: 12 miles/16 fatalities.
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