Articles Posted in Boston Drunk Driving Accidents

A Boston man was recently arrested for his third drunken driving offense during an impaired driving patrol. The 34-year-old man was arrested shortly after 11:00 p.m. on Fruit Street in Bridgewater. He was stopped after officers witnessed him driving erratically, according to Enterprise News.

He was arrested and charged with negligent operation of a motor vehicle, operating under the influence (third offense) and various marked lane violations.

Our Boston drunk driving accident lawyers understand that about a third of the drunk driving problem – arrests, accidents, deaths, and injuries – comes from repeat offenders. According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Americans take more than 233 billion trips in cars each and every year. About one of out of every 2,000 of these trips is taken by someone who is under the influence of alcohol. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but you can tell how big of a problem it is when we tell you that about a third of all traffic fatalities are the result of a drunk driving accident.
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Some say that there’s nothing to do in Boston except get drunk. At least that’s what the headline reads from Gawker. It was also listed as two of Time Magazine’s Top 10 Things to Do in Boston involve looking at bodies of water.

But is that why officers are so lenient on intoxicated drivers?

Our Boston drunk driving car accident lawyers understand that Boston officers only made 211 drunk driving arrests in 2013. That a number down by about a third since 2009. Some would argue that Bostonians are drinking less. Some say it’s the availability of trains and sidewalks that is keeping intoxicated individuals from behind the wheel.

Many would argue that those excuses are just that — EXCUSES. As we’ve continuously been ranked as the “Drunkest City in the Nation,” experts are also pointing out that other ranked “walkable” cities in the nation have more drunk-driving arrests than we do each year.

Washington D.C. has about the same number of residents as we do here in Boston. Still, officers arrest close to 2,000 people for drunk driving there in 2012. Or you can consider Denver, which has a much smaller population than Boston. And there were still about 3,000 drunk driving arrests there last year.

Where’s our enforcement? Some would argue that Boston officers are busy focusing on more “important” crime.

Either way you look at it, drunk driving is a serious offense and it’s taking thousands of lives each and every year. As a matter of fact, officials with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) report that there were close to 10,000 people killed in drunk driving car accidents in the country in 2011. These fatalities accounted for more than 30 percent of all traffic accident fatalities recorded throughout the year. And these are accidents that are completely preventable.

There were 114 people killed in these drunk driving accidents in Massachusetts that same year. These fatalities accounted for more than a third of our traffic deaths for the year.

According to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, drivers should never get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol. As residents, friends and family members, we should never let our loved ones do it either. This is an important message that we’ve got to get out to everyone. You should also do your part by calling officials if you believe you’ve spotted any intoxicated drivers out there on our roadways. Your call can help to save lives.
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Memorial Day is the unofficial kickoff to summer and is a time to celebrate freedom and honor veterans. Unfortunately, it is also a time when parties can get out of control and people can be in danger as a result of drunk driving.

If you are having a party this weekend or have friends who are heading out to celebrate, it is important to make smart choices when it comes to drinking and driving. Our Boston drunk driving accident lawyers also urge all drivers on the road to exercise caution over Memorial Day weekend since the number of drunk driving accidents goes up considerably during this holiday celebration.

Memorial Day Drunk Driving Dangers

According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, there were more than 470 people killed in car accidents in 2009 over Memorial Day weekend. Many of these accidents occurred as a result of people driving after they had too much to drink.

Far too many people get caught up in the celebration of summer, enjoying a couple of drinks at barbecues, pool parties, picnics and other Memorial Day special events. Unfortunately, when driving home from these Memorial Day celebrations, intoxicated drivers endanger themselves and endanger other people who may happen to be on the road at the same time.

Tips for Staying Safe

Those who are attending or hosting Memorial Day parties should keep some basic tips in mind to try to reduce the number of injuries or fatalities that occur over this holiday weekend. For example:

• Party hosts should serve alcohol early in the day if they plan to make alcohol available and should considering switching to coffee, tea and other non-alcoholic beverage options a few hours before people plan to leave. This will allow people to enjoy alcoholic drinks but not to drink too much or too close to the time when they need to drive home.
• Party hosts should be sure to make plenty of non-alcoholic drinks available to designated drivers who attend gatherings.
• Party hosts should not let anyone leave their home in a car if that person is too intoxicated to drive. Call a cab, drive the guest home yourself or even invite them to stay over before letting someone get into a car drunk.
• Anyone out celebrating should be sure to have a designated driver with them. Do not make the mistake of assuming you can have just a drink, stop and be able to drive home if you know that you have not been able to do this in the past. Instead, plan ahead so you can have a good time without worrying about how you’ll get back home.

Others who are out on the roads also need to be aware that there are more drunk drivers during the holiday weekend than at other times. Refrain from doing a lot of unnecessary driving, especially late in the evening when parties are letting out, and be on the lookout for intoxicated drivers. If you see something wrong or suspect another driver is intoxicated, considering calling the police to let them know. By helping to get drunk drivers off the road, you could save a life over Memorial Day.
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A former police officer for the city of Northbridge may have lost his job, but he was spared a jail sentence for a drunk driving crash that nearly killed another man after the victim pleaded with the judge for leniency.

Our Boston drunk driving accident attorneys know that such an act of forgiveness, while certainly commendable, wouldn’t preclude the victim from filing a personal injury lawsuit against the man who caused him and his family such pain. While a victim may want to help spare someone who made a poor decision from spending decades behind bars, it would remain well within his or her rights to seek compensation in order to assist with lost wages, medical bills, property damage and ongoing health concerns.

Drunk driving cases tend to be among the most emotionally-charged because they are 100 percent preventable. Split-second, momentary distractions – though no less fatal – are at least easier to understand. It’s tougher to forgive someone who made the clear choice to get behind the wheel while intoxicated and put YOUR and your family’s safety at risk.

In this case, the 43-year-old police officer was reportedly off-duty, driving a pickup truck with a 30-year-old passenger in Worcester back in October of 2011 when he crossed the center line on Douglas Road. In doing so, he rammed head-on into another vehicle with a singe male occupant. That individual had to be transported by medical helicopter to UMass Memorial Medical Center. There, he was treated for a broken hip, thigh, knee and ribs, as well as numerous cuts and bruising.

As if this wasn’t bad enough, the officer and his passenger reportedly switched seats in the immediate aftermath of the crash. Several witnesses attested to this, although both the officer and his passenger insisted that she had been driving at the time of the wreck. Both ultimately pleaded guilty to filing a false crime report, with the officer also pleading guilty to DUI causing serious bodily injury.

As a result of the victim’s request for mercy, the judge handed down a three-year probation sentence for the officer, who subsequently lost his job after the incident.

The victim, meanwhile, a custodian at the local public school district, had been on his way home from work at the time of the crash.

The off-duty officer and his girlfriend, meanwhile, had just left a bar where they had been drinking.

Since that night, the victim has been forced to undergo a full hip replacement surgery and he continues to walk with a limp and the assistance of a cane.

Altogether, he and his family have racked up $600,000 in medical bills.

Interestingly, the former officer did not approach the victim to apologize until after the sentence was handed down. Outside the courtroom, the two shook hands.

Still, a handshake and an extension of forgiveness won’t pay this man’s medical bills.

We encourage all people who have been injured in drunk driving crashes to contact a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible to explore your options.
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Drunk drivers put every single person in Boston in grave danger. Law enforcement does their best to stop drunk drivers before they cause an accident, but unfortunately police cannot be everywhere at all times and drunk people continue to drive and cause tragic traffic crashes with alarming regularity.

In an effort to fight the ongoing battle against drunk driving, many people are putting technology to use. One example is a new free app made available by a computer science professor and his students from the University of California Riverside.

Our Boston drunk driving accident attorneys urge every driver to consider learning more about this app or about other mobile applications that aim to fight drunk driving. If everyone does their part to help spot and stop drunk drivers, then hopefully there will be fewer injuries or fatal crashes and more people can avoid the heartbreak that comes along with a DUI death.

How The New App Works
The new app, which is free to download, works based on a simple premise. The app is available for iPhones and Android devices and it allows you to turn your telephone into a DUI camera that constantly monitors what is going on in front of you. The app can be mounted to your dashboard or on your windshield and will continuously record video, which stays stored on the phone for up to 30 minutes. (incidentally, people using these apps who have been involved in an accident, have found the footage extremely helpful).

If you see an erratic driver or someone who appears to be driving drunk, then you can pull over in a safe location and review the video data that was recorded on your app. You will be able to zoom in so that you can get identifying information such as a license plate of the vehicle that was driving erratically. You can then use this information to contact law enforcement and to alert them to the fact that there is a potential drunk driver.

Another of the features that comes along with the free app is the option to send a captured image or even the entire video to investigators. This can help law enforcement to know exactly what they are looking for and to determine if they want to pursue the driver on the basis of what the video reveals. By being able to better identify who a potential drunk driver is (without having to worry about writing down or memorizing the license plate or getting too close to a dangerous driver), more people can be watchful for drunk drivers and can take action.

The app has already been downloaded more than 1,000 times and its creator hopes that more people will embrace the new technology to help in the fight against drunk driving. Today, almost everyone has a cell phone and the vast majority of these cellular phones have a camera or a way to capture video. This new app simply allows you to harness the power of the phone to help catch drunk drivers before they are involved in a crash.
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Drunk driving accidents can always lead to serious legal trouble, but one Needham woman is probably REALLY regretting the decision to drive drunk after she crashed her car into the vehicle of a Massachusetts’ state trooper. The 48-year-old driver was arrested after refusing a breath test at the scene of the accident. This was not the first time she refused a breath test and it was not her first accident.

Our Boston drunk driving accident attorneys know that repeat drunk drivers present a major hazard to themselves and to others. They also face serious penalties that get progressively worse as they repeatedly violate driver safety or drunk driving laws. Repeat offenders will typically lose their licenses for long periods of time, which helps to keep them off the road and to keep others safe.

The Drunk Driving Accident
The Boston Herald reported on the drunk driving incident involving the Needham woman and the state trooper. According to the article, the woman was driving on the northbound side of Route 128 when she rear-ended the state trooper’s cruiser at approximately 10:45 PM. Law enforcement attempted to administer a breath test at the accident scene but she refused.

Her refusal to submit to a breath test (the second refusal in four years) triggered a suspension of her license for at least the next six months. This is because drivers in Massachusetts are assumed to have given implied consent for a blood alcohol test by virtue of driving on the roads in the state. In other words, when law enforcement have reasonable cause to believe someone is intoxicated, that individual must submit to a blood alcohol test. The driver’s failure to submit to a required breath test, coupled with a troubled past record, prompted action to suspend her license at least on a temporary basis.

The alleged drunk driver, however, may be in a lot more trouble than just a six month license suspension. She is pleading not guilty and was released on bail, but will need to return to court on January 9 for a hearing.

At the hearing, evidence of her past driving problems is likely to count against her in criminal sentencing and could exacerbate the fines, jail time and license suspension she faces. Her four-page record goes back as far as 1984 and includes four speeding tickets as well as seven accidents that she was more than 50 percent responsible for causing. She has also had her license suspended twice in the past, making this most recent license suspension her third. The two prior occasions on which she lost her license occurred after a failure to pay citations for moving violations and after an accident she caused in Quincy.

Repeat Offenders are a Serious Danger
As this recent accident shows, repeat offenders who consistently violate drunk driving laws and other driver safety laws are a menace to the public and can cause accidents that injure innocent victims like the Massachusetts’ state trooper. Criminal sanctions and the criminal court system should be used to keep these dangerous drivers from driving and hurting others while the civil court system should be used to make these drunk drivers literally pay for their bad decisions and the damage those decisions caused.
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Underaged drinking is illegal in Massachusetts and those under age 21 who consume alcohol can face a number of different consequences. Because underage drinking is prohibited by law, serving alcohol to minors is also prohibited. When you allow underage drinking or participate in the practice in any way, you set yourself up for major legal trouble.

Our Boston drunk driving accident attorneys strongly urge every adult to make responsible choices when it comes to serving alcohol to minors, which means just saying no to serving minors. This is especially important if the young adults are driving or could potentially drive while intoxicated.

Serving Underaged Guests Leads to Criminal Sanctions
On December 21, 2012, My Fox Boston published a news story about an Arlington couple who were facing “dozens of [criminal] charges.” The couple were in their 50’s and allegedly allowed an under-aged drinking party at their home.

According to My Fox Boston, law enforcement went to the home of the couple after noticing that young people were drunk and leaving from the house. Upon arriving at the party, police saw that the house was full of teenagers drinking from beer cans and plastic cups filled with alcoholic beverages. The older couple was at home while this was occurring and law enforcement found no evidence that the teens had brought the alcohol with them to the home. The assumption, therefore, was that the adults had not just permitted the teens to drink in their home but had perhaps also purchased the alcohol for them to consume.

As a result of the under-aged drinking party thrown at their home, both the husband and wife were arraigned on 33 separate charges of providing alcohol to minors. The consequences if convicted could include jail time, a permanent criminal record and large fines.

Underaged DUI can Lead to Civil Lawsuits
In the case of this underaged drinking party, no one suffered an injury as a result of the poor decision of the adults to provide alcohol to young people. In other cases, however, more serious consequences could have resulted. One or more of the young people could potentially have driven drunk and could have killed themselves or others.

If this occurred, then the couple could also have been sued as a result of giving alcohol to minors. As we discussed in our prior article on Being a Responsible Party Host, Massachusetts imposes liability under social host laws. This means that a person who serves minors or who allows underaged individuals to consume alcohol at his or her home could be sued and held legally responsible for the consequences of any drunk driving accident.

With the potential to both face criminal penalties and a large lawsuit if something goes wrong, there is absolutely no excuse to ever serve alcohol to a minor for any reason.
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