Articles Posted in Boston Drunk Driving Accidents

A recent drunk driver in Boxborough accounted for a 48-year-old man’s sixth drunk driving charge, according to the Boston Globe. Boxborough police said the man was spotted by officers for having an expired inspection sticker on his pickup truck near Massachusetts Avenue just before 11 a.m. in late September.

When officers pulled the drunk driver over, they spotted an open beer bottle on the front-passenger seat of his vehicle. They also reported to have detected a strong odor of alcohol coming from the man and his vehicle. Officers administered several field sobriety tests, which the man failed. His blood alcohol concentration (BAC) reading clocked in at 0.09 percent, according to a news story on Boston.com.

Our Boston drunk-driving accident attorneys understand that any driver with a BAC of 0.08 or above is considered legally drunk in Massachusetts and nationwide. This is the legal limit because a number of studies have concluded that a driver is unable to drive safely under this level of intoxication. Drunk drivers pose serious threats to motorists on our roadways. When these individuals cause accidents, innocent individuals are injured or die. These accidents are completely preventable.

The drunk driver was charged with his sixth drunk driving offense. He was in the U.S> illegally, according to reports, and has since been deported, for the second time, to his home country of Mexico. He will no longer be endangering innocent motorists on our roadways.

Drunk-driving penalties in Massachusetts:

-First Offense:
-A fine from $500 to $5,000.
-Up to 2-and-a-half years in jail.
-A license suspension for a year.

-Second Offense:
-A fine from $600 to $10,000.
-Jail time from 30 days to 2-and-a-half years.
-A license suspension for two years.

In the state of Massachusetts, a driver is considered to be legally drunk if he or she returns a test with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or higher. Drivers who are under the age of 21 who are busted with a BAC reading of 0.02 or higher will face a number of administrative penalties in addition to the standard charges of a BAC reading of .08 or higher. Massachusetts practices a zero-tolerance policy with these young drivers and impaired driving.

You are given the opportunity to refuse to take a blood-alcohol test or a chemical breath test in the event of a traffic stop. If you do however, the officer you’re dealing with is authorized to take away your license on the spot.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were nearly 11,000 people killed on U.S. roadways in 2009 because of drivers who were under the influence of alcohol. These accidents were so frequent that they accounted for nearly a third of all fatal traffic accidents across the nation during that year. Massachusetts witnessed nearly 200 traffic fatalities caused by an impaired driver in 2009.
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A veteran boater recently entered a guilty plea after a fatal boating accident. The driver is accused of being intoxicated during a powerboat accident near Hull that killed one of his passengers, according to the Boston Globe. Two passengers were thrown from the vessel during the accident. The boater was reported traveling about 17 knots, or 19 miles per hour, when the vessel slammed into a sailboat.

The 39-year-old boat driver from Winthrop is facing charges of negligent homicide and operating a boat while drunk. He was sent to jail has a bail of $1,500 from the Hingham District Court.

Our Boston boating accident attorneys understand that drivers of all sorts, including car drivers, boaters, motorcyclists, bicyclists and all-terrain vehicle operators, are expected to drive responsibly and while sober. Jumping in the driver’s seat of any kind of vehicle while intoxicated is an irresponsible move that can potentially lead to serious legal consequences and even death.

There were nine passengers on the 25-foot powerboat that ventured out of the Winthrop Yacht Club on the day of the accident. The woman passenger that died in the accident was a 55-year-old resident of Winthrop. She passed away at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston from brain injuries that were sustained during the collision.

Officers report that the driver’s breath smelled of alcohol, his speech was slurred and his eyes were glassy when they responded to the accident. He allowed medical personnel to draw his blood to test for alcohol at the South Shore Hospital. The official results have yet to be received.

The boater is scheduled to appear in court on the 12th of October.

Those who were interviewed about the accident reported that the driver had only had a few alcoholic drinks throughout the day. One witness reported that they had only seen the driver drink soda. When officers investigated the boat, they found an empty box of wine, several wine glasses and a slew of empty beer cans. The boat has been impounded by the Massachusetts Environmental Police.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard:

-There were more than 4,600 boating accidents in 2010.

-More than 670 people were killed in these accidents.

-More than 3,150 people were injured in these accidents.

-Boating accidents resulted in more than $35 million in property damage.

-The fatality rate for boaters was about 5.4 per 100,000 registered recreational vessels.

-About 75 percent of those who were killed in boating accidents drowned. About 88 percent of these victims were reportedly not wearing a life jacket at the time of the accident.

-About 80 percent of those boaters who drowned in 2010 were occupants of a vessel that was no longer than 21 feet.
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According to Massachusetts’ driving records, a 48-year-old female driver was recently charged with both operating under the influence of drugs and motor-vehicle homicide and revealed a shoddy driving record. The woman’s driving history was brought up after a fatal drunk driving car accident in in Stoughton that happened on Route 24. During the recent fatal accident, a 57-year-old was killed and two other motorists were injured. The injured motorists were taken to Boston Medical Center, according to the Stoughton Patch.

The woman, who was allegedly intoxicated, reportedly failed five sobriety tests that evening, according to court documents.

Our Boston drunk driving accident attorneys understand that drunk drivers pose fatal threats to all motorists on our roadways. These irresponsible drivers oftentimes take the lives of innocent motorists. Drunk drivers need to be stopped and need to serve stricter punishments when busted to help avoid these types of accidents.

“I asked the operator what she was doing and she said ‘what?’,” State Police Trooper Brian Berry wrote in his police report. “I asked her why she left the median and she said ‘I didn’t.'”

The woman wasn’t even aware enough to keep her story straight, according to authorities. When questioned by police, she first responded by saying that she was heading home from work in Randolph. When asked a second time, she said she was heading home from the VFW and had consumed about three beers.

Officers conducted a Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test, asked the woman recite the alphabet from ‘C’ to ‘Y’, to complete a nine-step heal-to-toe walk to count backwards from 65 to 50 and to complete the one-legged stand while counting. Officers report that she failed every single test.

Upon searching the woman’s vehicle, officers located nearly 20 marijuana cigarettes.

At the State Police Barracks in Milton, the woman reportedly failed five breathalyzer tests. Her blood alcohol concentration level was reportedly 13 percent above Massachusetts’ legal level of 0.08.

Her driving record isn’t any better. Records from the Department of Motor Vehicle reveal that the woman has been previously involved in seven accidents ranging from 1985 to this year. Once a driver is convicted of a DUI, statistics show that they’re likely to recommit the crime if strict consequences are not executed.

The woman was placed in jail and held on a $100,000 cash bail. She’s due to appear back in court in mid-October.

Currently, Massachusetts state law says that a first-time offender can receive up to 30 months in jail, a fine of up to $5,000, a one-year license suspension and a court-assigned treatment program.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 10,800 people were killed in 2009 because of traffic accidents that involved an intoxicated driver.

During that year, nearly 150 motorists in Massachusetts were killed because of these accidents. These are completely preventable accidents and until we find a better way to regulate, bust and reprimand these drivers, innocent motorists will continue to lose their lives on our roadways.
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According to local police, both alcohol and speed were factors in car accident that took the life of a Milford High graduate and veteran of the war in Afghanistan back in March. The young Manchester man, 24 years old, passed away at a Boston hospital after he drove his vehicle into a tree on North River Road, according to The Cabinet.

Both alcohol and speed are factors in a number of car accidents in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, the two are a double threat as they can be committed separately, but are commonly committed simultaneously. These accidents are preventable and drivers need to be aware of the hazards they pose on our roadways when they commit either of the two.

Our Boston drunk driving accident attorneys understand that there were more than 10,800 people killed on U.S. roadways because of accidents that involved an alcohol-impaired driver in 2009. Massachusetts witnessed nearly 150 of these fatal accidents. Nationwide, alcohol-related car accidents account for more than 30 percent of all of the vehicle accident deaths.

After the accident, the young motorist was taken to the Southern New Hampshire Medical Center located in Nashua. He was later air lifted to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

The driver lived in Manchester. After graduating from high school in Milford, he enlisted in the Army and served in Afghanistan.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were more than 10,500 people that were killed in speeding-related accidents in the Untied States in 2009. Speeding was a factor in nearly a third of all traffic accidents that were reported during the year. These types of accidents cost society approximately $40 billion each year.

In all states, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, it is illegal to operate a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration level of 0.08 or higher.

Of the nearly 11,000 alcohol-related car accidents in 2009, more than 7,000 of those killed were the drivers that were legally drunk, nearly 3,000 were the vehicle’s occupants and almost 1,000 were non-opccupants.

Innocent children are oftentimes the victims of these careless accidents as well. In 2009, nearly 15 percent of the estimated 1,300 children under the age of 15 that were killed in traffic accidents were involved in alcohol-related accidents.

Drivers should keep an extra watchful eye out for drunk drivers during certain times of the day and week. Intoxicated drivers are more likely to be out on our roadways and causing collisions during the evening hours. You’re four times more likely to be involved in an accident with a drunk driver during this time. Motorists should also be cautious during the weekend. A majority of those killed in these types of accidents were the result of weekend collisions.

Regardless of when you are traveling on the roadways, you’re asked to keep an eye out for impaired drivers. If you’re out and you suspect that someone is intoxicated and is about to set out on our roadways, you’re urged to intervene.

Offer them with advice on other ways to get home, including called a family member or a friend, calling a taxi, getting a hotel room or staying at a buddy’s house. With a conscious effort from everyone, we can all help to reduce the number of fatalities cause by drunk driving accidents.
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Holiday weekends are some of the deadliest times to be driving on our roadways. One main contributing factor to these roadways fatalities is drunk driving accidents in Boston and elsewhere throughout the state.

This year, the Massachusetts State Police and a number of local law enforcement agencies across the state will be participating in the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign. This is an enforcement campaign that aims to bust drivers that jump behind the wheel after they have been drinking. The increased efforts are taking place from August 19th through September 5th, but will officers be putting extra focus on busting these tipsy drivers over the long Labor Day holiday weekend.

The enforcement effort is not only meant to increase visibility of officers on our roadways, but it is also used to help to raise awareness about the dangers and the consequences of impaired driving. Law enforcement agencies will be using a number of public education tools, including banner, posters and campaign ads to spread the word.

Our Massachusetts drunk driving accident attorneys understand that, in addition to state police, there will be a number of local and campus police departments that will also be out on our roadways conducting sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols over the Labor Day Weekend. The patrolling efforts are used to take drunk drivers off of our roadways and to keep innocent motorists safe over the celebratory weekend.

Mother’s Against Drunk Driving doesn’t believe that these enforcement efforts are enough to keep everyone safe. The organization predicts that more than 10,000 people will die because of accidents that are caused by an alcohol-impaired driver this year. These types of crashes account for roughly a third of all traffic accident fatalities every year.

For this reason, officers will be practicing a zero-tolerance policy. If you are busted by an officer, then you could potentially lose your driver’s license, you could require the installation of an ignition-interlock device and you could even face some jail time. All of these consequences don’t even include all of the time lost from work and the fees and fines from court you may face because of a conviction. None of these consequences include the public humiliation and embarrassment. Sentences are much stricter if a drunk driver imposes injury to another person.

The Labor Day weekend was ranked as the second most fatal holiday period on our roadways in 2009.

Holiday weekend car accident fatalities in 2009:

-Fourth of July: 410 fatalities.

-Labor Day: 360 deaths.

-Memorial Day: 473 fatalities.

-New Year’s: 468 deaths.

-Thanksgiving: 411 fatalities.

-Christmas: 262 deaths.

“Drunk driving is a major public safety threat that still claims thousands of lives every year,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
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Holidays bring out an increased number of intoxicated drivers throughout the country. More impaired drivers increase the risks of fatal drunk driving accidents in Massachusetts and elsewhere. Unfortunately, many innocent motorists are injured in these accidents. Recent reports illustrate more arrests in 2011 than in 2010.

California was one of the states that recorded an increased number of intoxicated-driver arrests during the past Labor Day weekend than the holiday weekend from the year before. The California Highway Patrol and the Los Angeles County Sheriff report that there were more than 250 people arrested by officers for the suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol from Friday to Monday over the Labor Day weekend. Less than 190 arrests were made the previous year. The agencies participated in the “Avoid the 38” holiday DUI task force program.

Our Boston drunk driving accident attorneys understand that this increased number of arrests foreshadows what is expected to come through the remainder of the year. Officers can always increase the number of paroling units, sobriety checkpoints and other programs, but the truth is that there will still be intoxicated drivers wandering our roadways. Increased number of arrests is usually the result of increased enforcement efforts.

As we continue on with the rest of 2011, we’ll be celebrating important holidays and events such as football season, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. All of these time periods attract a number of intoxicated drivers to our roadways. With the increased number of Labor Day arrests, officials believe that we can expect to see an active holiday season.

According to The Century Council, there were nearly 110 fatalities caused by traffic accidents involved at least one alcohol-impaired driver in 2009. More than 10 people that were under the age of 21 were killed in these types of accidents.

Of the fatal drunk driving accidents, more than 70 percent of them were caused by a driver that had a blood alcohol concentration level of 0.15 or above. More specifically, about 40 percent had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 to 0.14. Motorists are oftentimes unable to judge how impaired they are and instead of finding another way home they jump behind the wheel and endanger more than themselves.

To help keep motorists safe, you are urged to help out by reporting any driver that you believe to be intoxicated. You can usually tell if a driver is intoxicated because they will typically swerve in and out of lanes, brake erratically, fail to respond to traffic devices, drive excessively slow or fat too fast, nearly hit other objects, tailgate, drive with their headlights off during the evening or turn abruptly.

If you see a car that meets these criteria, you’re urged to call 911 and tell the dispatcher that you want to report a drunk driver. Give them the location and a description of the vehicle you’re reporting. It is important to remember to stay away from these drivers. You do not want to put yourself, your vehicle or any of your passengers at risk of an accident.
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A man from Lawrence, Massachusetts was recently stripped of his driving privileges — for life. He currently has nine drunk driving convictions on his driving record and is facing a tenth, according to the Eagle-Tribune.

The man was most recently arrested on the Ward Hill Connector. He has been arrested for drunk driving an even dozen times. He has been convicted of only nine of the charges. His license has been revoked for life because of these charges and to reduce the risks of a drunk driving accident in Massachusetts.

Our Boston drunk driving accident attorneys know how dangerous drunk drivers can be on our roadways. Oftentimes innocent motorists are killed as a result of the carelessness of these drivers. Stricter punishments for those who have been convicted of drunk driving may be one of the only ways to deter these individuals from repeating the offense.

The drunk driver from Lawrence had his license revoked not only because of the number of prior convictions, but also because he turned down a Breathalyzer test during the most recent traffic stop. The arrest was made back in mid June.

“His right to operate has been revoked for life on the basis of his refusal of a chemical test on that date,” Nangle said.

The drunk driver has already been indicted. His case has been transferred from Haverhill District Court to superior court, where he faces severe punishment. His charges include driving under the influence with four or more previous convictions.

Massachusetts’ drunk driving law says that the fifth or subsequent offense can result in a lengthy prison sentence.

The man has already entered a not guilty plea to the most recent charge in Salem Superior Court. He is still at the Middleton jail and is being held without bail. A spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office says that the drunk driver will probably know the date of his trial within the next few weeks.

The man has drunk driving charges from 1962, 1971, 1976, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1990 and 2002.

The night in which he was arrested for the most recent drunk driving offense, local officers received a number of calls from concerned drivers reporting a vehicle swerving across lanes in Interstate 495. The drunk driver was already stopped on the side of the road when officers arrived.

The man has previously been charged with leaving the scene of an accident after he caused property damage and charges of driving so as to endanger, according to his driving record.
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“There are no set guidelines on this. There’s no national standard on this,” said Alex R. Piquero, a criminology professor at the University of Texas-Dallas, who has studied drunken driving for more than 20 years. “There is a lot of discretion. It’s like a ref on the football field. Everyone holds on every play. Which one is the most egregious of the offense?”

What Piquero is talking about is the location of a drunk driving bust and the affect that has on the punishments. When former NBA star and ESPN analyst Jalen Rose was sentenced after a drunk driving incident that happened back in March, one of the main factors in his punishment was the location of his arrest — the Detroit suburb of West Bloomfield, according to USA Today.

Many believe that if he was arrested for driving under the influence in a different location, his chances of going to jail would have been almost zero, according to Michigan state statistics. The outcome may have been much different if he were involved in a drunk driving accident in Massachusetts or elsewhere throughout the country.

Our Boston drunk driving accident attorneys report that Judge Kimberly Small sentenced him to 20 days behind bars in the county jail as it was his first offense. What we find most alarming about this scenario is that if the bust happened just down the road in Pontiac, MI., there would be been almost a zero chance of Rose being sentenced to any jail time at all, at least that’s what statistics in Michigan state tell us.

The sentences for those who have been found guilty of driving while drunk resemble the real estate market: it’s all about location, location, location!

There are only a few states, including Alaska, Georgia and Tennessee, where drunk driving are sentenced to mandatory jail time.

In states like Wisconsin, your first-offense of drunk driving isn’t even considered a crime. It’s more of a civil infraction in which the drunk is merely issued a ticket.

“There are no set guidelines on this. There’s no national standard on this,” said Alex R. Piquero, a University of Texas-Dallas criminology professor. Piquero studied the behavior of drunk drivers for over 20 years.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it is estimated that drunk driving traffic accidents took the lives of nearly 13,000 people in 2009 alone. Approximately 1.4 million people are arrested for drunk driving every year.

As of now, Massachusetts does not require first-time offenders to serve any jail time, but the court does require them to complete an alcohol education program.

National sentencing laws for drunk drivers could potentially reduce the risks of drunk driving accidents across the country. A number of studies have illustrated the effects of enforcement efforts and awareness campaigns. With a federal drunk driving sentence, drunk drivers may be less likely to hit the road.
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Nearly 10 percent of drivers in the Bay State have seen their license revoked at one point or another. Massachusetts state records conclude that nearly 617,000 of the state’s 4.7 million licensed drivers have had at lease one type of license suspension or license revocation, according to the Boston Herald.

A driver’s license can be revoked or suspended for a number of reasons, including too many car accidents in Massachusetts, too many traffic violations, drunk driving, hit-and-run and other serious moving violations. Safe driving habits and compliance with traffic laws will help to keep your driving privileges safe.

Our Boston drunk driving accident attorneys would like to remind motorists that having a driver’s license is a privilege and with that privilege comes great responsibility. One of the most irresponsible actions that a driver can make is to get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle after consuming alcoholic beverages. Drunk driving puts your own life at risk and the lives of innocent motorists at risk.

The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) can automatically suspend your driver’s license for the following reasons:

-Three speeding violations in a year.

-Five surchargeable events in three years.

-Habitual traffic offender.

-Out-of-state suspension or revocation.

-Leaving the scene of an accident with injuries or with property damage.

-Three car accidents where you are found to be more than 50 percent at fault.

-Drunk Driving.

If the RMV suspends or revokes your license, you are required to stop driving immediately. This means you’ve lost your driving privileges. When this happens, it is illegal for you to operate any type of motor vehicle. Driving with a suspended or revoked license is considered a criminal motor-vehicle violation in the state of Massachusetts. You can be fined and/or be sentenced to jail time, as well as additional penalties.

Drunk driving accidents can be prevented with license revocation. When a driver is busted for driving under the influence, they run the risk of having their driving privilege taken away. Drunk driving punishments vary from state to state, where some states only consider this offense to be punishable by a traffic ticket while others automatically hand out jail time to offenders.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 11,000 people died because of car accidents that involved an impaired driver in 2009. Alcohol-impaired-driving deaths accounted for more than 30 percent of all traffic accident deaths in the United States during that same year. This means that someone is killed was an alcohol-impaired-accident every 48 minutes.

In 2009, Massachusetts witnessed nearly 150 fatalities because of traffic accidents that involved an intoxicated driver. Many of these accidents could have been prevented if repeat offenders were sentenced to license revocation after being convicted of drunk driving. Many motorists involved in these fatal accidents were in fact repeat offenders.
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Beware drunk drivers! Many local police departments and state police will be increasing enforcement efforts to help reduce the risks of drunk driving accidents in Massachusetts. The increased enforcement efforts will begin this weekend and will continue through Labor Day, according to The Sun Chronicle. Their “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over,” campaign is funded by the state’s Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.

Our Boston drunk driving accident attorneys understand that drunk drivers of all kinds come out during holiday weekends. We ask all residents to be smart behind the wheel during this upcoming Labor Day weekend. Summer months bring out an increased number of motorists every year. Now add that to a holiday weekend and we’ve got roadway overload! All drivers are asked to remain sober behind the wheel or to rely on other forms of transportation if drinks are consumed over the holiday weekend.

“Our message is simple and unwavering. If we find you operating while impaired, we will arrest you – no exceptions,” North Attleboro Police Chief John Reilly said in a statement. “Even if you beat the odds and manage to walk away from an impaired driving crash alive, the trauma and financial costs of a crash or an arrest can still destroy your life,” he said. Attleboro Police Chief Kyle Heagney said drunken driving is a serious problem across the state.

The following police agencies, along with nearly 200 others, will be joining the new drunk driving enforcement efforts:

-Attleboro
-North Attleboro
-Mansfield
-Norton
-Norfolk
-Rehoboth
-Seekonk

-Taunton
All agencies will be enforcing a zero tolerance policy. They will be on the lookout for anyone who is driving while drunk and will be arresting any driver they find that is impaired. Impairment includes being under the influence of either drugs or alcohol.

“Alcohol is involved in the worst crashes and most fatalities,” said Lt. Todd Jackson of the Norton police.

According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, nearly 11,000 people will die because of drunk driving accidents this year. These drunk driving accident-related fatalities account for more than 30 percent of all traffic deaths on our roadways.

Drunk driving is not only dangerous and deadly, but if you’re busted you could lose your driver’s license, face jail time or be required to have an ignition interlock device installed in your vehicle. That’s all in addition to court fees and fines, lost time from work and personal embarrassment and humiliation.

Tips to protect yourself and others from a drunk driving accident over the holiday weekend:

-Don’t drive, no matter how “little” you’ve had to drink. Every sip impairs.

-Don’t let someone else get behind the wheel if they’ve been drinking.

-Try not to drive during early and late evening hours on holidays. This is typically when drunk drivers hit the road.

-If you have to drive during this time period, be cautious and keep an eye out for the erratic movements of drunken drivers.

-If your see someone you expect to be driving drunk, immediately report them to the police.
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