Articles Posted in Drunk Driving in Massachusetts

Public health experts across the world are focusing on young driver safety. In the UK, officials have calling for “a frank and open public debate” on the issue. According to The Information Daily, government officials are dragging their feet in addressing the issue even though it could wind up saving both lives and money.

In January of last year, the government claimed that it would create resource on young driver safety but were still promising come December, stating that they were “wrestling with the issues”. As it stands now, motor-vehicle accidents account for close to 30 percent of the fatalities experienced by 15- to 19-year-olds.

It’s not much better here in the U.S.

Our Boston drunk driving accident lawyers understand that, at all levels of blood-alcohol concentration (BAC), the risk of involvement in a motor vehicle crash is greater for teens than for older drivers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 20 percent of drivers aged 15 to 20 involved in fatal motor vehicle crashes were drinking.
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It took less than two hours for a Hampden Superior County jury to figure out that the defendant was guilty. They found her guilty of an alcohol-related charge, but not motor vehicle homicide, in a chain-reaction accident that claimed the life of a Holyoke man back in 2011, according to MassLive. The 33-year-old driver was sentenced to three years of probation, against a prosecution request for a 1 and a half-year jail sentence.

The accident happened when the now sentenced driver slammed into a parked SUV back in June of 2011 on Lincoln Street. The woman who was fatally injured in the accident ran outside of her home to help a victim in the flipped car, only to be hit by a passing vehicle and killed. The second driver in this case was initially charged with negligent vehicular manslaughter, but that case was later dropped.

Our drunk driving accident attorneys in Massachusetts feel it important to point out that the first driver’s blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit. Unfortunately, this case illustrates the limits of the criminal justice system. As a part of the sentence, the convicted driver is required to abstain from unprescribed drugs and alcohol, submit to a random alcohol and drug screening and attended three Alcoholics Anonymous meetings a week.
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A driver from Natick who thought he was doing the right thing was actually turning himself in. According to ABC40, the 21-year-old driver walked right into a police station during the early-morning hours to report that he had crashed his vehicle. At that time, officers smelled alcohol on him and decided to perform field sobriety tests, which the driver failed. He was ruled to be over the legal limit to drive.

At that moment, officers arrested the man and charged him with driving to endanger and driving under the influence of liquor. He was later releases and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Our drunk driving accident lawyers in Natick understand that intoxicated individuals don’t always make the best of decisions. Difficulty walking, blurred vision, slurred speech, slowed reaction times, impaired memory — clearly, alcohol affects the brain. Drivers use their hands, eyes, and feet to control the car; but their hands, eyes, and feet must be controlled by their brains. Safe driving requires alertness and the ability to make quick decisions in rapidly changing situations. Drinking alcohol can have a profound effect on driving skills.
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A man from Easton recently entered a plea of “not guilty” to the Taunton District Court after officers arrested him for his 8th drunk driving charge. According to The Boston Globe, the 46-year-old man was arraigned on charges of carrying an open container of alcohol, driving with a revoked driver’s license and operating under the influence of alcohol.

An officer encountered the driver on the side of Winthrop Street while he was sitting in his parked car just before 2:00 a.m. When the officer asked why he was parked there, the driver held up a closed flip phone and explained he was trying to text message. Officers noticed that the man had a plastic cup, of what appeared to be alcohol, in his hand. They asked to search the vehicle and wound up finding and open bottle of brandy.

Our drunk driving accident attorneys understand just how serious this problem is here in Massachusetts. But it’s not just a problem here in Massachusetts, it’s elsewhere throughout the U.S. Last year, there were more than 10,300 people killed in drunk driving accidents. In Massachusetts, we saw close to 150 people die, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Several policies and practices have been implemented across jurisdictions to address drunken driving, including increasing the minimum drinking age and lowering illegal thresholds for blood alcohol concentration (BAC). But how effective are they?
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It’s a new year, and drunk driving accidents are still a top concern of safety officials. In 2013, we witnessed drunk driving fatalities increase for the first time in the last six years.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is continuing efforts to bring down the number of drunk driving deaths. In doing so, officials are continuing to urge states to enact new legislation to mandate ignition interlocks for those who have been convicted of drunk driving. They’re also working to support the technologies that will eliminate drunk driving in the long-term. Another focus is to educate the public and to raise awareness about the risks associated with drunk driving while urging more residents to get involved with preventative measures and campaign efforts.

Our drunk driving injury lawyers in Boston know these drunk driving accidents are most likely to happen on Friday and Saturday nights. That’s when most residents are out celebrating their weekends and enjoying time with friends and family. Although officials with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) report that weekend drunk driving has declined, the overall number of alcohol-related traffic accident fatalities has not enjoyed the same reduction.
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This one’s a hoot.

A Massachusetts man was recently charged with his third drunk driving offense as well as disturbing the peace, leaving the scene of property damage, resisting arrest and failure to stop for police after he allegedly exited his vehicle and climbed up 30 feet into a tree and “rambled about being an owl.”

According to UPI, State Troopers report that the 37-year-old man was driving erratically when they tried to pull him over. After following him for some times in the emergency breakdown lane, the man finally stopped, hopped over a guardrail and sprinted into the woods. Officers searched for the man for roughly an hour when they found him hiding in a tree. The driver tried to charm officers by telling them not only how good of a guy he was, but also started impersonating an owl and shaking branches in that tree and yelling, “Look, it’s snowing.”

Our drunk driving car accident lawyers in Northborough understand the driver was previously convicted of drunk driving back in 2003 and again in 2005. Unfortunately, these kinds of drivers are not uncommon. The truth of the matter is that drunk driving is a serious problem for the U.S. Alcohol-related fatal driving crashes cause roughly 17,000 fatalities each year. A number of policies and practices have been implemented across jurisdictions to address drunken driving, including increasing the minimum drinking age and lowering illegal thresholds for blood-alcohol concentration (BAC). States and local jurisdictions have also administered fines, substance abuse treatment, incarceration, electronic monitoring, and other tactics to individuals who have been convicted of driving while intoxicated (DWI); yet drunk driving incidents continue to go undetected and arrests, injuries, and fatalities remain a primary threat on the road..
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Recently, officials with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) acknowledged the new five-year cooperative agreement between the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety to continue research on the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety, or DADSS. This program is meant to launch a seamless, passive and publicly-acceptable in-vehicle technology that would help to keep a drunk driver from turning on and operating a vehicle. This project was given the green light and completely funded by Congress as a part of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) act.

“DADSS has the potential to one day eliminate drunk driving in America,” said Jan Withers, MADD National President.

Our personal injury lawyers in Massachusetts understand that we can’t always rely on drivers to make smart decisions, especially when consuming alcohol. That’s why we still lose thousands of lives on our nation’s roadways each and every year. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were close to 10,000 people killed in drunk driving accidents in the U.S. in 2011. These fatalities accounted for more than 30 percent of all of the traffic accident fatalities recorded throughout the entire year.
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According to the Boston Globe, a Connecticut police officer was arrested and charged in the state of Massachusetts with drunk driving with a child in the vehicle. State police report that the 45-year-old officer was stopped for a traffic stop on Massachusetts Turnpike. Not only is he facing drunk driving, but he’s also looking at charged of possession of an open container of alcohol, negligent operation, speeding and child endangerment.

Our Boston injury lawyers understand that there were more than 110 people killed in alcohol-related traffic accidents in the state in 2011. These fatalities accounted for close to 35 percent of all traffic accident fatalities recorded throughout the year. In 2012, there were 12,941 people arrested for drunk driving in our state. Although most drivers understand the dangers of drinking and driving, the fear doesn’t seem to be stopping many.
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A 16-year-old teenager who caused four deaths when driving drunk recently avoided jail time when he pled “affluenza” as a defense to the criminal charges he faced for drunk driving. The teen’s psychologist testified in court that the young man had escaped consequences for his actions throughout his life because his wealthy parents never imposed restrictions on him. The judge agreed that the young man didn’t understand right from wrong and thus sentenced the teen to spend time in a very expensive rehabilitation facility away from his parents, rather than to jail time.

The verdict sparked outrage throughout the United States, with family members of the victims killed in the drunk driving accident expressing anger that the young man would not go to jail despite the damage he caused. The teen’s family, however, may not need to worry about affluenza for long because five civil lawsuits have been filed against the teen, his family and the family’s company. Victims are seeking in excess of $1 million in damages, and could collect personally from the family’s assets if their insurance coverage is not sufficient to pay for all of the losses and damage caused by the teen driver.
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In October of 2005, Melanie’s Law passed in the state of Massachusetts establishing rules for the use of ignition interlock devices. The law required Massachusetts to create an ignition interlock program by January 1, 2006. As a result of Melanie’s Law, drivers who have an Operating Under the Influence (OUI) conviction must have an ignition interlock device in their vehicle if they obtain a hardship license after a DUI conviction. Motorists with two or more drunken driving convictions are also required to have an ignition interlock device installed when they get their license reinstated after their suspension.

Our Boston drunk driving lawyers know that ignition interlock devices can help reduce the risk of repeat drunk driving offenses because the IID will not allow a driver to start his vehicle until he has submitted to a breath test. The ignition interlock device connects to the ignition of the vehicle and the driver must breath into the device before starting his car. If a BAC above .02 is detected, the car won’t start. The device will also require drivers to submit to periodic retesting while driving to ensure that the driver doesn’t have someone else take the test for him and that the motorist doesn’t drink while driving.

While an ignition interlock device can significantly reduce the chances of a drunk driving offender getting intoxicated and potentially causing an accident, IIDs are only effective if drunk drivers are actually made to use them. As a result, the federal government is now urging all states in the U.S. to require ignition interlocks even for first-time drunk driving offenders who were barely over the legal limit when they were arrested.
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