Articles Posted in Drunk Driving in Massachusetts

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Massachusetts law provides in General Laws Chapter 138, Section 69 that “No alcoholic beverage shall be sold or delivered on any premises licensed under this chapter to any intoxicated person.”

Boston Drunk Driving AccidentsThis means that it violation of the liquor control laws to sell alcohol to a person who is already drunk.   While that seems like common sense, and shouldn’t be that big a deal at first look, these 19 words have major implications in terms of a victim’s ability to recover from a drunk driving car crash in Boston.

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There are many ways authorities try to curb drunk driving and the many related Boston drunk driving accidents. Police, government agencies, and organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) use public awareness campaigns that include billboards showing the consequences of drunk driving, and they also create and air public service announcements on television and radio.

DUI Ignition Interlock However, in addition to public awareness, MADD also lobbies for stronger drunk driving penalties, including the use of a breath alcohol ignition interlock device (BAIID).  A BAIID is installed in the car of a convicted drunk driving offender at the expense of defendant.  This is one area that has caused some pushback, as they typically cost a few hundred dollars to install and then between $50 and $100 a month to monitor, and many defendants claim they can’t afford this. Continue reading

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In some cases, a person realizes they are too drunk to safety drive home, but they have no place else to go.  In some cases, the intoxicated person will try to “sleep it off” in their car. In other cases, a person will try to drive home and realize they can’t make it home safely, and they will pull over and then try to sleep. In other cases still, some drivers will simply fall asleep behind the wheel.  This can happen while driver is stopped at a traffic light, or while the car is in motion.  Both of these examples can result in a drunk driving car crash with serious personal injury or death.

Boston DUI Accident LawyerWhat many people may not realize is that when you stop your car and fall asleep while the car is in a travel lane, or otherwise obstructing traffic, this is drunk driving, and you would be responsible for any personal injury that results from a car accident involving your car, assuming the location of your car caused the accident.  Many people also do not realize you can get arrested for drunk driving even if you are asleep when the police arrive, so long as you are in physical control of the car at the time. Continue reading

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Car accidents in Boston happen all the time.  In most cases, they are a result of the negligence on behalf of at least one driver.  There are cases where it is not the driver’s fault, but they are still the result of negligence. In these cases, we are dealing with a vehicle that was defectively manufactured or repaired, or perhaps a traffic light that malfunctioned.  Again, most accidents are due to the negligence of a driver.

Boston DUI Accident LawyerWhile any car crash can be dangerous or even deadly, drunk driving car accidents tend to involve more serious personal injury and fatalities, due to the extreme degree of bad or reckless driving we tend to see. Drunk drivers are often in the wrong lane of travel, where they hit other cars in a head-on manner, causing substantial impact.  We also tend to see more rollover crashes with drunk driving. Continue reading

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Drunk driving accidents often result in serious personal injury or death. While the police are out on the roads to find and arrest drunk drivers before they cause an accident, it is difficult for them to catch everyone, and they are often left responding to an accident rather than preventing one, due the vast number of drunk drivers on the road.

Boston Drunk Driving Accident lawyerSometimes we are driving, and we see a car that is swerving or weaving, and we assume that driver is drunk or something else is wrong with him or her. A recent article from The Daily Courier discusses what you should do if you see a suspected drunk driver and what you should not do. Continue reading

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There is no question that drinking to the point of intoxication and driving is dangerous.  It is also illegal.  There are a variety of reasons why it is dangerous to drive while drunk. On the one hand, it can affect your ability to physically operate a motor vehicle safely.  Those who are drunk have impaired motor functions, for one.  This means it is physically difficult to operate the controls in a coordinated manner.

Boston Car Accident In addition to loss of gross and fine motor skills, drinking to point of intoxication can cause blurred vision, making it difficult to see clearly and accurately judge distance. This also makes it dangerous to operate a car.  In terms of mental acuity, when a person is intoxicated, they will have difficulty processing information quickly and reacting to ever-changing stimuli we all face when driving a car in traffic.

One might wonder what someone must be thinking to take the risk and drive drunk. For one man recently arrested for DUI while dressed as the Tin Man from “Wizard of Oz,” it may have been, “If I only had a brain.”

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In single-vehicle DUI accidents, passengers’ only recourse may be to file claims for damages with the insurance company of the driver. If claims are denied, they may need to sue the driver. Some are loathe to do this because the driver is a friend or family member. The truth of the matter is such claims are not personal. While the named defendant is a loved one, you’re ultimately seeking payment from the insurer.

In one recent single-vehicle drunk driving accident, a woman had crashed into a cluster of trees. According to a recent news article from the Newton Patch, Taunton Police soon learned the circumstances involved in this particular drunk driving car accident were far from ordinary.

Boston Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer Authorities say they arrived on the scene and found a woman leaning against a wrecked 1999 Mercedes C Class. The car was allegedly on the lawn of a home and in between a small stand of trees.  There was a man sitting in the driver’s seat attempting to restart the crashed car.  He was not the driver at the time of the crash, according to police. Continue reading

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There is no doubt that drunk driving and drunk driving accidents are a major problem in the U.S. Drunk driving is the leading cause of fatal traffic accidents, and there are many law enforcement agencies and non-profit organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) that are constantly looking for new ways to get their message across.  While there has clearly been some progress, there is still quite a lot of work to be done.

A recent column from the Los Angeles Daily News offers the opinion that in order to actually curb drunk driving, the focus needs to be on changing the culture. The article looks at the fact that many people do not think of drunk driving as a crime, as they do with many other crimes, even though those crimes are much less likely to result in physical harm. dui attorney Continue reading

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Drunk driving typically affects more than the person behind the wheel. In one recent case, though, the person behind the wheel was just as much a victim as anyone else.

According to a recent news article from the Greenfield Patch, a 37-year-old woman has been arrested after she was allegedly too drunk to drive, so she made her 8-year-old son drive instead.  Authorities have said the arrest occurred around 2 p.m.

Boston drunk driving accident lawyerA deputy sheriff reported seeing a car entering the on-ramp of a major local highway with a small child sitting on a woman’s lap.  This was apparently sufficient probable cause to conduct a traffic stop.  The deputy allegedly observed the young boy steering the car. Continue reading

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As discussed in a recent article from The Economist, while the media is often discussing the very real problems of gun violence in America, far more people are killed in a fatal car accidents, and and an even greater number of victims are inured.

phoneLooking at the numbers, around 40,000 people will die in car crashes across the U.S. each year.  Around 10,000 (roughly 25 percent) of these deaths are caused by drunk driving crashes.  This means that approximately a quarter of all traffic fatalities in the nation would not have occurred if those drivers decided to either not drink to the point of intoxication or decided not to get behind the wheel after becoming intoxicated. Continue reading

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