A Methuen police officer has been arrested for the death of a Lowell man in an alcohol-related car crash, according to a recent article from CBS Local Boston. The police officer was charged with Operating Under the Influence (OUI) of intoxicating liquor or drugs, vehicular homicide involving alcohol, and open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle, and he was given a citation for a marked lanes violation and negligent operation.

1342726_alcohol.jpgAs your Boston drunk driving accident lawyer knows, OUI is the name for a DUI charge in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Witnesses say that the defendant was in an SUV traveling west on Riverside Drive in Lowell at just after midnight, when he crossed over the centerline and hit the victim’s car. The victim was trapped in the car, and firefighters had to use the Jaws of Life to get the victim out of the wrecked vehicle. The victim was then taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The victim was out that night to pick up his sister from work. She was taken to the hospital after the crash and was reported to be in stable condition. The extent of her injuries has not been released.

The defendant is being held on $500,000 cash bail, due to the allegations in this case and the fact that he was arrested last year for drunk driving as well. In that case, he refused to take a breathalyzer and lost his driver’s license for six months.
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According to a recent article from CBS Los Angeles, a man has been charged with murder after a 19-year-old driver was killed in what appears to be an alcohol-related car accident.

903509_drunk_drive.jpgThe victim was driving with his girlfriend when the alleged drunk driver swerved his vehicle and crashed into them. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. The man’s girlfriend was taken to the hospital. Her injuries were not life-threatening.

Authorities are reporting that the defendant fled the scene of the accident on foot and was arrested when police arrived at his home following the crash. The defendant was also charged with driving under the influence (DUI), leaving the scene of an accident (hit-and-run), and driving with a suspended license. According to this article, the defendant had previously been convicted of a DUI in which there was a personal injury.

As your Boston drunk driving lawyer understands, there is a good chance that adriver who had his license suspended for a previous DUI did not have car insurance. There is the possibility that the person borrowed the car from someone who did have insurance. If this is the case, you may be able to collect from the owner’s policy, and you may have an additional negligence claim for the owner’s negligence in lending the defendant the car.
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Our Boston drunk driving accident lawyers understand the devastating effects a drunk driving collision can have on victims.

Court.jpgFox59 is reporting that an Indiana woman, 22-years-old, was charged with multiple felony counts involving an alcohol-related car accident that left 2 dead and others injured. A 50-year-old man was killed, along with a 28-year-old female passenger. A 49-year-old female victim suffered life-threatening injuries and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Court papers indicate that the defendant’s car allegedly swerved into oncoming traffic and hit another car. Witnesses say the impact was so great that the road surface was gouged.

After the accident, during interrogation, the defendant told police that she went out for a drive to clear her head after having a fight with her boyfriend. She admitted to authorities that she had four shots of alcohol and half a beer. At the time of her arrest, her blood alcohol concentration was .10 grams per 100 millimeters of blood. The legal limit in every state including the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is .08, so the defendant was allegedly over the legal limit.
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A recent story from 7KTVB discusses how an Idaho man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for drunk driving. The 42-year-old man was convicted of felony DUI. He is eligible for parole in 10 years but could spend the rest of his life behind bars.

prison-1431136-m.jpgWhile a DUI is normally a misdemeanor offense, it can be charged as a felony after the defendant has been convicted of a certain number of misdemeanor drunk driving offenses. According to court records, this defendant was sentenced for his fifth felony DUI. He had 2 misdemeanor DUIs on his criminal record as well.

As your Boston drunk driving injury lawyer can explain, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, operating under the influence (OUI) is a misdemeanor for a first and second offense and a felony for third and subsequent offenses. For misdemeanors in Suffolk County (Boston), the drunk driver could serve up to 2.5 years at the South Bay House of Corrections. For felonies, the defendant could face five years or more in a Massachusetts Correctional Institute (state prison).
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According to a recent article in the Worcester Telegram, parents routinely engage in the exact dangerous driving habits they warn their kids against – including driving while intoxicated.

403_dutch_weed.jpgResearch done by a Boston-based insurance company indicates more than 40 percent of teens have tried to get their parents to stop texting while driving, and almost 20 percent of teens have tried to get their parents to stop driving while high on marijuana.

As your Boston drunk driving car accident lawyer can explain, the official name of the criminal charge in Massachusetts is operating a motor vehicle under the influence (OUI) of intoxicating liquor or drugs. Driving while high on marijuana or any other drug is treated the same as drunk driving. Driving while high is a negligent act that puts everyone else on the road at risk.
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Our Boston drunk driving accident lawyers know that an alcohol-related crash can result in significant property damage in addition to personal injury.

car-accident-1-774604-m.jpgAccording to a recent story from WBZ, an alleged drunk driver lost control of his car and crashed into several parked cars and a home in Saugus, Massachusetts. There were three occupants in the house who were amazingly not seriously injured.

Witnesses reported the suspect’s vehicle and a pickup truck belonging to the homeowners slammed into the side of the home. The pickup truck was parked in the driveway when the crash pushed it though the wall into the dining room – where they had been sitting just minutes before the crash.
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According to a recent article in TMZ, the mother of professional wrestler/actor Dwyane Johnson (“The Rock”) was hit head-on by a driver alleged to be drunk.

Witnesses told police Rock’s mother and another family member were driving home from a fundraiser in her 2012 Escalade when another driver slammed into their vehicle. Her sport utility vehicle was totaled. She was taken to a local hospital, along with the other occupant in the car. Family members are saying that she was kept in the hospital for three days until she was medically-cleared for release.

1360987_car_speed.jpgBoston drunk driving accident lawyersknow, alcohol-related crashes often present different issues than traditional car accident cases. One of the major differences is that an alleged drunk driver will also likely be charged with one or more crimes, including Operating Under the Influence (OUI), as the charge is called in Massachusetts.
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According to a recent report from the Sun-Times Media Wire, a police officer in Indiana was conducting a traffic stop around 1:30 a.m. and standing outside of his cruiser when a jeep collided with his vehicle. The collision caused the vehicle to push him down on the pavement.

PoliceLights.jpgAfter crashing into the police car, the driver of the Jeep allegedly fled the scene but was arrested a short time later. During his arrest, police gave the driver a breath-alcohol test (breathalyzer), where it was determined he had a breath-alcohol content of .14 grams of ethanol per hundred milliliters of blood. The legal limit in every state pursuant to a federal regulation is .08. If the defendant’s score is accurate, he was driving with nearly twice the legal limit.

The defendant was charged with driving while intoxicated (DWI), leaving the scene of an accident (hit-and-run) and driving with a suspended license.
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Our Boston drunk driving accident lawyers know many victims will need to find a way to recover their losses even if the at-fault driver was uninsured. One of the ways you may be able to accomplish this is through Uninsured Motorist Coverage.

1360987_car_speed.jpgAccording to a recent story in the Daily News, an alleged drunk driver hit two cars, causing a fatal traffic accident. One of the victims was a 16-year-old boy who was behind the wheel of one of the cars that the defendant hit. The boy died from a result of the injuries he sustained in this alcohol-related car crash.
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According to a recent article from the Boston Globe, a Worcester man was arrested for his 11th drunk driving offense. As your Boston drunk driving accident lawyer can explain, the charge is officially known as Operating Under the Influence (OUI) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

beers.jpgPolice spotted the man who was allegedly driving well under the posted speed limit with his headlights off around 2:00 a.m. Authorities stated that they attempted to give the man a breath alcohol test (breathalyzer) but he was unable to provide a sufficient sample.

The man is alleged to have a history of OUI arrests in Massachusetts from the 1970s, five drunk driving arrests in Florida from the 1980s, and three more from Texas in the 1990s. The man had a valid license at the time of his latest arrest. Police seemed astonished that this man was issued a valid license to drive, given his history of alcohol-related driving offenses.

The reason for the Massachusetts RMV issuing the license was due to the length of time that had passed since his previous arrest and the fact that he was issued the license prior to the Massachusetts Life-Time Look Back law. Prior to this law, the RMV would look back a certain number of years to see if you had an OUI on your record, and, if the conviction was old enough to be beyond the look back period, then it would not be held against you when applying for a license. This is no longer the case in Massachusetts; now, they will look all the way back to when you were first issued a license in any state to see if you have any OUI convictions.
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