Boston Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer Blog

In a recent accident, a Massachusetts State Trooper was serious injured after being hit by an alleged drunk driver during a routine traffic stop. According to WCVB, the accident happened shortly after 1:00 am. at Lynn Fells Parkway along Route 1.

Accident reports indicate that the trooper was hit from behind by a 35-year-old man who was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident. The trooper was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital with back and neck pain and was later released.

Our Boston drunk driving accident lawyers understand that oftentimes it’s innocent travelers who suffer the consequences of irresponsible and intoxicated drivers. Operating under the influence (OUI) is a serious crime in Massachusetts. As such, you could face license suspension, steep fines, and even jail.

In the state of Massachusetts, there were close to 150 people killed in alcohol-related traffic accidents in 2012. These kinds of accidents accounted for close to 50 percent of all of the traffic accident fatalities observed throughout that entire year.

The rate of alcohol impairment among drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2011 was close to 4 times higher at night than during the day. In 2011, close to 20 percent of all drivers involved in fatal crashes during the week were alcohol-impaired, compared to more than 30 percent on weekends.

The sad truth of the matter when talking about these kinds of accidents is that they’re all completely preventable. It’s never a good choice to hop behind the wheel of a motor vehicle after consuming alcohol — even if it’s only been one drink.

Drinking alcohol and driving simply do not go together. Alcohol affects attentiveness and one’s ability to make quick decisions on the road, react to changes in the environment and execute specific, often difficult maneuvers behind the wheel. When drinking alcohol, driving becomes dangerous – and is potentially lethal!

It’s important to remember that Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving, too. Though this campaign from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), officials are asking you to take the pledge — to make sure you always make responsible choices that don’t endanger you and/or others.

This is especially targeted toward the younger drivers (those between the ages of 21 and 24). They’re the group of drivers who had the highest percentage of drivers involved in fatal accidents with a BAC of .08 or higher.
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Fourth of July is a massive celebration each year in Boston, with fireworks along the Esplanade and the Boston Pops playing. Many people choose to watch this special event from boats on the Charles River while other boaters spend their days enjoying the warm weather and summer fun.

Unfortunately, our Boston drunk driving accident lawyers know that this celebration of America’s independence brings with it some serious risks. Over the Fourth of July Holiday, many boaters throughout the Boston area choose to commemorate the day by having a few too many drinks. This can significantly increase the risk of a boating accident, and it is also illegal behavior.

Avoid Boating While Intoxicated on the Fourth of July
Boating is a great way to spend the Fourth of July but many people get too carried away with the celebrations and consume too much alcohol. Open containers are allowed on boats and people are even allowed to drink in moderation when operating a boat. However, like with motor vehicles, if your blood alcohol content is over the legal limit, you are considered to be in violation of the law.

When you drive a boat, just as when you drive a car, you give implied consent to have your blood alcohol tested if law enforcement believes that you have been drinking too much. Open containers aboard your boat or erratic driving could provide reason for the coast guard or local authorities to do a BAC check to see if you are within the legal limits. If you are intoxicated, then you could be arrested for boating under the influence.

While an arrest for BUI may seem like a disaster, it isn’t even the worst thing that could happen as a result of drunk boating. Intoxicated boaters can cause serious accidents, endangering themselves, other passengers aboard the boat and everyone else on the water at the same time. When a boating accident happens, the drunk boater who caused the crash can be held legally liable and can be made to pay for all of the damages he caused through his intoxicated operation of the vessels.

Intoxicated boat captains are not the only ones who need to worry about drunk boating accidents either. Everyone who is on the water, whether on a personal watercraft or on water skis or in a vessel of their own, should be aware that there is an increased chance of drunk boaters being out. This means that even people who are being responsible need to be watchful of others who might not be following the law.

Finally, passengers aboard boats also need to be careful not to get too drunk to be safe. Intoxicated guests aboard a boat could slip and fall on a dock, could fall overboard or could be injured in any number of different ways. Drowning incidents or accidents involving the boats propeller are tragic outcomes that could occur if a drunk boater falls overboard.

To ensure that no one meets an unpleasant fate over the Fourth of July holiday, everyone on a boat- both drivers and passengers- should make a commitment to consuming only limited amounts of alcohol over the holiday.
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The Fourth of July Holiday is one of the most dangerous days to be on the road. Most people have a day off from work to celebrate our nation’s independence and a lot of people spend that day celebrating with friends at bars, barbeques and parties.

Unfortunately, when out celebrating in the heat and sun, it is far too easy to grab a few too many beers or drinks in order to keep cool. This can lead to disaster when driving home.

Intoxicated driving always increases on the Fourth of July, which is why police and local law enforcement nationwide step up their efforts on Independence Day. There are generally DUI checkpoints and more officers out on patrol to catch drunk drivers on major drinking days, and the Fourth of July celebration will be no exception.

Our Boston drunk driving injury lawyers know that those who choose to drink and drive over the Fourth of July holiday don’t just put themselves at risk. Every year, accidents happen because of drunk drivers and innocent victims experience property damage, personal injury or even death. Avoiding these terrible outcomes requires a commitment by all drivers to celebrate in a smart and safe way on the Fourth of July.

Drunk Driving Endangers Everyone
A person with a BAC above the legal limit of .08 has more than double the risk of becoming involved in a car accident, and the higher the BAC the more impaired the driver is and the greater the danger.

The amount that you can drink before you have had too much varies depending upon your weight; how much you were drinking, your gender and what you were drinking. However, a 150 pound female who has six beers over six hours would likely be close to or over the legal limit and a man who weighed the same would be able to consume around seven beers or less over six hours in order to approach the .08 level.

At a Fourth of July barbecue with friends, it would be far too easy to consume this much alcohol or more, perhaps without even realizing how much you are drinking or noticing that you are starting to get tipsy. Getting in the car after having “just a few beers,” could cause you to get arrested or worse- could cause an accident that ends your own life or that injures or kills your passengers or another person on the road.

No amount of celebrating is worth taking on that risk. Instead, it is advisable to have a plan of action before you go out drinking for Independence Day. If you know that you are going to be consuming alcohol to celebrate, you should have a designated driver with you and/or the telephone number of a local taxi cab company programmed into your phone.

If you see your friends start to get into the car after having had too much to drink, stop them and get help. And, if you are going to be driving, limit your consumption of alcohol to far less than you think you reasonably can drink just so you can be sure that you don’t end up causing an accident that you can never take back.
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Police encounter drunk drivers all the time in the course of their careers, but one Massachusetts state trooper had an experience with an intoxicated driver that was very personal: a drunk driver killed his daughter.

Now, CBS Boston reports that the trooper hopes his daughter’s legacy will prevent other drunk driving accidents from occurring.

The trooper’s daughter was five weeks into her first year of college when she was killed by a drunk driver. Her father is telling his daughter’s story to high school students as part of their Mock Drunk Driving Crash. Tragically, his daughter was killed when she got into the car with someone who had been drinking. The driver had said he was sober.

Our Boston drunk driving accident lawyers know that many intoxicated drivers don’t realize just how impaired they really are. Unfortunately, these drivers can be exceptionally dangerous because they don’t realize that they are putting their own lives and the lives of others in jeopardy.

Drunk Driving Dangers When Drivers are Dishonest
According to CBS Boston, the Massachusetts state trooper’s daughter was at a party with her friends on the night of her death. She and her friends got a ride home from another student who was at the party with them. The driver claimed that he had not been drinking at the party.

The trooper’s daughter had no alcohol in her system at the time and she was sitting in the front seat. Unfortunately, the student who was driving her home started to drive recklessly as soon as he was behind the wheel and on the road. His car hit a tree, killing the trooper’s daughter in the front passenger seat.

The drunk driver fled the scene of the accident, but he was subsequently caught. He also tried to leave the hospital three times after the accident. When his blood-alcohol content was tested, it turned out he had three times the legal limit in his system. He was dangerously intoxicated at the time of the accident, which likely directly led to the risky driving behavior.

Unfortunately, this drunk driver was not the first intoxicated person to lie about being sober and he likely will not be the last one. In far too many cases, passengers pay the price for the lies of drunk drivers, losing their lives or suffering serious injury when they get into the car with someone who they believe to be sober.

When an accident like this occurs, the drunk driver is to blame for the incident. Passengers in cars should be able to trust their friends to be sober and not to lie and put their lives in jeopardy. These passengers who are lied to and misled are not at fault for the decisions they make. Still, they can end up losing their lives because they believe someone that they shouldn’t.

As a passenger, therefore, it is very important to remember that you are putting your hands in the life of the person who is driving you home. If you have not been with them and seen first hand that they haven’t had a drink, be absolutely sure that you can trust their word because your life depends on it. If you aren’t certain that the driver is sober or if you have any doubts at all, find an alternate ride home to be on the safe side. The decision could save your life.
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For many parents of teenagers, talking to your kids may seem hopeless and you may despair that any advice you give will go in one ear and out the other. The reality, however, is that what you say to your kids — and the fact that you take the time to say it — can have a major impact on whether your children put themselves in risky situations.

Our Boston drunk driving accident lawyers know that one of the biggest risks that kids can take is driving drunk. This behavior not only puts your teen in danger but it also puts any passengers, pedestrians and other motorists at risk as well. Preventing drunk driving and preventing teen drinking in general should be top priorities for every parent and a new study shows that parents may not be doing as much as they can to help stop substance abuse among teens.

Parents Can Make a Difference on Teen Substance Abuse

Recently, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) conducted a comprehensive National Survey on Drug Use and Health. According to USA Today, this survey involved speaking to 67,500 Americans ages 12 and over nationwide.

The results of the study revealed some pretty surprising information about parents, teens and substance abuse. According to the study, for example:

• 22.3 percent of parents indicated that they believe things they say to their teens on substance abuse issues will have little influence on their teens behavior.
• 9.1 percent of parents said they have not spoken to their kids about the dangers of drug abuse or about the dangers of drugs, alcohol or tobacco.

This information is troubling because national studies have revealed that kids whose parents talk to them about drinking and substance abuse are far less likely to consume alcohol or drugs. Further, when kids believe that their parents would strongly disapprove of them using substances, the kids are less likely to try them than their peers. Finally, when kids believe that their parents are authoritarian or actively involved, these kids are less likely to get behind the wheel drunk.

With these survey results, it seems that many parents are missing the opportunity to have a heart-to-heart that could keep kids from making a devastating mistake.

Talk to Your Teens This Summer
Every parent wants to keep their kids safe, so parents should be heartened by the results of studies showing that kids really will listen when it comes to discussing substance abuse issues. Parents should take this information into account and should make the time to talk to kids about the dangers of drinking and driving.

Summer is an especially important time to talk to kids because they tend to have more free time over break and to have less supervision with parents at work. As a result, more kids are likely to use alcohol or illegal substances over summer and could be at greater risk of drunk driving accidents and other dangers associated with drinking and drugs.

So, before your kids get out of school this year, take a few minutes, sit down and have an honest conversation about drugs, alcohol and the risks of impaired driving. Your talk could make all the difference.
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Drinking just one drink too many can have devastating consequences when someone gets behind the wheel and drives drunk. Unfortunately, the more alcohol you consume and the more intoxicated you are, the more likely you are to make a bad decision about driving and the more impaired you will be if you do decide to operate a vehicle.

This is why a recent study showing that found more than half of all college women exceed their weekly drinking limits is cause for such concern. Our Boston drunk driving accident lawyers know that binge drinking can be deadly. Unfortunately, recent information indicates that frequent drinking and over-drinking are both common, especially among young college women.

Binge Drinking a Serious Problem Among College Students

In 1990, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism set maximum weekly guidelines for drinking, suggesting that men should drink no more than four drinks each day and fourteen drinks each week. Women, who have a lower threshold for drinking alcohol before experiencing problems, were advised to limit their drinks to three drinks each day and to seven drinks total over the course of the week.

Unfortunately, college students tend to greatly exceed these guidelines. As USA Today reported, two-year study conducted by a Harvard Medical School professor and published in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, revealed that women are much more likely to exceed their weekly alcohol consumption guidelines than men.

The study followed 992 college freshman and observed their drinking habits. Researchers found that, of the students who consumed at least one drink over the course of their freshman year, 60 percent of the men and 64 percent of the women exceeded the weekly guidelines at least one time.

This study follows on the heels of an earlier CDC study released this year that warned about increasing amounts of binge drinking among women and girls. The CDC described binge drinking among women and girls as an “under-recognized problem,” and as an alarming trend.

Staying Safe From Drinking Accidents and Injuries

College students who drink too much can face many risks. Drunk driving accidents are one potential consequence of binge drinking or consuming too much alcohol, but kids can also be at risk of other injuries including alcohol poisoning, falling when intoxicated, or sexual assault. Sexual assault is especially a problem among women, many of whom this recent study shows are drinking more than they should.

College are doing everything possible to cut down on drinking on campus, including monitoring tailgating parties; hiring additional security and adding more Friday classes to reduce Thursday night drinking.

Yet, as long as students continue to drink, they will be potentially at risk. College students should make a commitment to drink in reasonable amounts, to avoid binge drinking and- even if they do have a few drinks too many- to never ever drive intoxicated.
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With the recent NTSB proposal to change the drunk driving limit from .08 to .05, many people are getting caught up in political arguments. These arguments are between advocates in favor of the recommendation and opponents who argue that a lower limit is an infringement on personal rights and freedoms. With the questions raging about whether lower BAC laws are a good option or not, it is important not to forget the very real costs of drunk driving.

Recently, a reporter wrote a powerful article that serves as a reminder about what is really important when it comes to drunk driving laws: protecting accident victims. The reporter herself was a victim of a drunk driving accident and she has told the story of how the accident changed her life. Our Boston drunk driving accident attorneys know that there are countless more stories of lives shattered by drunk drivers. It is stories like these that should urge every single driver to avoid driving if there is any chance that he is too impaired to be safe behind the wheel.

Accident Victim Shares Personal Drunk Driving Story

According to her article in the New York Daily News, Beth Stebner was hit head on in 2004 by an intoxicated driver. The driver was in her lane in the middle of a thunderstorm with no headlights on and slammed her jeep iinto Stebner’s small Dodge Neon.

Stebner describes hearing the crash and the screams of her friends who were in the car with her, and she indicates that it is a memory that will stay with her for the rest of her life. She was seriously hurt in the car accident and had to be rushed into emergency surgery. A hole was drilled the entire length of her femur and a titanium rod was inserted into her hip. A metal pin was then surgically implanted through her right knee in order to keep the rod in place as her bones recovered from the injuries sustained in the impact.

In addition to the broken femur that necessitated her emergency surgery, Stebner also suffered cuts and scrapes and a bad concussion. While she was able to recover from her injury, she missed her high school graduation and she still has the scars to remind her of the terrifying drunk driving accident.

Unfortunately, the driver who hit Stebner had been at a local Mexican restaurant with her mother prior to the accident and had consumed so many margaritas that she lost count. The driver who hit Stebner was just 20 years old and the offense was already her second DUI offense.

Victims Support Tougher Drunk Driving Laws

Stebner indicates that she was forever changed by her accident and that she has to think about it every day because of her scars. She believes that more people can be spared the pain and the fear that she endured by having the blood alcohol content limit lowered to .05. She is not the only victim of a drunk driving accident who supports tougher laws to prevent accidents that should never happen and that can have devastating consequences.

So, while the debate rages about whether to lower the BAC limits or not, it is important to keep the victims in mind and to think about the real human cost of drunk driving crashes.
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