Articles Tagged with Boston drunk driver injury lawyer

With Memorial Day upon us it is a good time to talk about the risk of teen drunk driving accidents as we head into the summer months.

Drunk Driving Car Accident Statistics involving Fatalities in Boston

Drunk driving is not only very dangerous to the person behind the wheel, it presents a grave danger to anyone else on the road. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) records indicate more than 10,000 people die each year in the U.S. from alcohol-related traffic crashes.  This number means on average, one person will be killed by a drunk driver nearly every 50 minutes of every day.  Not only is this unacceptable in terms of lives lost, it results in cost to society of around $44 billion each year. There are a variety of factors which make up this cost, but the costs to the victims and their families can be astronomical in terms of  money and emotional pain.  We must remember for each Boston drunk driving accident death, there is a family who is left behind to deal with the pain and suffering. Even in cases which do not prove fatal, there can be tremendous pain and suffering and lives may be altered forever.

In some cases, it is the passengers in the drunk driver’s vehicle and in other cases, it is pedestrians and drivers or passengers in other vehicles. Due to the higher level of recklessness we tend to see in Boston drunk driving accidents, as compared to accidents in which defendant was acting negligent, but still sober, we tend to see much more severe personal injury.  These are all factors which can make a Boston drunk driving crash more complex from a legal perspective. Continue reading

Drunk driving collisions are among the most dangerous types of car accidents in Boston.  They tend more often to result in fatalities or serious bodily injury to one or more plaintiffs than other “typical” crashes.  While any car accident has the potential to be severe, the reason impaired driving accidents are so often catastrophic is because of the extreme reckless acts so often committed by a drunk driver. Things like wrong-way driving, red-light running and extreme speed all become more common when someone is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. When plaintiffs do survive a serious drunk driving accident, they are often left with severe and lasting injuries including, but not limited to permanent brain damage.

While there is no such thing as a “typical” drunk driving accident, we often see cases where drunk drivers were speeding excessively, operating with a complete disregard for the traffic laws as codified in Chapter 90 of the Massachusetts General Laws (M.G.L.), and the level of recklessness may actually be enough for the police to charge a drunk driver with assault with a dangerous weapon (his or her car) in addition to drunk driving as we can see in a recent example of a serious alleged Boston drunk driving car accident. Continue reading

Negligent Entrustment in Boston Drunk Driving Cases

In some drunk driving accidents in Boston the defendant is driving a vehicle owned by a parent, friend, or other family member. There is generally nothing wrong with lending someone a car, but as discussed in Picard v. Thomas, a 2004 case from the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) of Massachusetts, a claim for negligent entrustment of motor vehicle can be made pursuant to the  Massachusetts General Laws (M.G.L.)  and common law if the following elements are met:

• Vehicle owner entrusted his or her vehicle to a person who is incompetent or unfit and this incompetence or other unfitness resulted in injuries to plaintiff
•  Vehicle owner gave actual permission to the at-fault driver
• Vehicle owner had actual knowledge of at-fault driver’s unfitness or incompetence with respect to operation of a motor vehicle.

In other words, if a person lets another person use their vehicle despite knowing this person is not able to safely operate a motor vehicle, vehicle owner can also be held liable for any personal injury suffered in connection with a serious or fatal motor vehicle accident in Massachusetts.

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Most car accidents involve only two vehicles.  In the case of a serious Boston drunk driving case however, there may be multiple vehicles involved. This can complicate matters as the total loss in terms of both property damage and personal injury can far exceed the policy limits on the alleged drunk driver’s auto liability policy.  While insurance companies will make some exceptions, especially when factoring in costs of litigation, they are not likely to pay damages well in excess of the policy limits. In these cases, plaintiff who has been seriously injured will have to explore other avenues of recovery to increase the chances of a full and appropriate financial compensation.

A Recent Drunk Driving Car Crash Involving Multiple Vehicles

According to a recent news article from CBS Boston Local, a 25-year-old defendant has been alleged to have merged onto the Mass Pike at far too high a rate of speed while his driving his 2008 BMW.  As he attempted to merge onto the interstate, he allegedly crashed into the rear of an older Lexus.  He is then alleged to have kept driving until he crashed into a Toyota Sequoia.  After he allegedly ran into the Toyota, it was pushed into another vehicle. During this crash, a passenger in defendant’s car was severely injured. Continue reading

Use and abuse of powerfully addictive drugs like heroin and synthetic opioids like Oxycontin have thrown the country into crisis on many fronts.  Massachusetts has been plagued for years with heroin addiction and now also finds itself dealing with the synthetic opioid epidemic.  One of the ways it has manifested is in a growing number of drugged driving cases in Boston. These can result in serious and fatal car accidents.

Although drugged and drunk driving cases are similar, there are some big differences. Specifically, the ways in which evidence is gathered and impairment proven.

Proving alcohol impairment is fairly straightforward, as it moves quickly through the system and presence of the toxin in the blood at certain levels is a clear giveaway of intoxication. Plus, many law enforcement officers readily know the signs and symptoms of alcohol use. Conversely, it may require additional proof to determine if someone is on drugs as opposed to having some type of medical issue.  It can also be complicated if one has a valid prescription, though no prescription excuses one for driving while impaired. These difficulties in identifying drug impairment are at the heart of why the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) created a course and certification for Drug Recognition Experts (DREs) who may be needed to testify in both criminal and civil trials. Continue reading

Driving drunk is never a good idea.  It is negligent conduct that puts many lives at risk including the drunk driver, passengers in his or her vehicle, pedestrians, bicyclists, and occupants in other vehicles.  According to the law as we can see in Chapter 231 of the Massachusetts General Laws (M.G.L), this involves failing to act as a reasonable and prudent driver in such a way that will avoid a preventable car accident.  Negligence in Boston drunk driving accidents can also be proved by showing the defendant violated a traffic or criminal statute enacted to prevent the type of conduct which caused the accident.

In the case of an accident caused by a drunk driver, this conduct is obviously against the law as the Operating Under the Influence of Intoxicating Liquor or Drugs (OUI) statute can be found in M.G.L. Chapter 90, Section 24. However, beyond the law itself, driving drunk is negligent behavior because it involves making bad choices from the moment a defendant chooses to get behind the wheel while intoxicated and then throughout the intoxicated ride and this can lead to a serious or even fatal Boston drunk driving accident. Continue reading

It is fairy easy to assign fault when an intoxicated person gets behind the wheel and causes a serious or even fatal Boston drunk driving accident. However, there is the more complex issue of whether a bar or social host that served the alcohol was also responsible for the injuries caused by the drunk driver.  In Boston, a legal claim against a social host or a bar or restaurant that serves alcohol is called a dram shop lawsuit.

The term dram shop comes from the old British term for what is roughly equivalent to a shot of alcohol.  In the old days, factory workers were often given a “dram break” so they could go drink a dram of gin or whiskey supplied by the company as a perk to workers. Continue reading