Boston DUI injury lawyer

March 12, 2018

Establishing Dram Shop Liability in Boston Drunk Driving Accidents

Every one in three traffic deaths in the U.S. is caused by a drunk driver, according to national statistics. In Massachusetts, 2.2 percent of drivers report driving after drinking too much at some point in the last 30 days – which is higher than the national average of 1.9 percent. The actual number is likely much higher, given self-reporting errors.

Drunk driving crashes cost Massachusetts millions of dollars each year in emergency services, medical services, property damage and loss of productivity – not to mention the devastating personal and financial burden of individual victims and families. In terms of recovering some of those losses, civil litigation is usually the best recourse victims have. Although some criminal cases will conclude with a restitution order, a drunk driving accident lawsuit often results in higher compensation – a necessity for those whose lives are forever altered.

But drunk drivers aren’t the only possible defendants in these cases. MGL ch. 138 section 69 prohibits the sale or delivery of alcohol to an intoxicated person on any licensed premises. Although this is a Massachusetts statute aims to establish grounds for criminal justice action, courts have also held violation can be used to establish civil liability of restaurants, bars, nightclubs and other venues after an impaired driving crash. These cases are not simple or easy, but they can be an important means of damage recovery and a way to help prevent future drunk driving crashes by holding these businesses accountable. Continue reading

February 11, 2017

Report: Some Massachusetts Bars Served More Drunk Drivers Than Others

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Days on which football games are played are often problematic on the roads, specifically for drunk driving hazards. In the Boston-area, fans like to go to Foxboro and drink at the stadium. Many prefer bars in the greater Boston area and drink while watching the game.

As part of a continuing effort to curb drunk driving in the Commonwealth, state officials have been compiling what they termed a “place of last drink list.” This means that whenever possible, they want to find out where a person was arrested for drunk driving and put it on the list. This will not only provide the public with this information, but it will also allow alcoholic beverage control personnel to conduct investigations at these bars and find out if there is a problem. Continue reading

July 29, 2016

Does Uber Drive Down Boston Drunk Driving Injuries?

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft have sailed in like a white horse, ready to save us all from the scourge of drunk driving injuries and deaths. At least, that’s the narrative these services are selling. Proof that it’s actually working, however, is conflicting.

Take, for example, the recent study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology suggests these serves have had little to on impact on the national overall rate of drunk driving accidents, injuries or deaths. Drunk driving fatalities have hung steadily at around 10,000 for many years, though they have dipped significantly since the 1970s and 1980s.

Uber broke out onto the scene in 2009 and has largely been popular in bigger cities, such as Boston. But unfortunately, as the study authors discovered, the rates of drunk driving in those locations hasn’t gone down. The reason, researchers say, has to do with the fact those who are impaired aren’t willing to pay for the expense of a ride. Continue reading

July 27, 2016

Fallen Officer Family Seeks Tougher DUI Laws in Massachusetts

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Deputy John Robert Kotfila Jr. had just received a 911 call about a wrong-way driver on a stretch of Florida highway. It was nearly 3 a.m. on a Saturday. He had just left a traffic crash investigation and spotted the vehicle, traveling east in the westbound lanes.

Another vehicle was ahead of the deputy. The wrong-way driver wasn’t slowing. The 30-year-old deputy took quick action to get in front of the other vehicle and got her to slow down and move to the side of the road. The deputy and the wrong-way driver hit head-on. The 31-year-old wrong-way driver, who was drunk, died at the scene. The officer was pronounced dead at the hospital. The 41-year-old woman in the vehicle behind the deputy is convinced he took the action he did to save her life.

It was later revealed the wrong-way driver had been drunk.

Now, Kotfila’s family is fighting for change in Massachusetts, his home state. Kotfila was originally from Falmouth. He worked as a crash investigator for the Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office in south Florida at the time o the crash. His family gathered recently at the Massachusetts State House to press state lawmakers to pass a drunk driving law that would require in-vehicle breathalyzers for first-time DUI offenders in the Commonwealth. Continue reading

July 13, 2016

Company Wants to Bring Back Boston Happy Hour

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

A new campaign is underway by a Boston-based company called Cheers to once again make happy hour legal in Boston.

An online petition for the move garnered more than 8,500 signatures in just a few days. The petition states that when Massachusetts banned happy hour in 1984, it zapped the “happy” out of the handful of hours after work, which instead became “meh.” Massachusetts is one of eight states in the country that bans happy hour, which is traditionally a time when bars and restaurants lower their drink prices to extend deals to those just getting off work. Other states, including Illinois and Kansas, used to have happy hour bans, but recently overturned those laws.

The question is whether a prohibition on happy hour bans actually does anything to reduce excessive drinking or save lives. There is some evidence to suggest that it does not. Also interesting is the fact that many bars and other establishments are actually in favor of such bans because it allows them to keep their drink prices high, and avoid getting into a happy hour price war with the new up-and-coming bar down the street. However, there are others that say they are bad for business, especially in neighborhoods where patrons are more likely to walk or take a taxi home rather than drive. Continue reading

April 13, 2016

Massachusetts Does Not Share Cross-State DUI Information

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

A 51-year-old from Rhode Island had seven prior convictions for driving under the influence in that state. As a result, judges there had ordered his driver’s license permanently revoked for the rest of his life.

Yet not long after, he obtained a valid driver’s license in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although it was later suspended, that still didn’t stop him from getting behind the wheel drunk and racking up his eighth DUI arrest, the last one in Northampton, MA.

How could this happen? After all, many states have statutes that allow prior DUI convictions that occur out-of-state to be considered in penalties elsewhere. Massachusetts does too, but here’s the trouble: The Commonwealth is one of just five states that does not participate in the Drivers License Compact. Continue reading