Boston Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

St. Patrick's Day is a day where the Irish and Irish at heart like to celebrate. Many cities and towns throughout New England will be holding celebrations whether they are a festival or parade. Here in Boston there are many different ways to celebrate. The band Dropkick Murphy's will be playing at the House of Blues for their annual St. Patrick's Day Concert, many restaurants will be serving corned beef and cabbage and fish and chips, the St. Patrick's Day Celebration outside Faneuil Hall complete with the Bay State Pipers and Irish Step dancing and of course you can always walk the Irish Heritage Trail, which is the Irish version of the Freedom Trail here in Boston.

But the most well known St. Patrick's Day celebration is the parade in South Boston which will take place Sunday, March 18, 2012 at 1pm. The parade heads East to West on Broadway where young and old can enjoy Irish themed festivities together.

If you are planning to make this a family affair, it is important to remember some safety tips before heading out to any parade.

Continue reading "SAFETY FIRST FOR ST. PATRICK'S DAY CELEBRATIONS" »

Teenage drinking has become a huge problem within Massachusetts and across the country. According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), one in five teens binge drink while only 1 in 100 parents believes his or her teen binge drinks. In a 2009 survey called the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, high school student were surveyed about the past 30 days. 42% of teenagers surveyed drank some amount of alcohol while 24% binge drank. 10% of the teenagers surveyed drove after drinking alcohol and 28% rode with a driver who had been drinking alcohol.

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled today in a case that involved a 16 year old girl who was seriously injured in a car accident after leaving a party where there was consumption of alcohol with her boyfriend in 2007. The party was hosted by a 19 year old. However, the 19 year old host did not supply the alcohol. The alcohol was brought by the boyfriend who was also the driver of the vehicle.

The court rejected the request to expand the social host liability laws of the state. The request was to create "duty of care" to any underage host of a party who does not supply the alcohol but instead supplies a place for those underage to drink alcohol. The court determined that a social host is only liable if the host serves or control the supply of alcohol. The Supreme Court ruled "that teenagers who host underage drinking parties but do not supply alcohol cannot be held civilly liable if one of their guests gets hurts". This ruling also states that a teenage host is not responsible even if they are aware of underage drinking. The only exception to this ruling is if the part host supplied or controlled the alcohol.

Continue reading "MASSACHUSETTS SUPREME COURT RULES TEENS NOT RESPONSIBLE UNDER SOCIAL HOST LAW" »

Within the past week, several accidents involving pedestrians being struck by vehicles causing injuries and even deaths have been in Boston area news.

On Saturday, January 28, a 65 year old man was struck on Route 1 in Attleboro while trying to cross the intersection at Scott Street. A car traveling in the southbound lane on Washington Street struck and killed the pedestrian at approximately 5:55 p.m. The driver was taken to Sturdy Memorial Hospital for minor injuries.

On Tuesday morning, a woman was struck and killed on Burgin Parkway, in front of the Quincy Center T Stop. She was struck by a vehicle after allegedly walking into traffic. This woman was the third person within the last month to be hit by a vehicle while in a crosswalk in Quincy. A few days earlier, another pedestrian was crossing a street near the Wollaston T Stop and was hospitalized for injuries. A week before that accident, an elderly woman was killed while in a crosswalk in front of her home.

On Wednesday, February 1, 2012, a 70 year old man was hit while crossing at an intersection on Seaver Street in Stoughton, Massachusetts. He was crossing Seaver Street near Caper Street when he was hit by a pick up truck.

Most shockingly, a hit and run case in Saugus, Massachusetts has a suspect after two years with no leads and no arrests. The accident occurred on January 28, 2010. An 81 year old man of Saugus was struck and killed walking across the street near his home. He was trying to cross the street from his home to his family restaurant. The driver left the scene and the victim died about 3 hours after the accident at a nearby hospital. The suspect has been arrested and charged with leaving the scene of a personal injury that resulted in death two years after the accident.

Continue reading "POLICE URGE MASSACHUSETTS DRIVERS AND PEDESTRIANS TO BE AWARE" »

In hopes of making Massachusetts roads safer for residents and visitors and reduce the risk of accidents, according to Boston.com, the Legislature's Joint Transportation Committee unanimously voted to ban hand-held cell phone use while driving. Drivers would be banned from using a hand-held cell phone while driving but allowed to use hands-free dialing and talking.

If this ban is passed, it would make Massachusetts the 10th state to have such a ban regarding hand-held cell phone use. Today, Massachusetts has a ban on texting while driving as well as any form of cell phone use by a driver under the age of 18. Because it is difficult to determine the difference between texting and dialing, the texting ban has been difficult to enforce. According to the Department of Transportation statistics, an average of only 3 texting tickets are written or roughly one out of every 200 speeding tickets. The ban on all hand-held cell phone use would make it easier for police to enforce the texting ban. This ban has been brought to the House twice and passed with broad support while the Senate is divided and voted 18-16 to reject the idea in 2010.

According to the National Safety Council, in 2011 an estimated 23% of all traffic accidents involve use of a cell phone per year. That percent equals about 1.3 millions crashes per year. Accidents every year involving cell phone conversations is estimated at 1.2 million and at least 100,000 accidents are related to texting while driving. Cell phone conversations are involved in 12 times as many crashes as texting.

In 2010, it was estimated that 28% of all traffic accidents were due to cell phone use or about 1.6 million accidents each year. The number of accidents involving cell phone use has decreased based on state laws involving restricting use of cell phones and texting while driving.

Continue reading "MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE TAKES STEP TO BAN HAND-HELD CELL PHONE USE WHILE DRIVING" »

With the Super Bowl right around the corner you might want to think twice about hosting the party at your house this year. Having a party at your home can not only put you at risk if you are serving alcohol to minors but there is a risk to supply alcohol to adults as well. Under Social Host Liability, if a host supplies alcohol to their guests they may be held responsible if any third parties are injured.

Massachusetts first addressed this social duty in 1986. The court recognized the existence of social host liability to third persons where a social host knew or should have know that his guest was drunk yet gave him or permitted him to take an alcoholic drink. In 2000, this statute was further modified, Massachusetts imposed harsher penalties including a fine of not more than $2000 and jail time of not more than a year for parents who serve alcohol to minors, this was in response to the death of a teenager who died in a car crash after drinking at a party supervised by his friend's parents. The statute applies to "furnishing alcohol to a minor," which means "knowingly or intentionally supplying, giving, providing to or allowing by ignoring underage drinking in your presence or on your property." That includes turning a blind eye" to possible drinking. This statute however does not extend to a civil action, in which a third party injured as a result of excessive consumption of alcohol that was not owned or supplied by the host.

Continue reading "MASSACHUSETTS IMPOSES HARSHER PENALTIES FOR SOCIAL HOST LIABILITY" »

Another Massachusetts winter is approaching after a wonderful and warm fall season. Now that temperatures are starting to drop and forecasts are showing possible snow, Massachusetts residents should start to prepare for winter weather. In the winter months, many Massachusetts car accidents are the result of snow and ice conditions.

Many cities and towns, such as Boston, Lowell, Salem and Chelsea, declare a Snow Emergency during bad winter storms. This means streets must be cleared of parked vehicles so that plows and other emergency vehicles are able to get down streets safely. If your city or town, requires vehicles be moved from on street parking, there are often lots open to the public during these snow emergencies for vehicles to park.

Massachusetts drivers need to be aware of some simple steps that can help making driving in the snow easier and safer for them and other drivers.

1. If at all possible, do not drive in snow until the plows and sand trucks have had a chance to take care of the roads. You can hold off on that coffee until the roads are clear.

2. If you must go somewhere, make sure to clean off your vehicle completely. Make sure snow is cleared from your windows and mirrors. Also for the safety of other drivers you should remove snow from the roof of your vehicle, as well as the lights and license plate. While Massachusetts does not have any laws about removing snow from your vehicle, you may get cited for driving an unsafe vehicle.

3. Slow down! With the holidays coming, everyone seems to be in a rush. But decreasing your speed and leaving enough room in between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of you can keep you and your vehicle from getting into a serious accident.

4. When braking, do it gently to avoid skidding. If your wheels start to lock up, ease off the brake.

5. Keep your lights and windshield clean. While driving snow can accumulate on your lights making it difficult for other drivers to see your vehicle. Keep your windshield and windshield wipers clear of any snow for your safety.

6. Be aware of the type of road you are on. Bridges, overpasses, and side streets often freeze first. Even if temperatures are above freezing, if conditions are wet, ice can form on exposed roadways such as bridges, leaving "black ice" which is dangerous.

7. Let the snow plows and sand trucks do their job. Do not try to pass them for their safety as well as yours. The drivers of plow and sand trucks often have very limited visibility and may not be able to see you due to road conditions. Also the road conditions for you will be worse in front of a plow than behind it.

Continue reading "SNOW AND ICE POSES HAZARDS TO MASSACHUSETTS DRIVERS" »