Car Accidents

July 6, 2018

Would You Know If You Suffered a Brain Injury After A Car Accident?

As research continues to confirm the link between car accidents and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), physicians are placing additional emphasis on the importance of monitoring for brain injuries following any high-impact accident. With car accidents being a leading cause of TBIs, it is wise to know the signs and symptoms of these serious, potentially life-threatening injuries if you’ve recently been involved in a car accident.

Traumatic brain injuries can range in severity from minor to severe, and symptoms may not develop for days, weeks, or even months after the injury occurs. In many cases, serious TBIs have long-term, and even permanent consequences, and are often progressive. The damage caused by a TBI can cause changes in behavior, movements, and even a person’s overall personality. In fact, certain TBI symptoms are often confused for emotional problems, such as depression or anxiety, and they may worsen over time.

Signs of TBI Following a Motor Vehicle Collision

If you have been injured in an auto accident, an experienced MA car accident lawyer can help you determine how to proceed. In the days, weeks, and months following a collision, it is imperative to look out for the signs and symptoms below. If you develop any of these problems, it is in your best interest to seek medical treatment without delay.

Loss of consciousness, even if only temporary
Memory problems
Headaches
Nausea
Vision problems—especially blurred vision
Light and sound sensitivity
Motor problems
Personality or behavioral changes
Depression
Disorientation or confusion
Sleep problems

Keep in mind that you may be suffering a TBI without experiencing any of these symptoms. Even if no symptoms are present, you should visit your doctor if you’ve experienced any kind of head trauma, or violent shaking.

Do You Have a Concussion?

Concussions are the most common type of mild TBI. A concussion can begin with a brief loss of consciousness—generally, only a few moments—or no loss of consciousness, and symptoms will usually appear within a few days of the injury. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 14.3 percent of all concussions are caused by motor vehicle crashes. As such, crashes are the third most common cause of concussions. A Boston car accident lawyer can help you recover damages if you’ve been injured due to another’s negligence.

Neuro-degeneration

According to the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, even a minor traumatic brain injury can initiate the neuro-degeneration associated with Alzheimer’s. This is true even when the injury occurs in young people. Neuro-degeneration is “the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons and is the cause of such diseases as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Huntington.” The researchers established a link between TBI and all three of these neuro-degenerative diseases. Continue reading

June 12, 2018

Does MA Ban the Use of Hand-Held Mobile Devices While Driving?

by Altman & Altman

According to a recent national study, Massachusetts has the 10th highest distracted driving rate in the nation, and deadly crashes skyrocket at this time of year, specifically between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Distracted driving has been a problem since Henry Ford’s Model T first rambled down American roadways, but distracted driving-related crashes have spiked in recent years, as handheld and vehicle technologies compete for our already divided attention.

Distracted driving is especially prevalent among young people, who are more inclined to engage in texting while driving. In fact, teens are four times more likely to text or talk on a cell phone while driving than their adult counterparts. Considering that one out of every four U.S. car accidents is caused by texting and driving, and that 11 teens die—every day—due to texting and driving, something must be done. A Boston car accident lawyer can help you determine how to proceed if you’ve been injured by another driver’s negligence.

One Father’s Fight

In 2007, Jerry Cibley of Foxboro MA was on the phone with his son when Jordan crashed into a tree and died. The young man was only 18. Since the tragedy, the distraught father has campaigned endlessly to end distracted driving nationwide.

“I talk to children all of the time,” said Cibley. “I talk to teens. I talk to parents. I tell them my story and I say, ‘Look at me. I died on May 13, 2007, along with my child.”

A total of 16 states have already legislated a ban against texting or dialing while driving. Is Massachusetts one of them? Although the Bay State has one of the highest incidences of distracted driving in the country, an official ban on hand-held devices has not yet taken effect. And the reason has nothing to do with public opposition. In fact, a recent poll revealed that a whopping 80 percent of those registered to vote in MA support a ban on hand-held mobile devices when behind the wheel.

Concerns About Racial Profiling

The MA Senate is in agreement with voters. Although the Senate passed a ban about a year ago, the bill hasn’t yet made it out of the Massachusetts House. State Rep. Byron Rushing is the biggest critic of the bill, saying he refuses to support it without an official provision that ensures it won’t lead to an increase in traffic stops involving persons of color. Although this is an important issue to consider, the Senate bill already addresses this potential problem; data must be collected on all traffic stops related to the use of hand-held devices to measure whether racial profiling is occurring. A MA car accident attorney can help you protect your rights if you’ve been injured by another driver’s negligence.

Obviously, the best way to reduce the growing risk of distracted driving-related fatalities is for drivers to take the issue into their own hands. In addition to teaching our children (and reminding them every day) that texting or talking while driving is deadly, we should practice what we preach. Adults are far from innocent when it comes to texting and driving. We can also utilize any of a number of apps that specifically address the issue of distracted driving. For example, iPhones can self-lock when the user is driving, and send notification text messages to anyone trying to contact the driver. Continue reading

May 17, 2018

Are Kids an Even Greater Distraction Behind the Wheel than Cell Phones?

by Altman & Altman

Distracted driving affects all of us from time to time. And anything can distract a driver, not just texting or talking on the phone. It is actually quite common for people to multitask when behind the wheel. Understanding how these distractions – even the smallest among them – may affect our driving can dramatically reduce our risk of being involved in a motor vehicle accident.

Since cars were invented, people have engaged in behind-the-wheel distractions, including eating sandwiches, drinking hot drinks, talking on cell phones, and applying make-up. But one of the greatest distractions, ABC News reports, might be something parents do every day: driving with kids in the backseat. Kate Hollcraft, a spokesperson for Allstate Insurance, says that distracted driving is thought to be the cause of about 80 percent of all crashes, and parents of young children are especially vulnerable to this risk. A MA auto accident lawyer can help you recover damages if you’ve been injured by a distracted driver.

Statistics on “Driving Distracted by Children”

Studies show that driving with children in the car increases the risk of motor vehicle accidents. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, child passengers in motor vehicles are four times as likely to cause distractions for drivers as their adult counterparts. Furthermore, babies are eight times more distracting to a parent-driver!

More than 130,000 children under the age of 13 are treated in U.S. emergency departments after motor-vehicle collision-related injuries annually, more than 130,000 children younger than 13 are treated in U.S. emergency departments after motor vehicle collision-related injuries.

Other findings indicate that during an average 16-minute car trip, drivers are distracted by their children for an average of three minutes and 22 seconds. In other words, because of their kids, parents are not paying attention to the road more than 20 percent of the time. One in five parents say they have had, or almost had, a car accident with kids in the car. About 43 percent of parents admit to feeling anxious, irritable, or simply angry when traveling with their children. And in one study, 76.4 percent of drivers turned around to look at their kids or viewed them in the rear-view mirror.

The Most Common Ways Children Contribute to Distracted Driving Accidents

There are many different ways that children can distract their parents while driving, but these are some of the most common:

Unsettling behaviors:

Screaming and fighting in the vehicle
Spilling drinks in the vehicle
Asking for snacks
Children throwing objects into the front seat

Trying to calm a child who is upset over losing a toy in the car, and helping a child get the toy by reaching to the back of the car are also common distractions. A Boston auto accident attorney can help you determine how to proceed if you’ve been injured by a distracted driver.

Measures to Enhance Safety

If you have experienced similar anxieties while driving with children, you are not alone. Fortunately, there are measures that can be taken to improve safety while driving with children. When possible, we can reduce child-related distractions by having another adult present in the car. This person can respond to the child’s needs so that we may focus on the road with minimal distractions. Another good tip is to prevent small children from eating solids while you drive. This dramatically increases the chance of choking, which would – of course – be a major distraction. Continue reading

April 13, 2018

How Are Motor Vehicle Insurance Rates Determined?

by Altman & Altman

In MA, as in every state in the nation, drivers are required by law to insure their vehicles. Much of your insurance rate is determined by the coverage options you choose, but there are several other factors that go into calculating annual premium.

Rate Factors

Most people know that black marks on your driving record, such as OUI convictions and speeding tickets, can increase your insurance premiums, but what else factors into your rate?

Age: Due to a simple lack of experience, young people—from teens to early twenties—pay the highest rates for insurance. These rates can be decreased in a variety of ways, from driver’s education courses to completing a year of incident-free driving.
Gender: Because males have more moving violations than females—from a statistical standpoint—teen males pay more in insurance premiums than their female counterparts.
Overall experience: If you are older when you first get your license, you will pay higher rates than if you’d been driving for 10 years or more. Statistically speaking, inexperience leads to more accidents.
Driving record: Whenever you get a moving violation—whether for speeding, running a red light, or operating under the influence—points will be added to your driving record. Points are bad. They translate to higher insurance premiums and, if you get too many of them, you may lose your license.
Mileage: If you work close to home and don’t put many miles on your vehicle, you will likely pay less than if you have a long commute.
Location: Where you live factors heavily into your auto insurance rates. If you live in a highly-populated area, such as a city, your premiums will be higher because of the risk of vandalism and theft.
The vehicle: Cars that are more expensive to fix or replace will cost more, but helpful features—such as anti-theft devices—may reduce the rate. A Boston auto accident lawyer can help you determine how to proceed if you’ve been injured due to another driver’s negligence.
Where you park: If you park in a locked garage, your rates will be lower than if you park on a city street, for example.
Credit score: Most insurance companies use credit scores as an indicator of the likelihood that drivers will file claims. Even if your driving record is perfect, you will probably pay more for insurance if your credit score is poor.

April 5, 2018

Improper Use of Turn Signals a Factor in Millions of Motor Vehicle Accidents

by Altman & Altman

According to the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), failing to properly use turn signals contributes to nearly two million car accidents annually. To further emphasize the severity of this problem, the SAE study compared improper turn signal use to distracted driving, which receives significantly more attention. Only 950,000 crashes are caused by distracted driving each year; that’s less than half of those involving turn signal errors.

The SAE study, which observed 12,000 cars, revealed that 48 percent of drivers failed to properly use their turn signal when changing lanes, or to turn the signal off after the lane change had been completed. In addition, about 25 percent of the drivers observed didn’t use a signal at all when making a right or left-hand turn. Based on this research, the SAE estimates that signal errors occur approximately two billion times every day—750 billion times each year—and that these errors significantly contribute to multi-vehicle accidents.

In addition to warning to drivers to be certain that they are using their turn signals properly, the SAE report also recommends that law enforcement officials put more resources into penalizing drivers who neglect to use turn signals, and to equip new vehicles with a system that warns drivers when turns signals are being used improperly. A Boston motor vehicle accident attorney can help you determine how to proceed if you’ve been injured due to another’s negligence.

Why are Turn Signals So Important?

Turn signals are one of the most important, and basic, types of vehicle-to-vehicle communication. Proper use of turn signals is an extremely effective way to reduce collisions, as turn signals give other drivers ample time to decrease their speed so that you can safely turn or change lanes.

“[A]ll drivers have an ongoing duty to use [their turn signal], just as they have a duty to stop at a stop sign or at a red light,” said Richard Ponziani, one of the SAE report’s authors.

Effective Turn Signal Use

It may seem like a no-brainer, but not everyone knows the correct way to use turn signals. Follow the tips below to help reduce the risk of collisions, and to ensure that you don’t get stopped by police for improper turn signal use.

Approximately 100-200 feet before your intended turn or lane change, use your turn signal to warn other drivers.
Before making a maneuver, first check for pedestrians, cyclists, and other vehicles. Don’t just expect that everyone sees your signal.
Once your maneuver is complete, turn off your signal. A signal that remains on after a turn or lane change can be confusing to other drivers.

With proper turn signal use, we can reduce the risk of motor vehicle accidents on our roadways, while simultaneously protecting our selves and our families. A MA car accident lawyer can help you recover damages if you’ve been injured by another’s negligence. Continue reading

March 23, 2018

Woman Killed in First Fully-Autonomous Vehicle Crash

by Altman & Altman

Ride-hailing app Uber has recently launched a testing program for autonomous vehicles in Arizona, Pittsburgh and Toronto, among other areas. But the company pulled its fleet of self-driving cars immediately following a fatal accident in Tempe, Arizona on Sunday night. Although a 2016 accident involving a partially-autonomous Tesla resulted in a man’s death, this most recent tragedy was the first to involve a fully-autonomous vehicle. If approved, Uber’s fleet is intended to fully replace human drivers.

As 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg walked her bike across a Tempe street on Sunday night, she was struck and killed by an autonomous Uber SUV. Although 44-year-old Uber test driver Rafael Vasquez was in the driver seat at the time of the crash, the vehicle was in self-driving mode.

“The vehicle involved is one of Uber’s self-driving vehicles,” said Tempe police in a statement earlier this week. “It was in autonomous mode at the time of the collision, with a vehicle operator behind the wheel.” A Boston motor vehicle accident lawyer can help you determine how to proceed if you’ve been injured due to another’s negligence.

February 8, 2018

Vision Zero Boston – Using Technology to Make Streets Safer

by Altman & Altman

The City of Boston is making its streets smart with technology – such as cameras and sensors – to learn how people interact on, and with, Boston’s streets. The Vision Zero initiative, which is being implemented in multiple cities across the country – aims to put an end to serious motor vehicle crashes. Through the data collected via camera and sensor technology, Boston can re-imagine its streets, improving design and overall safety.

Working with Verizon, the City of Boston is gathering data at city intersections, including the one at Massachusetts Avenue and Beacon Street. This data will be used to determine what, if any, changes need to be made. To gather necessary data, this pilot program is using video cameras, LED lights, and sensors placed under the road. Possible changes may include:

increased enforcement of traffic rules,
better public education about traffic rules,
improved sidewalks, streets, and signage.

Once acquired, the data is uploaded into a web-based platform for analysis and reporting. A Boston motor vehicle accident attorney can help you determine how to proceed if you’ve been injured due to another’s negligence.

What Type of Data is Being Gathered?

How different types of vehicles – including bicycles – move during green, yellow, and red traffic signals
Whether vehicles tend to remain in the intersection for an extended period of time
Where pedestrians are using crosswalks
How pedestrians respond to “Walk” and “Don’t Walk” traffic signals
The frequency with which motor vehicles and cyclists yield to pedestrians in crosswalks
Use of bike lanes by cyclists
Situations that result in cyclists riding outside those lanes

What About Privacy?

There has been some concern about privacy as records of vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians are collected, and video data is analyzed. According to the City of Boston, the data is anonymous. No specific personal information is attached to any records. Additionally, the City will not have access to any video footage. Rather, Verizon – who owns the data – provides basic information to the City, such as the number of pedestrians on a given day. Neither Verizon nor the City will use biometric software to read license plates or perform facial recognition analysis. Further, the video will not track specific individuals or issue traffic tickets.

Smart Streets, Smart City

Vision Zero’s “Smart Streets” are just one part of the overall “Smart City” technology, with which the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics is experimenting. Other smart city technology includes self-driving vehicles and smart parking sensors, “Internet of all Things” devices, and interactive public art. A MA personal injury attorney can help you recover damages if you’ve been injured due to another’s negligence.

Considering that there are more than five million car accidents annually, and about 80 people die in car accidents every day, Boston’s initiative to reduce serious and fatal accidents to zero is both encouraging and challenging. As technology continues to advance, however, the rate of fatal accidents is likely to drop. This is good news for all. In the meantime, always wear your seat belt, don’t speed, don’t text and drive, and never drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Continue reading

February 1, 2018

Ride-Sharing Accidents in Boston

by Altman & Altman

Ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft allow individuals to essentially become freelance taxi drivers using their own vehicle. The popularity of these services, which give people the ability to hail a ride using a mobile app, has skyrocketed in recent years. So too have accidents. Statistically speaking, ride-sharing services are quite safe. The increase in accidents is not due to lack of safety, rather it’s a simple numbers game – there are significantly more Uber and Lyft drivers on the road today than in years’ past.

There is a lot of debate over whether ride-sharing services make the streets safer or more dangerous. A study conducted in 2016 revealed that services like Uber and Lyft reduced arrests for drunk driving, and overall fatal traffic accidents. But an American Journal of Epidemiology study concluded that “the deployment of Uber services in a given metropolitan county had no association with the number of subsequent traffic fatalities.”

Multiple Parties

Claims involving ride-sharing accidents are often vastly different from typical motor vehicle accident cases. They often involve complex legal issues due to the multiple parties involved: passenger, driver, and the ride-sharing company. If you’re injured in an Uber accident, for example, do you file a claim against Uber, the driver, or both? And what about the insurance? Do you need to deal with Uber’s commercial insurance policy, the driver’s personal policy, or both? A Boston auto accident attorney can help you recover damages if you’ve been injured in an Uber or Lyft accident.

Who is Liable?

The question of who pays what is made particularly complex due to the independent contractor relationship between Uber and Lyft drivers and their employer. Ride share companies often use this arrangement as a defense to liability when one of their drivers is involved in an accident.

Fortunately, auto insurance carriers are beginning to create solutions to this problem in the form of specialized policies. But the gray area is still quite large. For example, new ride-share insurance policies typically kick in when the driver accepts the request for a ride and begins driving to the pick-up location. When the driver isn’t working, the personal insurance policy takes over.

But what if the driver switches on the app, making herself available before she has a passenger or is en route to a pick-up location? In this situation, ride-share policies generally do not apply. Neither, however, do most personal policies. If she switches on the app, she is technically working, and commercial use of the vehicle isn’t covered by most personal auto insurance policies.

Due to the constantly-evolving nature of ride-share services, the gray area of liability in ride-share accidents doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon. In many Uber and Lyft accident cases, a portion of the claim is paid by the driver’s personal insurance policy and the remaining damages are paid by the commercial policies of Uber or Lyft. Of course, the companies’ claims adjusters are skilled at negotiating what they will pay, and commercial policies often have a $100,000 max per accident. As such, it is essential to have an experienced MA motor vehicle accident attorney by your side if you’ve been injured in an Uber or Lyft accident. Continue reading

January 22, 2018

Can I Receive Compensation for a Whiplash Injury?

by Altman & Altman

If you are involved in a motor vehicle accident, or sustain any impact injury that causes your head to jerk forward and back, you may experience whiplash. Whiplash is the stretching and / or tearing of the muscles and tendons in your neck, resulting in severe pain and difficulty moving your head and neck.

In the movies, whiplash victims are often accused of “faking it” to obtain compensation for non-existent injuries. This is because the damage caused to soft tissues, muscles and tendons in a whiplash injury is not as obvious as, say, a broken bone or wounds. In fact, whiplash injuries typically don’t appear on X-rays or other diagnostic imaging unless tears are severe. Further, the full extent of a whiplash injury may take up to a week or more to become apparent. However, whiplash is a real injury, and it can be extremely painful and debilitating. A Boston personal injury lawyer can help you determine how to proceed if you are suffering from whiplash following any type of accident.

In more serious cases of whiplash, the injury can have immediate and / or long-term consequences. The section of the spine around the neck is called the cervical region. This is the area most affected by whiplash injuries. As a healthy cervical spine is crucial for comfort and mobility, damage to this area of the body can result in lifelong complications and pain.

How Much Compensation Can I Receive?

As with most injuries, the amount of compensation will depend on multiple factors, including the severity of the injury. Minor cases of whiplash, which usually dissipate within a week, are unlikely to result in compensation. However, if your whiplash injury caused debilitating pain that prevented you from working or engaging in basic tasks, you may be able to obtain compensation. A MA personal injury attorney can help you recover damages if you’ve been injured due to another’s negligence.

As stated above, whiplash settlements and awards vary widely based on multiple factors, but moderate cases of whiplash will generally be valued at between $2,500 and $10,000. If whiplash injuries are particularly serious, however, the injured party may receive up to $30,000 or more.

Whiplash Symptoms

Symptoms vary in severity based on the extent of the injury, but the most common whiplash symptoms include:

Neck stiffness
Pain in the cervical region
Numbness or tingling in the cervical region
Mobility problems

In addition to whiplash, the symptoms above may indicate that you have injured your invertebrate joints or discs, cervical ligaments, or the nerve roots in that area. Seek immediate medical attention if you are experiencing any of these symptoms following a car accident or other trauma to the head or neck area. Beyond getting needed medical treatment, visiting your physician will also ensure that your injury is documented for insurance purposes, and if you decide to bring a personal injury lawsuit. Continue reading

January 12, 2018

What is the Statute of Limitations for Car Accident Injury Lawsuits in MA?

by Altman & Altman

A statute of limitations is a state-specific limit placed on the amount of time that can transpire between when an incident occurs and when the plaintiff can file a complaint about the incident. Both civil and criminal cases may be subject to a statute of limitations.

Statutes of limitations in criminal cases are generally longer than those in civil cases. In some criminal cases, such as murder and rape of a child, there is no statute of limitations. This means that a 50-year-old woman can come forward about having been raped as a child, and her attacker can still be punished for the crime.

When it comes to civil cases such as personal injury lawsuits, however, the statute of limitations is typically only a few years. In MA, if anyone suffers injuries or property damage in a motor vehicle accident, their lawsuit must be filed within three years of the crash. A MA personal injury attorney can help you determine how to proceed if you’ve been injured due to another’s negligence.

What About Wrongful Death Claims?

Things get a bit trickier if someone is killed in an auto accident. Although the statute of limitations for wrongful death lawsuits is still three years in MA, the clock on these cases doesn’t start running until the victim dies. If the death occurred on the day of the accident, the three-year clock would begin on that day. If, however, the victim dies from related injuries weeks or months after the accident, the three-year countdown would begin on a different date than that of the accident.

Discovery Rule

In MA, there is one main exception to the three-year statute of limitations on car accidents. It’s called the “discovery rule.” In rare instances, the injured party in an auto accident may be temporarily unaware that he has been injured, or that the accident caused his injuries. Take Bob, for example. Bob is involved in a crash caused by a teen who was texting while driving. Although the accident was serious, Bob insists that he wasn’t injured, and the teen’s insurance covers the damage to the vehicle. About three weeks later, Bob goes to the hospital complaining of serious pain in his side. During a medical examination, doctors discover that one of Bob’s ribs is broken. Under the discovery rule, the date that the broken rib was discovered is the date that the three-year clock starts ticking.

Don’t Miss the Deadline

If you wait too long and miss the three-year deadline, the court will likely refuse your case. We cannot stress enough the importance of acting in a timely manner if you have been harmed due to another’s negligence. A Boston personal injury lawyer can help you recover damages if you’ve been injured in a motor vehicle accident. Continue reading