Articles Posted in Fatal Accidents

A recent Massachusetts car accident underscores the dangers of text messaging while driving. The driver, a 22-year-old man from Tewksbury, was traveling at least 50 miles per hour over the weekend when his car went off the road and collided with a tree. The fatal car crash occurred around 11:10am on Sunday morning.

Police discovered the driver’s cell phone with the keyboard exposed on the passenger-side floor of the car. Phone records proved that the driver had been sending and receiving text messages shortly before the auto accident. He was taken to Saints Medical Center in Lowell, where he was pronounced dead. In addition to texting, the driver was not wearing his seat belt.

So far, efforts to make text messaging a primary offense in Massachusetts have failed, but perhaps this will serve as a reminder of the seriousness of driver distraction.

Source: Lowell: Tewksbury man killed in Lowell crash was texting, TMCNet.com, December 15, 2009 Continue reading

In Clarksburg, Massachusetts, two motor vehicle accidents occurred on Sunday afternoon. An elderly Clarksburg man was killed a Ford Focus crashed into a Ford pick-up truck. Massachusetts state police said the car crash occurred at the intersection of Route 8 and Henderson Road just after 5:30pm. Clarence Demers, 87, died. The other drive, Peter Eoisvert, 44, was not injured, according to police.

The cause of that truck accident is being investigated.

Earlier in the afternoon, a woman was injured when her Toyota Tercel hit a Ford F-250 pick-up truck on Curran Highway (Route 8) in Adams. She was taken to North Adams Regional Hospital for medical care. Police did not reveal the identities of either person involved in that auto accident, which occurred around 3:45pm. The impact of the crash was so strong that it knocked the spare tire out from underneath the truck.

Clarksburg: 1 dead in crash, Berkshire Eagle, June 1 Continue reading

A report on worker safety that was released by the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Heath found that 66 Massachusetts workers died on the job or from work-related injuries last year. A ceremony yesterday on the steps of Boston’s statehouse memorialized these workers.

One of workers mentioned in the report, which is called “Dying for Work in Massachusetts: The Loss of Life and Limb in Massachusetts Workplaces,” is David Gonzalez, a 24-year-old paper manufacturing employee. Gonzalez died when his clothing got caught in a piece of machinery and the machinery pulled him in and crushed him.

Inspectors from OSHA found 12 serious safety violations at the paper manufacturing plant after the machinery accident. The company appealed the proposed fines of $29,500 and OSHA settled on nine violations and a fine of $16,125.

According to the executive director of MassCOSH, “the report demonstrates that the cost of cutting corners on safety is paid in human lives.”

Safety issues cited in worker deaths, Worcester Telegram, April 29, 2009 Continue reading

In Northwestern Massachusetts, a snowmobile accident in Adams killed one man and seriously injured another. The crash was reported at 12:19 Saturday morning and claimed the life of Michael J. Bresett, 42. Ryan Ziemalak was injured, but the 22-year-old’s condition was upgraded from serious to stable over the weekend.

State law requires snowmobile riders to wear an approved helmet. According to the Massachusetts Environmental Police, neither man was wearing head protection at the time of the snowmobile accident, which was Berkshire County’s second fatal snowmobile crash this year. The law also prohibits riders from “traveling on a public way,” which the pair were doing at the time of the crash.

Police do not know which man was driving the snowmobile, and the accident is under investigation.

Snowmobile victim failed to wear helmet, Berkshire Eagle, April 6, 2009
1 dead, 1 injured in Mass. snowmobile crash, Boston Herald, April 5, 2009 Continue reading

According to a survey of state highway safety agencies, deaths caused by motor vehicle accidents declined in 40 states, including Massachusetts, last year. Some are predicting that traffic deaths in the United States could decrease to their lowest levels in forty years.

Of the 44 states surveyed, the average decline was 10.7 percent. The executive director of the Governors Safety Association said that higher use of seat belts and an increased enforcement of traffic laws may have played a role in decreasing traffic fatalities. In addition, many states are noticing drivers reducing speed to increase fuel efficiency.

Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, and four other states reported over a twenty percent decline in auto fatalities during 2008. Two New England states noted an increase in fatalities and several large states were not included in the survey.

Survey reveals that auto accident deaths drop in 40 states in 2008, MedicineHatNews.com, February 4, 2009 Continue reading

Last Friday in Mansfield, Massachusetts, a female pedestrian was hit and killed by a high-speed Amtrak Acela train. Police have not publicly identified the train accident victim by name, but she was reportedly a 55-year-old Mansfield woman.

The train was traveling from Boston to New York City to Washington, DC when the accident occurred at around 3:40pm, shutting the track down for close to 40 minutes. After that, trains were permitted to use the track at reduced speeds, but the train accident did cause delays during the Friday afternoon commute.

The train accident occurred on Track 1, where riders wait to board the trains. However, it is illegal to be on the tracks and several warning signs are posted. The nature of the accident was unknown as of Saturday; however the Massachusetts Transit Police is leading an investigation of the accident.

Police seek clues in train fatality, The Sun Chronicle, November 9, 2008
Person killed by train in Mansfield, Boston Herald, November 8, 2008 Continue reading

In Fall River, Massachusetts, a car crash on Route 24 killed an elderly woman driving a 1997 Pontiac Sunfire.

Evelyn Rebello, 85, of Fall River, reportedly lost control of her car and struck the guardrail, veering right across several lanes of traffic and stopping in the breakdown lane.

Emergency crews transported the car crash victim to Rhode Island Hospital. She suffered serious injuries and died the day after the auto accident.

The Massachusetts State Police are investigating the fatal crash.

Woman dies in Fall River car crash, EyeWitnessNewsTV.com, September 30, 2008
State Police investigate fatal crash on Route 24 in Fall River, SouthCoastToday.com, September 30, 2008 Continue reading

A bicyclist who was hit by a police car in Everett, Massachusetts last week has been taken off life support. An officer whose name has not been released was responding to a 911 call when he hit Reda Rouf, 19, of Everett, near the intersection of Ferry and Glendale streets.

Those who witnessed the accident said Rouf was riding at high speed into the intersection before the police cruiser hit him. The driver immediately helped the victim after he was hit. Rouf remains in critical condition at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Everett police told WBZ-TV that the 911 call was for an unrelated accident. The officer involved in the accident has been placed on paid administrative leave while the accident is under investigation.

Cyclist Hit By Police Car Taken Off Life Support, WBZTV.com, September 18, 2008 Continue reading

In Barnstable, Massachusetts, a 24-year old has pleaded guilty to manslaughter by motor vehicle. Michael Catarius has admitted he was drunk when he caused a car accident that killed two men. Prior to the crash, Catarius had left a party in Sandwich, Massachusetts.

The car accident victims were Michael Warren, 26, a passenger, and Edward Kipp, 48, who was driving a pick-up truck. Prosecutors claimed Catarius barreled through a locked gate after guards stopped him at the Massachusetts Military Reservation in July 2007. He then ran a red light, hit a car, and became airborne, hitting Kipp’s pickup truck.

Last Friday at Barntable Superior Court, Catarius was sentenced to seven to ten years in prison.

Cape man pleads guilty in crash that killed 2, Boston Herald, September 20, 2008 Continue reading