Articles Posted in Fatal Accidents

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Julio Vaquerano, a 36-year-old from Revere, was killed in a Chelsea hit-and-run Tuesday night. A car hit Vaquerano around 10 p.m. near the intersection of Blossom and Maple streets and fled the scene. Vaquerano died of his injuries at Massachusetts General Hospital. Chelsea and state police are investigating and asking for informational tips.

Source: Boston.com, Man killed by hit-and-run driver in Chelsea

This is a tragic, and unfortunately, largely characteristic pedestrian accident. The vast majority of pedestrian accidents happen in urban areas, like Chelsea, between 6 p.m. and midnight. Fatalities are such a strong possibility in pedestrian accidents because pedestrians don’t have anything protecting their bodies from injury. When a pedestrian is struck by a car and killed, the driver may be liable. Here, in addition to the criminal charges that this driver will ultimately face when caught, he could find himself involved in a wrongful death action.

At Altman & Altman, our Massachusetts wrongful death lawyers have what it takes to handle these complex cases. We understand that if you have lost a family member, no amount of money will ever bring him/her back or ease your emotional pain. We also know that medical treatments, the process of laying your loved one to rest, and losing his/her earnings can put a huge financial burden on you, and damages may help with that.
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A 28-year-old New Bedford man was killed in a Taunton car crash today. State police say the accident occurred when an 81-year-old Rhode Island woman lost control of her Buick Century while exiting Route 24 onto Route 140 north. They say she drove across a median and slammed into the driver’s side door of the man’s Oldsmobile Bravada SUV, causing a rollover. The man was ejected from the vehicle. He was not wearing a seatbelt. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Providence’s Rhode Island Hospital, and the woman suffered serious injuries. No one is facing civil or criminal consequences yet, but the investigation continues.

This is the second Massachusetts fatal car accident in weeks involving an elderly driver. About 8 percent of fatal crashes in our state involve a driver over the age of 75. Of course, this may be because elderly persons are less likely to survive a crash than younger individuals. Still, some may be alarmed by the fact that drivers age 75 or older account for 7 percent of license holders and 3.6 percent of all crashes in our state.

There are many possible factors that contribute to the frequency of older-driver accidents. As we age, it may become more difficult to see or read signs, navigate complex intersections and stay alert. Health conditions such as hearing and vision loss, dementia, and decreased reaction time (as well as taking medications to treat medical conditions) can cause elderly-driver crashes.

No matter our ages, we can all decrease dangers to others and ourselves by making sure that we are able to drive safely before we get on the road.

Sources:
Wickedlocal.com, New Bedford man dies after Route 24 on-ramp crash in Taunton

The Boston Globe, New Bedford man killed in Route 24 crash in Taunton, State Police say
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A 16-year-old junior at Shrewsbury High School was killed today when his 2002 Honda Accord crashed into a Central Street tree near Woodland Estates. The teen, a student leader and member of the Shrewsbury High golf team, was the only occupant of the car. Authorities aren’t sure whether or not he was on his way to school. He was flown by LifeFlight to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester and died shortly later.

There was one witness to the crash, and Boylston and state police are investigating the incident.

The principal of Shrewsbury High e-mailed parents about the death, and the school is making counselors available for students.

As an earlier blog post notes, teens have the highest fatal car accident rate of all age groups.
Every year, more than 5,000 persons between the ages of 16 and 20 are killed in crashes, and 400,000 are injured. Teen drivers are four times (per mile driven) more likely to crash than other drivers. Teen-aged males, like this student, and their passengers are significantly more likely than their female peers to become involved in fatal car accidents. Although this accident occurred on a school day, most teen- driver car crashes take place over the weekend between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. As far as school day accidents go, a new study indicates that earlier school start times may increase teen car accident rates. This is not very surprising, as fatigue is a common cause of car accidents in all age groups.

Source: Telegram.com, Shrewsbury High student killed in morning crash
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Christina Anderson, a 79-year-old Beverly woman, was killed in a head-on collision yesterday. Cheryl Anderson-Young, a 58-year-old of Beverly, and Ibrahim Nabile, a 46-year-old of Malden, were seriously injured in the crash.

The accident occurred on Massachusetts Avenue Bridge in the Back Bay around 5:40 p.m. Anderson-Young, driving a 1997 Lexus travelling from Cambridge to Boston, crossed the line and crashed into Nabile’s 2008 Ford Crown Victoria taxi. Anderson was declared dead at the scene, while Anderson-Young was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Nabile was taken to Boston Medical Center. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Head-on collisions like this one frequently cause serious and fatal injuries. There are two ways that head-on collisions can happen. As was the case here, a driver can fail to stay in his/her own lane and go forward into oncoming traffic. A head-on collision can also happen in a wrong-way type of scenario where a driver ventures down a one way in the wrong direction, enters the highway on an off-ramp exit instead of the on-ramp, etc.

Usually when there is a lane departure head-on collision, the cause is swerving, driver distraction, inattention or fatigue, or passing other cars in an unsafe manner. Head-on collisions can result in catastrophic injuries including spinal and head injuries, serious fractures, internal injuries, and more. If you have been hurt in a head-on collision, our Massachusetts car accident lawyers can tell you whether you have a claim, investigate, and begin building your case for recovery.

Source: The Boston Globe, Beverly woman killed, 2 hurt in crash
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A 57-year-old man from Brockton was killed this morning when his 2002 Nissan Pathfinder hit a guardrail and rolled over on I-495 in Raynham. A tractor- trailer unit driven by 46-year-old Kevin Anthony of Woburn hit the SUV when it rolled into a traffic lane.

Police are still investigating the cause of the crash, but it happened when the roads were wet.

Even though some car crashes result only in damage to property, many like this one cause death or serious injury like spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, broken bones, severed limbs, and burns. Car accidents can happen at any time, blindsiding people on a routine Monday-morning commute. At Altman & Altman LLP, we have successfully handled thousands of personal injury and wrongful death cases arising from car crashes.
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On Sunday afternoon, a collision between a sport utility vehicle and a motorcycle killed a man and injured a woman from Pepperell, Massachusetts. Police responded to the traffic accident in Milford, New Hampshire after a southbound motorcycle collided with a northbound SUV.

The man driving the motorcycle was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, and his passenger, the 36-year-old woman from Pepperell, was airlifted to a Massachusetts hospital with injuries police say as not life-threatening.

The cause of the fatal motorcycle accident is still under investigation.

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A Massachusetts man who had emigrated from Russia and now worked for the Department of Transportation died in an alleged drunk driving accident earlier this week. The truck accident occurred on Tuesday night around 10:43pm in a construction zone on Route 9. The worker was checking the pavement temperature as part of quality control when he was hit by a red Ford pickup truck.

According to court records, the construction job site had barrels and reflective cones set up around the perimeter. The truck accident victim lay bleeding in the breakdown lane as other workers chased after the truck driver, who reportedly fled to a nearby Dunkin’ Donuts. Workers and police did not realize that the man had been hit until a truck driver delivering asphalt noticed the body on the road and alerted police.

The worker was pronounced dead at the scene of the workplace accident.

Source: 2 held in death of highway worker, Boston Globe, September 16, 2010 Continue reading

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This past week, a Jeep rolled over on Sandy Neck Beach in West Barnstable, landing in the ocean. There were three individuals traveling in the Jeep at the time of the accident. One of the passengers, a 39-year-old resident of Forestdale, was pronounced dead at the scene.

One of the other passengers, who is also a resident of Forestdale, was taken to Cape Cod Hospital where he received treatment for a broken leg.

The third passenger in the Jeep was not injured. This man, a 28-year-old from Sandwich, was the only one of the three in the Jeep who was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident.
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Statistics released by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration show that deaths from roadway accidents are on the decline. Here in Massachusetts, the number of deaths on all roads declined from 476 in 2004 to 363 in 2008, the most recent year for which statistics are available. In Norfolk County, motor vehicle deaths dropped from 46 to 27 during that same period.

Traffic experts attribute this trend to the use air bags and other automotive technology, as well as greater enforcement of traffic laws.

However, the number of Massachusetts fatalities on major arterial roads and interstate highways actually increased from 2003 to 2008. Experts say these major roads pose additional hazards because of faster speeds and the fact that many motorists routinely drive 10 mph or more over the speed limit but can’t react fast enough to avert an accident.

Source: Safer by the mile?, The Sun Chronicle, September 5, 2010 Continue reading

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This past weekend, a single vehicle accident claimed the life of a Massachusetts man near his home in Westport. The car crash occurred on Robert Street around 2pm on Saturday.

The crash victim was identified as a 64-year-old man who would have turned 65 on Tuesday. He was driving his 1990 Buick sound on Robert Street when his vehicle left the roadway, hitting a chain link fence. The crash send the Buick across both lanes of Robert Street and killed the driver.

Westport police and the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Team are still investigating the cause of the fatal crash.

Source: Just before his birthday, man dies in crash, EastBayRI.com, September 7, 2010 Continue reading

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