Personal Injury

June 25, 2024

Steps to Take if Injured by a Drunk Driver in Massachusetts

Being injured in a car accident is an inherently traumatic experience, but it becomes even more devastating when the accident is caused by a drunk driver. Unfortunately, drunk driving accidents are far too common in Massachusetts, and victims often face a long road to recovery.

According to mass.gov, drunk driving accounted for more than one-third of all motor vehicle deaths in MA in 2021. This is notably higher than the national average. If you or a loved one has been injured by a drunk driver, it’s essential to know how to protect your rights and seek compensation for your injuries. Below, we discuss some of the most important steps to take if you’ve been injured by a drunk driver.

Seek Medical Attention

January 26, 2024

Avoiding Insurance Claim Mistakes After a Car Accident

by Altman & Altman

Car accidents in Massachusetts are a common occurrence, and the aftermath can be highly stressful and overwhelming. Even seemingly minor crashes can cause injuries and significant property damage. Fortunately, if you’ve been involved in a car accident due to another’s negligence, you may be able to recover compensation for any resulting damages.

One important aspect of recovering from a car accident is dealing with insurance claims. Making mistakes during this process can significantly impact your ability to receive compensation. To ensure a smooth and successful insurance claim, it’s important to avoid certain mistakes during the claims process.

Common Mistakes People Make Following an Auto Accident

May 16, 2023

Deadly Pedestrian Crashes in Massachusetts Up 35% in 2022

by Altman & Altman

Fatal pedestrian accidents in Massachusetts spiked sharply in 2022, up 35% over the year before. According to a report from the statewide pedestrian advocacy group WalkBoston, 101 pedestrians died in traffic crashes in 2022 compared to 75 in 2021.

The rise in Massachusetts pedestrian fatalities seems to have outpaced last year’s nationwide increase. After reaching a 40-year-high in 2021, pedestrian deaths in the U.S. went up by 5% in the first half of 2022. The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) reported that drivers in the U.S. hit and killed an estimated 3,434 people in the first half of the year, an average of 19 pedestrian deaths every day.

New Report on MA Pedestrian Fatalities

October 25, 2022

Brain Injuries Caused by Car Accidents

by Altman & Altman

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) happen when a blow or jolt to the head disrupts normal brain functioning. In a single year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), TBIs were diagnosed in nearly 2.9 million emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths in the U.S. And how are most brain injuries sustained? After accidental falls, the second leading cause of TBI-related hospitalizations is motor vehicle crashes. In children and adolescents under the age of 18, in Massachusetts and around the country, car accidents are the leading cause of TBI-related death.

Severity of Brain Injuries Caused by Car Accidents

Brain injuries can range from mild concussions to fatal trauma. A driver may hit his head on the steering wheel, an unrestrained passenger may go through the windshield, or a bicyclist traveling on the streets of Boston may strike her head on the pavement after colliding with a car. A Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense (DoD) classification system categorizes TBIs as mild, moderate, or severe based on the following criteria:

April 20, 2022

As Life Returns to Normal in Massachusetts, Car Accidents Increase

by Altman & Altman

As Life Returns to Normal in Massachusetts, Car Accidents Increase

The coronavirus pandemic affected life in ways large and small, and traffic was no exception. In the early days of COVID-19, Massachusetts traffic volumes plummeted, as did crashes. When society opened back up, traffic returned in full force. As MassDOT Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said in 2021, “Traffic, for all intents and purposes, is back to about 2019 levels on most roadways in Massachusetts.”

More motor vehicles on the roads generally means more crashes. And that holds true for MA car accidents in virtually every category. The worst statistic? Over 400 people died in Massachusetts crashes in 2021– the highest number of fatalities in over a decade.

February 1, 2022

Takata Airbag Recall – Defective Airbag Lawsuit Lawyer

by Altman & Altman

Airbags installed in vehicles are supposed to prevent injuries, not cause them. But that’s just what airbags produced by Japanese company Takata are accused of doing.

Defective Takata airbags can explode violently in a crash, causing serious injuries in otherwise minor collisions. As of 2021, at least 19 people in the U.S. had died and more than 400 had been injured by faulty Takata airbags.

And the dangers are far-reaching: defective Takata airbags may have been installed in as many as 100 million vehicles worldwide.

Takata Airbag Recall

As early as 2004, reports surfaced in the U.S. of Takata airbags exploding. The potentially fatal flaw is caused by the airbag’s propellant, which can degrade and cause the inflator to rupture explosively. As accounts of injuries and deaths came in over the next few years, automakers started recalling cars equipped with potentially faulty Takata airbags.

By 2014, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) finally ordered Takata to institute a nationwide airbag recall. The recall eventually extended to over 67 million airbags involving 19 different car manufacturers. The NHTSA called these the “largest and most complex vehicle recalls in U.S. history.”

And the bad news didn’t end there. Despite the massive recall, millions of cars with defective Takata airbags are still on the road today. A faulty Takata airbag was implicated in the death of a U.S. driver in 2021, many years after the recall.

Takata Airbag Lawsuits

Hundreds of people have filed lawsuits against Takata, claiming that they were injured by the defective airbags. The lawsuits allege that Takata airbags rupture dangerously when deployed, sometimes shooting metal shards into passengers, causing severe bodily harm.

Takata airbag injuries may include the following:

Brain damage or concussion
Serious cuts on the face, neck, throat, torso, or arms
Fractures to the head, neck, face, ribs, or chest
Excessive black eyes or other bruising
Severe burns
Metal shrapnel injuries
Permanent scarring or other disfigurement
Hearing, vision, or vocal damage or loss
Complications from blood loss
Injury to the fetus in pregnant women
Death

With so many Takata airbag claims being filed around the country, many of these suits were consolidated into mass litigation. These lawsuits allege that the manufacturer knew about the potential dangers for over a decade before finally issuing the recall in the U.S.

Several multi-million-dollar settlements involving Takata and auto manufacturers have been reached or proposed. In 2017, the manufacturer admitted misconduct and agreed to pay a $1 billion fine, in part to compensate victims. Continue reading

October 24, 2018

What’s Going On with All the Self-Driving Car Crashes?

by Altman & Altman

The belief that self-driving cars will eventually make our roadways safer is widely held, but the recent surge of autonomous vehicle (AV) crashes is causing serious concern. Is it too early for AVs to be on the roads? And what is causing all of these crashes? Although most accidents have been minor, there are exceptions, including the self-driving Uber that hit and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona.

The less “sensational” crashes may not make national news, but reports showing all AV crashes—even minor fender benders—are particularly alarming. They are happening with relative frequency…and most involve rear-end collisions. Take the state of California, for example. In the month of September alone, three AVs were rear-ended and three were sideswiped. Most AV developers do their road testing in California, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Michigan, but California is the only state that requires AV companies to report detailed information about their testing. Since 2014, California has recorded at least 104 collisions involving AVs. Of those, a whopping 49 occurred in 2018.

Critics warn that getting to a point where AVs can basically eliminate the country’s annual 40,000 roadway fatalities may take decades, and current testing programs are akin to a public experiment in AI to which public participants haven’t willingly signed on. Considering that possible outcomes include serious injury or death, concern is understandable. According to research into recent accident patterns, experts have concluded that AVs drive in ways that may be unexpected by the human drivers with whom they share the road. A MA auto accident attorney can help you determine how to proceed if you’ve been injured due to another’s negligence.

Rear-End Collisions and AVs—Who’s at Fault?

Analyzing the data found in nationwide reports, researchers have concluded that rear-end accidents account for approximately two-thirds of all AV accidents. Why all the rear-end collisions? And doesn’t that mean they’re the fault of the human driver who hits the AV from behind? Although most states hold that rear-end accidents are the fault of the driver who hits the other vehicle from behind (and there is no denying that today’s human drivers are more distracted than ever), many experts believe that the AVs are at least partially to blame.

Of the 28 rear-end accidents reported involving self-driving cars in California last year, 22 occurred when the vehicle was in full autonomous mode. Such statistics lead experts to believe that AVs simply must be doing something that increases the likelihood of being involved in a rear-end collision. Although autonomous vehicles may make take the “path of least resistance” (i.e. make an illegal left-turn to avoid mowing down a pedestrian), they don’t always drive in a way that human drivers expect. Which may be the biggest problem faced by AV developers, and the general public.

People Expect People to Break Rules

Kyle Vogt, cofounder and CEO at Cruise believes the reports coming out of California paint a very clear picture—humans expect other humans to break traffic rules when behind the wheel (i.e. speeding up at a yellow light or driving over the speed limit), but AVs don’t bend the rules.

“We’re not going to make vehicles that break laws just to do things like a human would,” says Vogt. “If drivers are aware of the fact that AVs are being lawful, and that’s fundamentally a good thing because it’s going to lead to safer roads, then I think there may be a better interaction between humans and AVs.” A Boston auto accident lawyer can help you recover damages if you’ve been injured due to another’s negligence.

It’s going to be a long time until AVs are universally safe on American roadways. In the meantime, awareness is key. The public would benefit immensely from knowing how self-driving technology works, how—and where—it is being tested, and how AVs behave. Labeling AVs in similar fashion to driver’s education vehicles could be one way to help human drivers adapt to their artificially-intelligent counterparts. Continue reading

March 6, 2018

More than a Dozen Toyota and Lexus Models Recalled

by Altman & Altman

A recall affecting about 656,800 Toyota and Lexus vehicles was recently announced, involving vehicles manufactured between May 2015 and March 2016. According to Toyota, a defect in an open electrical circuit could prevent the air bag from inflating during a crash. As air bags are intended to prevent serious injuries and death in a motor vehicle collision, a non-deploying airbag could be fatal.

Toyota has announced that it will send recall letters to owners of affected models in March 2018. In the meantime, you may wish to contact Toyota if you own one of the defective models, which include:

Alphard
Corolla
Esquire
Highlander
Hilux
Levin
Lexus RX
Lexus NX SUVs
Noah
Prius
Probox
Sienta
Succeed
Vellfire
Voxy

As if the airbag issue wasn’t enough, one of Toyota’s most popular models, the 2018 Camry, is involved in a second recall. This time the defect involves an improper connection of fuel pipes and hoses, resulting in a potential fire hazard. Other vehicles involved in this recall are the Lexus TC-F, GS F and LC 500 vehicles manufactured in 2015 and after. A Boston defective products attorney can help you determine how to proceed if you’ve been injured due to a dangerous or defective product.

Takata Airbags

The largest auto recall of 2017 involved vehicles equipped with Takata airbags. About 34 million vehicles have been affected by the recall, and more are expected. Takata airbags have exploded during deployment, causing serious injuries to vehicle occupants. According to the NHTSA, anyone with a vehicle model equipped with a Takata airbag should avoid driving the vehicle, except directly to the manufacturer to have the dangerous defect fixed. Several Honda and Acura models are involved, as are various Toyota, Lexus and BMW models. 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