Personal Injury

March 7, 2013

Andover, MA Man Dies in Collision on Route 125

An Andover, MA man was killed and two others were seriously injured in a head-on collision on Route 125 in Wilmington.

Robert Leon, 47, of Andover, died after the 2013 Toyota Corolla he was operating crashed head-first into a 2004 Chevrolet K1500 SUV. The Corolla crossed the center line, narrowly missed another vehicle, and then crashed into the SUV. Officials are still investigating why Leon’s vehicle crossed the center line.

The collision took place at around 8:30 p.m. on a stretch of Route 125 close to the North Reading line.

Wilmington and Andover Fire Departments arrived at the accident site, and used the Jaws of Life to free Leon from his car. Officials pronounced him dead at the scene.

Massachusetts State Police have identified the occupants of the SUV, but are not releasing their names. Officials believe that the 43-year-old man and 12-year-old boy, both of Wilmington, are father and son. An ambulance brought them to Lawrence General Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Troop A of the State Police is investigating the accident with assistance from the State Police Collision Analysis Reconstruction Section, Crime Scene Photo, Wilmington and Andover Police Departments, and Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

Route 125 was closed for about 2 ½ hours when investigators and cleanup crews were on the scene.
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March 4, 2013

Peabody, MA Resident Faces Hit-and-Run Charges Following Boston Pedestrian Accident

by Altman & Altman

On Sunday, March 3, 2013, a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle as she was crossing Lansdowne Street in Boston, MA. The pedestrian, whose identity and current medical condition has not yet been released by the authorities, was transported to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for treatment following the collision.

Boston Police Department Foot Patrolmen witnessed the accident. The Officers witnessed a Mercury Grand Marquis strike the pedestrian around 12:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. According to a press release from the Boston Police Department, “[t]he vehicle did not attempt to stop after striking the victim.”

Following the hit-and-run accident, the Police released a broadcast which described the vehicle involved in the incident. Subsequently, the Boston Police stopped the suspect’s car on Boylston Street. The Police then identified the driver as 30 year old Everett W. Strauss of Peabody, Massachusetts.

Straus has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident with personal injury and possession of a Class D drug.
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February 27, 2013

Bus with UMaine Basketball Players Crashes North of Boston, MA

by Altman & Altman

A bus transporting members of the University of Maine women’s basketball team crashed north of Boston Tuesday night. The bus crossed the median of Interstate 95 and four northbound lanes before plowing into the woods, severely injuring the driver and causing minor injuries to many passengers.

Emergency responders freed the unidentified driver from, and transported him or her by MedFlight helicopter to Boston Medical Center. The team’s coach suffered facial lacerations. The players were more fortunate, sustaining what seemed to be less severe injuries.

University of Maine assistant coach and former WNBA recruiter Jhasmine Player described how the accident unfolded. “We hit the strip, and that is how we knew something was going on,” Player said. “From there, all I saw was lights. The only screams we heard were from our coaches who told us to get down and stay down.” “Our head coaches were able to tell us to get down and brace ourselves,” Player said.

Authorities said they are still trying to determine the cause of the accident at around 8:30 p.m., but their early stages of the investigation point to the driver having some kind of a medical incident, said State Police spokesman David Procopio. The driver was conscious when investigators interviewed him at Boston Medical Center, said Major Arthur Sugrue of the State Police early Wednesday. He suffered several broken bones, but not any fatal injuries, Sugrue said. Authorities are unlikely to charge the driver with any crimes, but troopers will verify whether his medical records were current, Sugrue said.

Sugrue said investigators will examine any footage they recover from the bus’ black box. He added that there was no evidence the driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Around the country, anxious parents checked in with their children by phone to make sure they were ok. In Worcester, Leo Nalivaike said her daughter called briefly to report she was uninjured but being taken to the hospital for examination. “She’s shaken up and nerved up, and of course being parents — of course we’re also shaken up,” said Nalivaika. “This could’ve been worse. We’re just hoping for the best for the bus driver and the rest of the squad.”
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February 21, 2013

Plow Driver Rescues Danvers, MA Man in Fiery Crash

by Altman & Altman

We previously blogged about a Danvers, MA man involved in a collision with a plow truck on Interstate 95 last Tuesday. Now, the plow truck driver has come forward to give his account of the accident.

Howie Lane of Essex, MA was parked in the breakdown lane before Exit 47, watching his co-worker move snow with a front-end loader. They were operating under a private contract for the state. Suddenly, 35-year-old Franco Carullo drove a 2008 Jeep Wrangler into Lane’s plow truck. “He went from 55 miles per hour, 60 miles per hour, to nothing,” Lane said. “We couldn’t understand how the guy hit us.”

Lane jumped out of his vehicle after the impact, slipped and fell to the ground, and then hurried over to the crashed Jeep with his co-worker. They saw Carullo inside, and it appeared he was unconscious. They tried to enter, but the doors were locked and they couldn’t open the windows.

Lane smashed the window with a hammer, which allowed them to open the door. They had difficulty freeing Carullo from the vehicle because the deployed airbag had pinned the seatbelt against him. While they were struggling to unbuckle Carullo’s seatbelt, flames began to engulf the vehicle. “I never felt so useless in my life,” Lane said. Lane said this experience convinced him of the importance of always carrying a knife.

Their persistence paid off when they finally unlatched Carullo’s seatbelt. “When that seat belt released, I felt like I hit Megabucks,” Lane said. Then the two dragged the unconscious Carullo, whose legs were broken and pants on fire, to a safe distance from the car, shortly before it burst into flames. “As we dragged him out, the car blew up,” Lane said.

“I was just relieved we got him out,” Lane said. “It turned out good, but I got to tell you, when it was all going down, it was bad. It was a bad deal.”

According to Lane, Carullo regained consciousness minutes later, asking “Is this my Jeep?” Carullo responded, “You can forget the Jeep. The Jeep is junk. It’s burned to a crisp.”

Carullo communicated that he might have fallen asleep while driving, Lane said.

Emergency responders arrived at the accident scene by 2:05 a.m. An ambulance brought him to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
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February 20, 2013

Mom and Son Killed in Tragic Fitchburg, MA Car Crash

by Altman & Altman

A head-on automobile crash left a mother and son dead and another man severely injured in Fitchburg Sunday morning. Michelle Martens, 36, and her son, Justin Fournier, 16, both residents of Ashby were killed in the 10:00 a.m. collision, officials said. Emergency responders brought Wayne F. Patenaude to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester with serious injuries, police said.

Martens and Fournier were traveling in a Kia Sportage that crossed over a marked lane on Route 31, hitting the Chevy Silverado Patenaude was driving, investigators said. Police are unsure who was driving the Kia at the time.

All three of the victims were connected to the fire department in Ashby, a small town in central Massachusetts. Ashby Fire Chief William Seymour Jr. said Martens was an EMT and third-generation firefighter, Fournier a participant in the department’s auxiliary program, and Patenaude a volunteer EMT with the department. “It still seems like it’s a nightmare,” Seymour said.

Peter McMurray, chairman of the Ashby Board of Selectmen, said of the deaths “it was a shock.” “We’re a small town, and everyone knew her through her father and grandfather. Everyone’s taking it pretty hard.” McMurray said he had worked alongside Martens many times.

The Ashby Fire Department held a meeting on Sunday morning to inform first responders of Martens’ death, McMurray said. “I think everybody will think about her for quite a while,” he said.

Perenaude suffered injuries to his head and right arm, and had a crushed right heel, Seymour said. He was expected to remain hospitalized overnight, according to the district attorney’s office.

Police said they are investigating if weather played a role in the accident. “The road was extremely slippery at that time this morning and it’s just too bad to start off a Sunday morning that way,” said fire deputy John Curran.
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February 14, 2013

Danvers, MA Man Hurt in Crash with Dump Truck

by Altman & Altman

A Danvers man was severely injured after crashing his vehicle into a state dump truck on Interstate 95. Franco Carullo, 35, was traveling in a northbound lane before 2:00 a.m. when he rear-ended a Massachusetts Department of Transportation dump truck, said state police spokesman Thomas Murphy. The dump truck was removing snow from the breakdown lane around Exit 47 at the time of the accident.

An unidentified “civilian witness” pulled Carullo from his 2008 Jeep Wrangler shortly before it burst into flames, Murphy said. Murphy was unable to confirm whether the witness was the driver of the dump truck or a passing motorist. By the time emergency responders arrived, the Jeep was “fully engulfed in flames,” he said.

Emergency responders transported Carullo by ambulance to Massachusetts General Hospital, but a representative of the hospital said their directory didn’t have him listed as a patient. The dump truck driver did not sustain any reported injuries.

Officials briefly closed all lanes of I-95 while firefighters put out the blaze. Engine 3, Engine 7, and Car 2 responded to the accident and crews used 1,500 gallons of water to extinguish the fire, said Deputy Chief Richard Nelson. The Fire Department received a report of the crash at 1:53 a.m. and was at the scene by 2:05, he said.
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February 12, 2013

Father Comes to Massachusetts to Educate About Distracted Driving Accidents

by Altman & Altman

A Philadelphia lawyer brought his campaign against distracted driving to Massachusetts. Joel Feldman gave his presentation at the State House on Monday, one day after a bus full of students crashed into an overpass. Feldman believes that at least part of the cause of that accident was the driver being distracted with GPS.

One of the keys to reducing distracted driving accidents, according to Feldman, is to educate students. “I’m a firm believer that the kids are better listeners than the parents,” Feldman said. “We get emails from kids and parents and part of the program is the kids speak with their parents. I’m convinced the kids are going to change the driving culture.”

Feldman views distracted driving as a cultural problem. “It’s kind of in terms of the way I used a seat belt when I was growing up, because my parents never did,” he said. “Then 20 years ago people started to look at drunk driving in a different way. And now the kids of today will be the impetus on how we will look at distracted driving.”

Part of Feldman’s presentation involved a new video that discussed the perils of distracted driving. The video showed both the driver and survivors of an accident that took place in Massachusetts, and resulted in a fatality. “In this case, the driver contacted the family and said ‘I’m so sorry,'” Feldman said. “The family said she should do something about it, so we started using her to give presentations in high schools. It is so compelling that we wanted to do a video with her and the family said we want to tell our side as well.”

Feldman chose to premiere the video in Massachusetts since the people featured in it are from the state. The video is available here.

An accident that struck too close to home inspired Feldman to undertake his crusade against distracted driving. Feldman and his wife, Dianne Anderson, lost their 21-year-old daughter Casey when a distracted driver hit and killed her as she was walking to work in July of 2009 in Ocean City, N.J.

Cell phone use is just one aspect of distracted driving, Feldman emphasized. “Texting and cellphone use, that causes less than a third of distracted driving accidents,” Feldman said. “We still have two-thirds of the causes out there. There needs to be education and awareness.”

Feldman says he has given the presentation to 7,500 students since April. He plans on having others give the presentation too, hoping to reach about 200,000 students by June.
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February 11, 2013

Interstate 93 Rollover Leaves Groton, MA Woman Dead, Boy Critical

by Altman & Altman

An SUV rollover on Interstate 93 resulted in the death of a Groton woman and critical injury to a 7-year-old boy.

Nicola Deluca, 23, was transported to Lawrence General Hospital, where she was declared dead Thursday afternoon.

A helicopter brought the boy who was riding with her to Massachusetts General Hospital.

According to Methuen fire officials, he has life-threatening injuries. Police said he was in critical condition immediately after the accident.

Deluca was driving the blue 1998 Chevrolet Blazer with New Hampshire plates when it swerved in the left lane of Interstate 93 southbound between the Pelham Street and Lowell Street exits in Methuen, rolling over multiple times before coming to a halt with its roof pressed against the rail barrier on the median. The State Police collision team was reconstructing the crash to get a better understanding of how it occurred.

The relationship between Deluca and the boy is unclear. The Blazer was packed with clothes and cleaning supplies that spilled out onto the grass median.

No other vehicles were involved in the accident, but it did tie up traffic northbound beginning near Interstate 495. Police closed all of I-93 south briefly to allow the helicopter to land and take the boy to Boston. Some southbound lanes were closed for more than an hour, backing up traffic through Salem, N.H.
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February 5, 2013

MA State Police: Drive Slowly to Avoid Car Accidents in Snow

by Altman & Altman

With winter not yet finished bringing more dangerous road conditions and car accidents to the area, Massachusetts State Police are advising people to drive slowly but not to panic. “Once again, Massachusetts is gearing up for another snow storm,” State Police said in a press release. “This can cause major delays in traffic, accidents and other headaches making the daily commute stressful.”

Police offered the following tips to help reduce the risk of car accidents:

1. Be patient. “It’s New England, and we’ve been here before,” officials stated. “Remember to be patient with those operators with less skill driving in these expected conditions.”

2. Slow down, so your vehicle will be less likely to slide when snow and freezing rain create slippery road conditions.

3. Leave plenty of space between your vehicle and the vehicles around you.

4. Plan ahead for the possibility that your commute will take longer than usual.

5. Having an SUV or other four-wheel drive vehicle doesn’t amount to invincibility. “Please, don’t be lulled into a false sense of security,” officials wrote. “Your four-wheel drive vehicle does not ensure you have better stopping or steering capabilities.”

6. Clear snow and ice off your vehicle before hitting the road. “Heavy chunks of snow coming off of buses and trucks can cause heavy damage to other vehicles,” officials said. “Clearing off just enough snow to barely see out of a small cleared spot in your windshield doesn’t count.”

7. Be careful around plow trucks and sanders, giving them plenty of space in which to operate.

8. Don’t text while driving. It’s always illegal and dangerous, but it becomes even more hazardous when wintery weather is in effect.

9. Don’t rage at other drivers. “Road rage will not get to your destination any faster,” State Police advised. “Don’t engage other operators in aggressive driving. Please note your location and call 911 if you observe such behavior.”
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February 4, 2013

Dozens Injured in Boston, MA Bus Crash

by Altman & Altman

A chartered bus carrying high school students and their adult chaperones crashed into a bridge in Boston, injuring more than 30 people, said Massachusetts State Police.

The accident happened Saturday night as the Destined for a Dream Foundation group was returning to the Philadelphia area after visiting Harvard University.

Boston EMS reported injuries to 34 people, with one person hospitalized with life-threatening injuries and three others seriously injured. The other passengers sustained minor injuries.

Authorities are investigating the incident, and have not charged the driver, Samuel J. Jackson, 66, of Philadelphia as of Sunday evening, said David Procopio, spokesman for the State Police. Bus owner Raymond Talmedge said police are interviewing Jackson, who apparently didn’t see a sign banning vehicles from that particular route.

Authorities are examining the bus, and a collision reconstruction team is working on a report that will take up to six weeks to finish, Procopio said.

Jackson may have been checking his GPS at the time of the accident, said Talmadge. “He said he looked at the GPS, looked down to make the turn, and when he looked back up, the bridge was a low bridge. He hit the low bridge,” Talmadge told ABC-6 TV in Philadelphia. Jackson has not yet commented on the incident.

Mary Slayton of Bistol, Pennsylvania, said her nephew, a student, and her sister, a chaperone, were on the bus when the accident occurred. He escaped without injury, but her sister is hospitalized at Brigham and Women’s after severe injury to her neck, spine, and head. She might have to stay at the hospital for a week. “She’s not doing well,” Slayton said. “She’s a little out of it.

The Destined for a Dream Foundation’s website states that the group offers educational and athletic programs to underprivileged students. Jeff Neal, a Harvard spokesman, said that the Philadelphia area students toured the Harvard campus on Sunday afternoon, led by staff in the Harvard Undergraduate Minority Recruitment Program of the university’s admissions office.

The American Red Cross of Eastern Massachusetts is housing family members of some of the injured passengers in local hotels, and providing mental health specialists, said spokeswoman Kat Powers.
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