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A new study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that Massachusetts is one of the safest states to drive in the nation, second only to Washington, D.C. Among the most dangerous: Montana, Wyoming, Louisiana and Mississippi. The primary reason for the difference: Urban roads are safer than rural roads.

Even in states with low overall road death rates, rural areas often have rates twice as high as urban ones. That’s because urban areas usually have roads with lower speed limits, more safety engineering features such as divided highways and faster access to emergency medical care than rural routes. Many rural deaths occur when vehicles leave the road and crash into trees or other obstructions.

“An urban state in the Northeast is going to have a much lower fatality rate than a rural Western state with a lot of high-speed, two-lane rural roads, where serious crashes are more likely to happen,” says Russ Rader, spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Source:
Study: Roads are safer in urban areas, USA TODAY, January 25, 2011 Continue reading

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Police have confirmed that a man was killed Monday morning in a collision with a car near the corner of Tremont and Arlington streets in the South End of Boston. The white sedan hit the man while he was on his bike, facing in a direction where the solar glare can cause problems for drivers at that time of day. The driver was interviewed by police and was not cited as of Tuesday.

“It is sad to get such a vivid reminder that despite the good progress our city has made on bicycle safety in recent years, crashes like this can still happen,” said Pete Stidman, director of the Boston Cyclists Union, which advocates for rider safety.

Stidman said he recently was hit by a car on Dorchester Avenue, but was unscathed. He said it is important for cyclists to report such accidents.

“I talk to cyclists all the time and remind them to report to police or the city whenever they’re involved in an accident because we need to know where the accidents are happening in order to fix the problem,” he said.

Source:
Bicyclist, 74, killed in South End collision, Boston Globe, January 25, 2011 Continue reading

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Massachusetts State Police report that a Holbrook man was drunk when he fled the scene of a car crash yesterday that seriously injured a Weymouth woman on the Southeast Expressway in Dorchester. The accident forced the closing of three lanes of southbound traffic for three hours with only the left travel lane open for motorists.

Alyssa Connolly, 25, a passenger in a Toyota Corolla, was thrown from the car that went off the highway and slammed into a snow bank before rolling over and coming to rest on its roof. Connolly was taken to Boston Medical Center–her condition remains unknown.

The driver, Patrick Fay, 24, was driving south when the accident occurred near exit 13 in Dorchester shortly before 1 a.m. on Sunday. Trooper Sean Reardon apprehended Fay when he tried to run from the scene. Fay has been charged with drunk driving, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, leaving the scene of an accident after causing personal injury, speeding and failure to stay within marked lanes.

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Medical receptionist Vanessa Viveiros of Lincoln was placed on 2 1/2 years of probation and made to participate in a first-offenders alcohol driver education program on Friday after being found guilty of driving to endanger and six counts of assault by means of a dangerous weapon.

The Rhode Island woman admitted to driving drunk and road rage, causing a collision with a car with six occupants on Interstate 495 and nearly forcing a state trooper off the road.

According to her lawyer, John MacDonald, the incident began with a quarrel at a Providence nightclub that was sparked by the other driver which caused Viveiros to fly into an alcohol-induced rage and chase after the victim, repeatedly crashing into the rear of the victim’s car as it drove down the highway.

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On Monday, 84-year-old Joao Amaral of New Bedford was struck by an oil truck while in the crosswalk on the corner of Purchase and Hillman streets. He was in serious condition on Tuesday at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

The New Bedford Police Department reported that Amaral was operating his motorized wheelchair on Purchase Street near the curb when he was struck. Investigators believe he was pushed about 30 feet and then run over by the oil truck. Police have identified the driver of the truck, owned by the Star Oil Co. of New Bedford, as John Duarte, 74, of Acushnet.

The incident in New Bedford was the latest in a series of six pedestrian accidents in the town in 2010 and the second involving a wheelchair-bound person in the last few months. On Oct. 29, 2010, a 57-year-old man died after he was hit in his wheelchair at Route 6 and Pleasant Street.

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New Hampshire State Police responded to an accident on I-93 Tuesday night involving five young Woburn residents in a rolled over Izuzu Trooper. Police suspect the car had hit a guard rail, causing it to rollover on the driver side. The driver, Kyle Ahearn, 19, and four passengers Joseph Briere, 19, Shshank Samual, 20, Ethan Ahern, 15, and Patrick Raistrick, 18, were rescued and treated by firefighters from Derry, NH.

All passengers except one, Joseph Briere, were treated for non-life-threatening injuries and transported by ambulance to nearby hospitals. According to police, Briere was airlifted to Massachusetts General Hospital where he died later that night due to the injuries he sustained in the crash.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2008, SUVs had the highest passenger vehicle occupant fatality rate in rollovers of any vehicle type-5.96 per 100,000 registered vehicles. NHTSA publishes rollover safety ratings by make and model year, and tire ratings by brand. Those ratings can be found at http://www.safercar.gov.

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At least 8 people have been reported injured as a result of a massive pileup on Saturday afternoon. Police said about 40 vehicles, including a small school bus and a commercial tour bus, were involved in the pileup, which blocked both southbound lanes of Interstate 93.

The pileup was the result of a snow squall that started around 12:30 p.m., triggering sudden whiteout conditions.

Tom Lawson and his girlfriend, Jennifer Phillips, were heading to Boston after staying at a Lincoln, NH inn most of the week snowboarding in the region. Phillips, who lives on Cape Cod, was glad the couple escaped unharmed except for the damaged Hyundai rental.

Phillips was surprised when the snow squall hit.

“Everything just went white, and you couldn’t see anything, and the cars were backed up on each other,” Phillips said while waiting at the Sunoco station. “I love snow, but I didn’t love that.”

Both lanes of the highway were shut down for over an hour and traffic was backed up for miles.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency estimates that roughly “70% of winter deaths related to snow and ice occur in automobiles,” and, as a result, has issued a list of automobile safety tips for winter driving as well as a winter emergency car kit checklist. Both can be found on their website.

Source:
Eight injured in 40-vehicle pileup on I-93, Union Leader, January 8, 2011; Tips to Ensure Safe Winter Driving, www.mass.gov Continue reading

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State trooper, Steven Larocco, was struck in his vehicle yesterday morning while making a routine traffic stop on the Massachusetts Turnpike near Palmer, Massachusetts. The driver that hit Larocco, Robert Murangi, was cited by police as driving with an open container of alcohol.

Murangi rear-ended the police cruiser while it was parked between the median and left eastbound lane to investigate a stopped Jeep Liberty. Murangi’s Dodge Avenger ran into the back of the cruiser and forced it into the Liberty. Larocco and the driver of the Liberty were sent to the hospital along with the two passengers in Murangi’s Avenger. All were treated for serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Earlier this summer, Colonel Marian J. McGovern, head of the Massachusetts state police, announced a trooper safety study after a series of incidents that saw five troopers struck and injured by motor vehicles – one of them, Sgt. Douglas Weddleton, fatally – in a five-week period. McGovern herself was was rear-ended in October 2010 on Route 20 in Shrewsbury by what turned out to be a repeat drunk driver with four prior convictions.

Source: Trooper, 3 others injured in crash, Boston Globe, January 3, 2011; Colonel McGovern Announces Trooper Safety Study, Mass.gov, July 22, 2010 Continue reading

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A major snowstorm pummeled the Dakotas and Minnesota on New Years Eve causing a massive car pileup on I-94, shutting down both lanes of traffic between Jamestown and Fargo, North Dakota.

Cass County Sheriff’s Capt. Rick Majerus said nearly 100 vehicles were involved in the pileup near Fargo. Some travelers were stranded in their vehicles for several hours before rescuers could get to them. Further down I-94 in Minnesota, officials reported two fatal car crashes resulting from road conditions.

In Massachusetts, residents were faced with a similar dilemma as the first major blizzard of the season impacted holiday travel plans, shutting down airports and train service along the East coast and slowing transportation on the roads to a halt in some areas. Because of the heavy snowfall, many areas are still struggling to keep the roads clear of ice and snow forcing residents to chance driving in dangerous conditions as they go back to work on Monday.

Source: Blizzard causes 100-car pileup near Fargo, N.D., USA TODAY, December 31, 2010 Continue reading

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A Massachusetts traffic accident occurring the day before Christmas claimed the life of a 85-year-old Adams resident. The incident marked Berkshire County’s third fatality resulting from a pedestrian-motor vehicle accident in two months. The victim was reportedly hit by a southbound vehicle while crossing Park Street. Police say he was not in a marked crosswalk.

Emergency responders took the injured pedestrian to Berkshire Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The 18-year-old woman who driving the car was not injured and has not been charged in connection with the fatal accident; however, the fatal auto accident is still being investigated.

According to federal data, somewhere in the country a pedestrian is injured in a traffic crash every seven minutes. Every 107 minutes, a pedestrian dies as the result of such crashes. The majority of these fatalities occur between 6 and 9pm and on weekends.

Source: Elderly man struck, killed, Berkshire Eagle, December 26, 2010
In harm’s way: Many drivers ignore pedestrians in crosswalks, Patriot Ledger, June 22, 2010 Continue reading

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