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A bus carrying UMass Amherst students on a ski trip to Canada crashed on a Vermont highway Friday. The crash happened when the 49-year-old bus driver lost consciousness. According to owner of bus company, Tour World, the driver felt a tingling and started to pull over, but it was too late.

The bus was carrying 44 passengers when it swerved across the I-91 median into an embankment and flipped onto its side. Sixteen of the student passengers were treated for injuries including concussions, wounds and back injuries. Four of them were taken to the emergency room for critical injuries.

According to the bus company owner, the driver had no known medical conditions and passed a physical 6 months ago. He was hospitalized overnight at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire.

The ski trip was organized by a private group, but UMass sent university vehicles to the scene to transport students back to campus. Some of the students continued on to Canada.

The driver and passengers are fortunate that no one was killed in this accident. More than 250 people are killed and more than 15,000 people are injured every year in bus accidents like this one. Although the media has said that no serious injuries have been reported yet, concussions, like all other head injuries, are very serious. Sometimes it can take weeks for a doctor to recognize a traumatic brain injury, and repeat concussions can lead to devastating consequences. So the risks are amplified here, given the fact that some of these students may have suffered concussions and went on to ski where they could suffer more blows to the head.

It is unclear whether anyone could be held responsible for injuries suffered from this accident. It seems that the driver may have been driving carefully and suffered an unexpected heart attack, but an experienced personal injury lawyer could look into all of the facts and circumstances and assess your case.

Sources:
MSNBC, Ski bus flips on I-91 in Vermont

Boston Globe, Driver of bus carrying UMass students that crashed in Vermont expected to be released from hospital; no serious injuries reported

Daily Collegian, UMass Ski and Board Club bus overturns on I-91
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A Massachusetts woman was killed and two other people were injured on Sunday afternoon when a Sport Utility Vehicle slammed into a Cumberland Farms store. The 43-year-old SUV accident victim was reportedly a customer in the store. Another customer and a worker were taken to Springfield’s Baystate Medical Center and treated for minor injuries.

The SUV was reportedly driven by an 81-year-old man, who was hospitalized with serious injuries. No charges have been filed thusfar, but the fatal crash is still being investigated.

Here in Massachusetts, legislators have been pushing for stricter standards on drivers over the age of 75, citing the number of recent accidents involving older drivers. However, advocates for older adults have called the proposed legislation arbitrarily discriminatory.

Source: Woman dies when SUV smashes into Chicopee store, Boston Globe, November 29, 2010 Continue reading

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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 car crashed into a Chicopee bedroom around 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday. William Flores and his girlfriend woke up to debris and the car inches away at the foot of the bed. Neither the residents nor their two dogs were injured, but firefighters are concerned about the stability of the home’s front wall.

According to police, the car driven by 66-year-old Patricia Naimey smashed into a street light, a stop sign, and a fire hydrant before hitting the house. They are investigating how she lost control.

This was the second time within a three-day period that a car hit a Chicopee building. On Sunday, 43-year-old Kimmy Dubuque was killed inside a Cumberland Farms when an SUV driven by 81-year-old Edwin Skowyra crashed through the front of the store. In addition to the shopper who was fatally injured, another customer, the clerk and the driver were injured. Police say that the car was travelling through the intersection at Front and Grove Streets and then went over a barrier and through the store. Police are looking into the possibility that a medical issue caused the driver to lose control.

Sources:

Cbs3springfield.com: Chicopee police release names in fatal crash; Continue to investigate cause

Cbs3springfield.com: Car smashes into Chicopee bedroom

Drivers can lose control of their cars for many reasons. Speed, inattention, and mechanical defects are among the common causes. The possibility of a medical issue in this second incident raises the issue of physical infirmities. These kinds of infirmities can be considered in determining the reasonableness of conduct. For example, if this driver suffered an unforeseeable heart attack that caused him to lose control of his SUV, he would not be responsible. If, on the other hand, he knew that was subject to some medical condition that would cause him to lose control of the vehicle but drove anyways, he could be liable in a negligence action.
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On Monday afternoon, a car rolled over on Route 24 in Avon, Massachusetts. Police said the 20-year-old driver refused medical treatment following the traffic accident. The Brockton man was reportedly driving a 2000 Ford Mustang. The car accident occurred at 1:52pm near the Route 27 exit, and police said the scene had been cleared by 2:30pm.

The cause of this Avon car crash remains under investigation.

Although there were no injuries in this instance, crashes involving cars, bikes, trucks, SUVs, or pedestrians can result serious and even deadly injuries. With insurance claims for personal injury, lost wages, and damage to your vehicle, these cases can pose a number of complicated legal challenges that require the assistance of an experienced personal injury attorney.

Source: Car rolls over on Route 24 in Avon, no injuries, The Enterprise, November 29, 2010 Continue reading

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A Boston Transportation Department tow truck crashed into a Roxbury building Monday night, and work is in progress to prevent a collapse. The truck hit the 61 St. James Street building shortly before 6 p.m., and six families have been displaced.

The driver, who had been placed on administrative leave, submitted to alcohol and drug testing and is cooperating with an investigation. According to the Boston Globe, he told police that his brakes failed. Witnesses have said that the truck wasn’t speeding.

Even when a truck is not speeding, there is still the possibility of negligence. Sometimes, inattention or fatigue can contribute to truck accidents. Where brakes fail, as this driver says was the case here, it’s possible that the truck was maintained negligently or that there was a defective truck part. There are various parties that can be responsible in these kinds of cases, and an attorney can look into all of the possible avenues.

Damage to property, especially a home, can be devastating. Here, the destruction of a building that can house six families is a lot of damage. Property damage claims should be addressed right away. At Altman & Altman, we have recovered compensation for countless clients who have suffered damage to their property as a result of the negligence of another person. We have been doing this for many years, and we’d be happy to speak with you if you think that you might have a claim.

Source: The Boston Globe, Tow truck remains stuck in Roxbury building as crash is probed
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On Friday evening around 7:30pm, a crash involving a tractor-trailer carrying about 100 gallons of propane led to a fire and knocked high voltage wires to the ground. Police evacuated residents of Palmer, Massachusetts within a three-quarter-mile radius of the accident as a precaution. They were taken to two nearby middle schools until about 1am Saturday, when they were allowed back into their homes.

The tractor-trailer had reportedly crashed into a utility pole. Massachusetts police are still investigating the exact cause of the accident, but no injuries were reported.

Although there were no injuries in this particular case, accidents involving tractor-trailers can lead to catastrophic injury. Earlier this year, three teenagers were injured when the SUV they were riding in collided with a tractor-trailer. A firefighter also sustained injuries during the rescue efforts.

Source: Residents Back Home After Propane Truck Crash, The Boston Channel, November 27, 2010 Continue reading

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A 14-year-old Andover girl was hit by a car on her way to the bus stop today, Andover police told the Boston Globe. The accident occurred near 200 Andover St. at 7:15 a.m. The girl was sent to Lawrence General Hospital, and her condition is not yet known.

The driver was a 17-year-old girl who has been charged with a school bus violation and impeded operation.

As this news illustrates, car accidents can happen at any given time. You can be on your way to school one minute and be suffering from a serious personal injury the next.

It also raises another common theme in Massachusetts car accidents: teen driver safety (or lack thereof). Teen drivers are uniquely prone to car accidents for many reasons. Inexperience, immaturity, and the sense of invincibility that commonly comes with youth can contribute to accidents involving teen drivers. Teens can also be more susceptible to peer pressure and image concerns and therefore speed, not wear seatbelts, text while driving, or even drink and drive. Because of these and other factors, teenaged drivers frequently find themselves involved in car accidents.

The fact that this teen driver was charged with a school bus violation and impeded operation could indicate that she was negligent or reckless. In Massachusetts, the violation of a statute or ordinance is evidence of negligence where there is a causal connection between the violation and the harm and that kind of harm is the kind that the statute was meant to prevent. Even though this driver is a minor, driving is an adult activity and she will be held to the same standard of care as an adult.

Source: The Boston Globe, Teen struck by vehicle in Andover
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The long Thanksgiving weekend is about to begin, and people are starting to hit the road. Major highways are seeing heavy traffic as people begin to travel to their Thanksgiving destinations, but so far there have been no serious car accidents, the Boston Globe reported. The Southeast Expressway, I-93, and tunnels are experiencing slowdowns as low as 20 mph.

The holidays are always challenging as far as travel goes, and 90 percent of Thanksgiving travelling is done by car. As a result, car accidents are usually on rise during this season.
The holidays should be a time to enjoy with family and friends, and suffering a personal injury during this time can be particularly difficult. The following are holiday travel tips to help protect you and your family from a devastating personal injury:

• Drive more slowly than usual and leave room for sudden breaking.
• Check the weather and try to avoid driving during storms and dangerous road conditions.
• Although the holidays are a time for parties and festivities, don’t drink and drive. Have a designated driver when you are planning to drink.
• The holidays can be exhausting, but don’t get behind the wheel when you feel too tired. Of all crashes that result in hospitalization, 12.5% are caused by fatigue.
• Give yourself plenty of time to reach your destination so that you don’t feel the urge to speed.
• Always wear your seatbelt.
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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is determining whether to open a full-blown investigation into possible Honda Accord hybrid acceleration problems. An unidentified woman filed a complaint with the federal agency asking it to investigate after she was injured and her passenger died in a crash in her 2005 Accord Hybrid. She said that her car crashed into oncoming traffic after losing break power and accelerating on its own. Many documents on the NHTSA website indicate that several have been injured in similar accidents in these cars, according to the Boston Herald.

Similarly, Toyota has received thousands of unintended acceleration complaints in recent years. More specifically, since 1999, 2,262 incidents involving sudden and unintended acceleration of Toyota cars have been recorded. Last year alone, Toyota had to recall about 10 million vehicles, and after the recalls, Toyota faced hundreds of law suits. The unintended acceleration problem came under even more public scrutiny when an off -duty California police officer was recently killed in one of these crashes.

If the NHSTA decides to open the Honda investigation, the results should be interesting. In August, the agency released its preliminary findings about possible Toyota defects, and driver error (hitting the gas instead of the break) was determined to be the main cause of the failed breaks and unintended acceleration. So, time will tell whether these Hondas are defective in design or manufacture or whether drivers are misapplying the pedals.

Source: The Boston Herald, NHTSA reviews claim of Honda acceleration
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