by

Last Thursday morning at Logan Airport, a construction vehicle almost collided with an airplane when the vehicle strayed into an unauthorized area. The incident occurred at 6:36am and halted all construction at the airport until authorities determine if the near collision occurred because of individual error or a system failure.

According to officials, the driver of a Ford Explorer was on a taxiway and evidently failed to stop at the runway intersection and radio the tower for permission to cross as required by safety procedures. An alarm sounded in the control tower warning about the vehicle on the runway. The truck cleared the runway just as the plane just through the intersection. The unidentified truck driver has been suspended pending an internal investigation. The jet, a US Airways Flight 27, took off safely and arrived in Phoenix as planned.

The last time a high-risk incursion was in 2005 when two jets speeding toward takeoff almost collided at more than 160 miles per hour. Logan Airport has had 16 incursions since January of 2008, but none was as serious as the near accident last week.

Plane, vehicle near a collision, Boston Globe, June 19, 2009 Continue reading

by

Over the weekend, a Canton driver hit and killed a 4-year-old girl who was out for a walk with her grandfather. The girl was on a scooter in a Washington Street crosswalk when the car accident occurred. According to those who witnessed the accident, the impact threw the girl 50 to 60 feet. She was taken to Tufts Medical Center, where she later died of her injuries.

Just after the accident, the Registry of Motor Vehicles revoked the 88-year-old driver had her license revoked. The RMV cited her as an “immediate threat.” On Sunday, the Massachusetts state police collision analysis and reconstruction team was the scene of the pedestrian accident.

It is unclear what caused the driver to hit the girl, but State Senator Brian Joyce, of Milton, says he hopes to get a hearing this for a bill that require Massachusetts drivers over the age of 85 to take road and vision tests. The bill has been opposed by several organizations for older Americans, who worry that it could result in age discrimination.

Elderly Driver Charged In Deadly Stoughton Crash, WBZTV.com, June 15, 2009 Continue reading

by

This morning, a four-vehicle accident on Route 128 in Waltham caused major delays during the morning commute. The crash closed two northbound lanes of Route 128. The southbound lane was backed up due to the “curiosity factor.”

According to the Boston Globe, the motor vehicle accident happened just before 7am a few miles north of the Massachusetts Turnpike. A spokesman for the Massachusetts State Police said the crash involved a delivery truck, a tractor trailer, and two other vehicles.

Some of the drivers involved in the crash suffered injuries; however, police not know the extent of their injuries.

Crash on Rte. 128 in Waltham slows commute, Boston Globe, June 17, 2009 Continue reading

by

On Friday morning, a dump truck crashed into several parked cars in Cohasset Village. Cohasset police say the truck went onto the sidewalk, hit a large trash container, then crossed into oncoming traffic before hitting an SUV and crashing into three parked cars. The driver, 74, of Cohasset, was taken to South Short Hospital with minor injuries. Miraculously, no one else was injured.

Four vehicles were towed from the scene of the truck crash and parts of Cohasset Village streets were closed for approximately two hours. The accident caused a lot of property damage, so Cohasset police enlisted the help of the Weymouth Police Department’s accident reconstruction specialist to assist with the investigation.

The dump truck accident remains under investigation, and no citations have been issued thus far.

Dump truck crashes through Cohasset Village, Patriot Ledger, June 13, 2009 Continue reading

by

Like many other states, Massachusetts does not mandate testing for older drivers aside from eye tests, which are required every ten years for all drivers. However, two recent Massachusetts car crashes involving elderly drivers have highlighted the issue of retesting older drivers and lawmakers are now under increased pressure to pass legislation that would monitor elderly drivers more carefully.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, drivers over age 65 will make up a quarter of all drivers by 2025. Other researchers say that drivers pose a greater risk of causing a car accident around age 70 and that risk increases dramatically after age 80. Older drivers are also more likely to be involved in fatal accidents. However, some advocates for the elderly oppose testing targeted at senior citizens because they fear the measure may be discriminatory.

Last week, Governor Deval Patrick supported legislation that would require drivers age 85 and older to pass a road test and eye test every five years in order to renew their driver’s licenses.

Pressure mounts to test elder drivers, Boston Globe, June 8, 2009 Continue reading

by

On Monday afternoon, a Massachusetts woman was taken by ambulance to a local hospital following a one-vehicle accident on Route 3 in Augusta, Maine. The woman was driving east in her Infiniti when she says that two lanes merged and a truck cut her vehicle off. The Infiniti went into a ditch, hit some tress, and rolled over.

Police said the accident occurred roughly 10 feet from the Augusta-Vassalboro town line. The car crash was reported at 3:56pm, and emergency responders had the scene of the auto accident cleared by 5:55pm that day.

Responders included the Kennebec Sheriff’s Office, Vassalboro Fire Department, and Augusta Fire Department. They did have to remove some trees to remove the car from the woods. The woman’s injuries were not life-threatening, but her car was declared totaled.

Augusta Crash Injures One, Destroys Vehicle, WMTW.com, June 8, 2009 Continue reading

by

On Friday, the mayor of Fall River, Massachusetts allegedly ran a stop sign and crashed his 2003 Lexus into another car while touring the city with the state’s top transportation official.

Mayor Robert Correai was driving Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation James A. Aloisi Jr., as well as Senator Joan Menard and Rep. Michael Rodrigues, when the auto accident occurred. They were on their way to meet a news reporter.

The driver of the other car, a 1995 Nissan Pathfinder, told police that the mayor ran a stop sign and that she was not able to stop in time. No one was injured in the motor vehicle accident, but police cited Correia for failing to stop in accordance with Massachusetts law. He received a $100 traffic ticket.

Police: Mayor Runs Stop Sign, Causes Crash, TheBostonChannel.com, June 7, 2009 Continue reading

by

In Danvers, a 93-year-old man crashed his car into the entrance of a Wal-Mart off Andover Street. The car accident occurred just before 10am, injuring a mother and her one-year-old daughter. Several other people were taken to the hospital due to the shock of the accident, but none of the injuries were life-threatening, according to the Deputy Fire Chief. The driver refused medical treatment, but his 90-year-old wife was transported to the hospital as a precaution.

According to a preliminary investigation, authorities say the auto accident happened because the driver stepped on the gas instead of the brake pedal as he was trying to park his Toyota Camry. The car rammed into two cash register stations inside the store, narrowly fitting in between concrete posts intended to prevent cars from getting in the entrance.

Although there was no structural damage to the store, authorities estimate that the car crash caused between $50,000 and $60,00 in damage.

Mother and baby injured as car crashes into Danvers Wal-Mart, Boston Globe, June 2, 2009 Continue reading

by

In Clarksburg, Massachusetts, two motor vehicle accidents occurred on Sunday afternoon. An elderly Clarksburg man was killed a Ford Focus crashed into a Ford pick-up truck. Massachusetts state police said the car crash occurred at the intersection of Route 8 and Henderson Road just after 5:30pm. Clarence Demers, 87, died. The other drive, Peter Eoisvert, 44, was not injured, according to police.

The cause of that truck accident is being investigated.

Earlier in the afternoon, a woman was injured when her Toyota Tercel hit a Ford F-250 pick-up truck on Curran Highway (Route 8) in Adams. She was taken to North Adams Regional Hospital for medical care. Police did not reveal the identities of either person involved in that auto accident, which occurred around 3:45pm. The impact of the crash was so strong that it knocked the spare tire out from underneath the truck.

Clarksburg: 1 dead in crash, Berkshire Eagle, June 1 Continue reading

by

According to a recent study, one-fifth of drivers between 16 and 61 who own cell phones send or receive text messages while driving and four-fifths make calls, yet 98 percent of American drivers say they are “safe” drivers. Not so, says Nationwide Insurance, which found that almost half of drivers say they’ve been hit or almost hit by a driver using a cell phone.

In light of the connection between distracted driving and motor vehicle accidents, as well as the recent subway crash involving a driver who was texting his girlfriend, more and more companies are imposing cell phone bans on their employees.

When AMEC banned its employees from using cellphones while driving on company time in 2005, the ban was met with cynicism. Now AMEC is leading the way for many more companies to do the same, according to reports in the Boston Globe. Some companies are even taking it a step further and banning all electronic devices while driving. While AMEC doesn’t have any stats on whether car accident rates have decreased, over three-quarters of employees say they have cut back on using cell phones while driving in their personal life.

‘Can’t Talk Now,’ Boston Globe, May 31, 2009 Continue reading

Contact Information
Cambridge, MA
Main Office
675 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
Phone: 617.492.3000Fax: 617.491.3299Toll Free: 800.481.6199
Boston, MA
675 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
Phone: 617.547.1205Toll Free: 800.481.6199
Needham, MA
250 First Avenue 2nd Floor
Needham, MA 02494
Phone: 781.675.2329Toll Free: 800.481.6199

Some Select Cases are referred to other attorneys for principal responsibility

By publishing this information on this Website, the Boston, Massachusetts law firm of Altman & Altman LLP is not claiming to represent any clients or cases mentioned here. The content provided is designed to inform readers and is not intended as legal advice.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Copyright © 2025, Altman & Altman LLP
JUSTIA Law Firm Blog Design