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According to Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, Occidental Fire and Casualty Insurance Company has been charging Boston drivers excessive rates on their car insurance. On Monday, the company was barred from practicing a slew of alleged illegal rating practices.

The AG’s office used its authority under the Consumer Protection Act to stop what it deems to be illegal practices. Coakley says the proposed rates were not justified and violated several Massachusetts statutes.

The company will be able to begin writing policies on April 1 and a hearing is set for April 30.

AG: Urban Drivers Targeted By Insurance Co., The Boston Channel, March 31, 2009 Continue reading

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On Thursday morning, an Amtrak train traveling from New York City to Boston, Massachusetts hit a car that was stranded on the railroad track. Before the train accident, the car had been hit by another propelling vehicle that pushed it onto the railroad track.

The car was totaled, with debris strewn around the site of the accident. Fortunately, the driver of the stranded car had left the vehicle following the first accident. Neither the driver of the disabled car nor the 278 passengers and crew members on board the train were injured.

According to a local investigating officer, “two of the four railroad tracks were shut down because of the debris from the train versus car crash.” Unmanned train crossings pose a very real danger to drivers and pedestrians. Residents near the scene of the train accident hope that the accident will show railroad authorities the need for preventive gates.

Northbound Amtrak Train Struck Stranded Car on Railroad Track, TopWireNews.com, March 27, 2009 Continue reading

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Over the weekend, a 16-year-old from Quincy, Massachusetts died in a rollover car crash in the southbound lane of Interstate 89 in Hopkinton. A press release from the State Police states that the auto accident occurred around 2:19pm on Saturday afternoon. Police arrived at the accident and found a Jeep on its side on the media. They believe that the Jeep veered off the roadway and rolled over several times before it landed on its side.

The driver, Michael Richardson, 48, of Quincy, Massachusetts, and the front passenger, Angenetta Cairo, 35, also of Quincy, were both wearing seatbelts and did not sustain any injuries. Anthoney Wilkerson, 16, was riding in the backseat but was not wearing his seatbelt. Members of the Hopkinton Rescue Squad tried to revive him, but he was pronounced dead by the state Medical Examiner’s Office.

Driver impairment does not appear to be a cause of the car accident, and according to the press release, fatigue or “inattention/distraction” may have contributed.

Crash claims Mass. teen, UnionLeader.com, March 22, 2009 Continue reading

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Last July, a state auditor’s office discovered that in 2005 and 2006 as many as 9,000 drivers had valid driver’s licenses for two to four years after a judge ordered their licenses suspended. The glitch in the Registry of Motor Vehicle’s system meant that some repeat drunk drivers may have used valid licenses for years after they were supposed to be permanently revoked. Until recently, the case dispositions were handled by ground mail, which may have delayed license suspensions.

An internal review revealed that 988 Massachusetts drivers who were convicted of vehicular homicide or DUI between 2003 and 2008 did not have their licenses suspended. The Registry was also missing records for nearly two thousand criminal case dispositions. According to a spokesperson for the Registry, many of the drivers already had their licenses suspended for other offenses.

This week, registry and court officials announced that 58 of Massachusetts’s 62 district courts can electronically transfer driving-related convictions to the RMV at the end of each day to avoid delays or miscommunications.

Registry computer glitch kept suspended drivers on the road, WickedLocal.com, March 23, 2009 Continue reading

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Last week, Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Nonnie S. Burnes announced that the state will retain the board that allows drivers to appeal auto insurance surcharges. According to the legislators who sponsored the bills, there was support for retaining the board in both the Senate and the House.

When a driver is involved with a motor vehicle accident, their insurance company assesses a surcharge on the driver’s premiums if the company determines that the driver was at fault in the accident. Surcharges can be as high as half the premium, adding hundreds of dollars to the driver’s auto insurance costs.

Consumer advocates argued that insurance companies were not likely to give motorists a fair hearing, since they have a financial incentive to charging the driver a surcharge and collecting additional revenue by deeming the driver at fault. The appeal’s board charges $50 to apply for a hearing and takes approximately six months to hear a case. Each year, about half the cases are determined in favor of drivers.

“The Board of Appeals is an important safeguard to ensure that consumers are protected against decisions by insurance companies that can result in significantly higher premiums,” said Deirdre Cummings, legislative director of the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group.

State to keep car insurance appeal board, Boston Globe, March 19, 2009 Continue reading

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In February, a state trooper responding to a motor vehicle accident was seriously injured by a car that spun out of control and hit him. State police have experienced several instances where troopers sustained injuries due to a motor vehicle moving at excessive speeds.

They are hoping that a new law, “Slow Down, Move Over,” which goes into effect on Sunday will reduce the number of fatalities and injuries in among emergency medical personnel, highway workers, police officers, and other responding to an a car accident, traffic violation, or emergency.

State legislature passed the “Slow Down, Move Over” law on December 22, and the new legislation requires drivers to slow down as they pass an emergency situation and to leave the lane closet to the auto accident if possible. There is no specified speed limit, but drivers up to a $100 fine for failing to comply.

Rhode Island already enacted similar legislation last July and 42 other states have a “Move Over Law” in place.

Law makes drivers move over, slow down for roadside emergencies, Boston Globe, March 18, 2009 Continue reading

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On Monday afternoon, a truck accident on Route 128 in Lexington snarled traffic for several miles. The accident occurred just before 5:30pm when a tractor trailer carrying construction equipment hit an overpass.

The truck was traveling down the southbound lane of the highway near the exit to Route 4 and 225, so police had to close the southbound lanes following the tractor trailer accident. They later opened two lanes so that traffic could continue.

According to the state police, the construction equipment came off the truck when it hit the Grove Street bridge. Although three other vehicles hit the equipment on the roadway, no injuries were reported. The accident caused damage to the overpass, but officials expect it to remain open.

MA highway snarled by truck accident, Boston Globe, March 16, 2009 Continue reading

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According to a 2001 study conducted by AAA, drivers over age 65 are 25 percent more likely to get into a car accident than middle-aged drivers. Those over 85 are 50 percent more likely to get into a car crash during a left-hand turn. A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that drivers 75 and older are second only to teenagers in terms of fatalities per 100 miles driven.

These statistics are the reason why Senator Brian A. Joyce is pushing for stricter standards for seniors who retain a driver’s license.

An editorial printed in the Milford Daily News points out that a majority of states already have laws that require older drivers to take more vision and road tests. Some states also require mandatory vision tests when drivers go to renew. In Massachusetts, drivers’ vision is tested once every ten years.

Although it may seem arbitrary to single out drivers over a certain age, the bill could potentially reduce the number of car accidents in Massachusetts.

Editorial: Eye tests for older drivers, Milford Daily News, March 16, 2009 Continue reading

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In Salem, a car accident injured four people on Thursday evening. Three of the car crash victims were taken to local hospitals, and the vehicles were severely damaged.

The auto accident occurred on the northbound lane of Fort Avenue around 7:30pm. The driver of a 2002 Ford Mustang GT was in the wrong lane and collided with a Honda Odyssey. Both cars caught fire as a result.

A passenger riding in the Mustang was thrown from the car and later taken to Massachusetts General Hospital by MedFlight helicopter. According to the Salem’s fire deputy chief, two other accident victims were taken by ambulance to a local hospital.

The cause of the motor vehicle accident and the names of the victims are unknown.

4 hurt in fiery crash, Salem News, March 13, 2009 Continue reading

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Earlier this week, a Salem resident was awakened by loud noises and bright lights on his lawn. He and his girlfriend initially thought it was a thunderstorm, but they didn’t fathom that it could be a burning car on his front lawn.

John Frost, a Marlborough Road resident, rushed outside with a fire extinguisher and watched someone crawl out of the overturned car shortly after 1am. Miraculously, there were no injuries in the car crash. However, the driver and passenger were transported to Salem Hospital as a precaution.

The driver, a 32-year-old from Peabody, was driving from Peabody toward Highland Avenue. He told police he had brake trouble coming around the curve. His car became airborne before it hit two cars in a driveway (both of which were towed) and tore the front gutter off the house.

According to Salem News, the driver will be cited for speeding, driving without a license, operating to endanger, and a marked lanes violation.

Wild crash ends with flames on resident’s lawn, Salem News, March 10, 2009 Continue reading

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