If there is one bit of informal advice I’d give to newly-arriving Massachusetts college students, as well as to new grad school students in the Boston area, it’s this: Watch out when you’re traveling on a bicycle adn even walking as a pedestrian: The roads in Massachusetts, in particular the metropolitan Boston area, are anything but easy to navigate or understand. Massachusetts bicyclist-motor vehicle accidents, as well as pedestrian-motor vehicle accidents, are increasing in frequency. Accidents like this tend to spike with the annual late August arrival of hundreds of thousands of new students to the eastern Massachusetts and greater Boston area: Massachusetts is, after all, known (among other appellations) as the “College Capital of the Nation.”
As a Massachusetts pedestrian-motor vehicle accident lawyer and Boston bicycle-motor vehicle accident attorney, as well as a lifelong Massachusetts resident, I’ve seen far too many very serious injuries result from these types of accidents. The problem with the influx of new students, is that it presents the perfect storm for motor vehicle-bicyclist and car-pedestrian accidents: 1) These new students are completely unfamiliar with the confusing way Massachusetts roads are configured; 2) These students are also unfamiliar with the very aggressive – and frankly, discourteous, manner in which many motorists in Massachusetts operate their vehicles (there’s a name that has been earned for such Massachusetts drivers, but I’ll avoid it here); 3) Many young people think they’re invincible, and that serious accidents happen to “other people,” but not to them. All of these factors, and more, can create a lethal mix.
The Boston Globe recently reported about this growing problem. Click here to read that piece. So, to new students, returning students, new faculty, returning faculty, and to the year-round residents who live in Massachusetts, my informal advice is this: When getting around the streets of Massachusetts, whether as a pedestrian or a bicyclist, watch out and be careful. If not, the injuries that you could suffer can be a LOT worse than a skinned knee: As a Boston-area injury attorney, I’ve seen pedestrian-car, and bicycle-motor vehicle accidents, that have resulted in extremely serious, lifelong injuries – including paralysis and death.
If you or someone you care about has been injured in a Massachusetts bike-car accident or a pedestrian-motor vehicle accident, after you have attended to first-line medical care, you should seek the professional advice of an experienced Massachusetts pedestrian-car accident lawyer. Depending on the facts of the accident, you may be entitled to receive substantial financial damages for your injuries.
Classroom learning isn’t the only valuable education you’ll get in Massachusetts: You’ll also learn to be very careful on the streets here.