Articles Posted in Motor Vehicle Accidents

Unfortunately, tragedies don’t take a holiday, and it’s unfortunate on this Memorial Day holiday weekend that two people have been killed in separate Massachusetts motor vehicle accidents.

A truck-pedestrian accident occurred in Newton today that resulted in a man being killed in that accident. Newton police are currently investigating the May 27 truck-pedestrian accident that killed 22-year-old Dennis Cassagrande of Rochester, New Hampshire. Mr. Cassagrande was reportedly hit by a pickup truck just after 3AM on Newton’s Nonantum Road. The truck was driven by 21-year-old Beau Dellicker from Mendon. At this point in time, no charges have been filed against Mr. Dellicker.

On the Cape yesterday in Dennis, Massachusetts, a 22 year-old woman was killed and a second person was seriously injured in a single-vehicle car accident on Route 6 East on Cape Cod. Massachusetts State Police reported that the car crash involved a Lexus sedan driven by a 22-year-old man from New York, who was transported to Cape Cod Hospital with serious injuries. The passenger in the vehicle, a 22-year-old woman, died at the scene. As of publishing this post, the victim has not yet been identified. According to preliminary police reports, speed does not appear to have been a factor in the crash.

Weather-wise, we had a beautiful day today in Boston, but it turned tragic for a 5 year-old boy and his family in Dorchester.

Chris Huynh was a struck by a car while crossing a street located in a Vietnamese neighborhood of Dorchester. Family members said the boy was crossing Whitten Street in that neighborhood to see his grandmother. According to witnesses, the boy suddenly emerged from between parked cars on one side of the narrow street, and was struck by an as-yet unidentified woman who was driving her car down the street. Whitten Street is a one-way street, and is extremely narrow, with apparently little to no room for a driver to swerve or take evasive action to avoid hitting a person or a child who might suddenly dart out in front of a moving car. According to neighbors, many children often play on this narrow street, and cars routinely drive far too fast down the street. Several neighbors spoke of several car-bike accidents having occurred there in the past.

Unfortunately, pedestrian-car accidents are nothing new to the Boston area. Many of the streets in this area, not only within the city of Boston but also in many suburbs, are narrow and difficult for car drivers to navigate. Throw in the fact that cars are often parked on one or both sides of streets like this, and this physical set-up is a disaster waiting to happen. As a Boston and Dedham, Massachusetts pedestrian-car accident attorney, I’ve seen far too many accidents like this happen, whether involving two-car accidents, or pedestrians. The resulting car accident injuries can be extremely severe, outcome can often be fatal.

In the past few years, closer attention has been paid in this state to a series of Massachusetts car accidents that involved older drivers.

So, as a Boston/Dedham auto accident attorney, I’m happy to report that last week Massachusetts state health regulators approved rules that define when an older person is too cognitively or functionally impaired to drive safely. The regulations were based on advice from medical specialists and public hearings.

The new rules give health care providers guidance in evaluating when an older person should stop driving and relinquish his or her car keys.The new rules are expected to take effect in a few weeks. The decision to relinquish the car keys will based on “observations or evidence of the actual effect” that an impairment may have on someone’s ability to drive safely.

As a Dedham/Boston car accident attorney, I’ve said this before, and it’s worth saying again. Being injured in a car accident is, according to statistics, one of the most likely events to happen in your life. That’s the unpleasant, inconvenient truth. Other than being the best driver you can be, there’s not much you can do about this. There are so many motor vehicles on our roads that vehicular and pedestrian accidents are bound to occur. When they do, there’s two tons of steel and glass hitting your car (or perhaps you directly, in a Massachusetts pedestrian-car accident) with tremendous force. Car accidents are usually very violent, and can be very traumatic, if not fatal.

Those statistics bore out again today, with the death of Fenway Park announcer Carl Beane. Mr. Beane, 59, was driving his Suzuki SUV in Sturbridge on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 9, when it crossed the double lines in the road. His car hit a tree and a wall. He was the only one in his car, and the only person in the crash. According to initial reports, Mr. Beane apparently suffered a heart attack while driving his car, and died.

Nearby, at the Hemlock Ridge Golf Course, golfers alerted police of the crash. Currently the Sturbridge car crash is being investigated by, among others, the Worcester District Attorney’s Office.

When it comes to investigating and litigating Massachusetts motor vehicle accidents, here’s the way it’s been for a long, long time: One car hits another, causing injuries. The victim in the car that was hit tries to prove that the other vehicle was speeding, causing the accident. As a Boston, Massachusetts car accident lawyer, I can easily say that in these types of Massachusetts personal injury cases, it has been sometimes difficult to prove who was at fault, especially when no witnesses were present and it was merely one party’s word against the other.

But that’s all changing, thanks to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In 2006, it mandated that all new vehicles were to be outfitted with Event Data Recorder (EDR) “black boxes” by 2013. Currently, about 85% of American vehicles have these devices, which record and highlight about 15 types of crash data. That information includes pre-crash speed, airbag deployment data, changes in forward velocity, and engine throttle.

Try to think about the “black box” as being just like a plane’s, which is used after crashes to explain how they happened, and what circumstances were in effect when the crash happened.

As a Norfolk County car-pedestrian accident attorney, I can tell you this for sure: while experiencing a Massachusetts car-to-car accident is always awful, there’s something even worse: a Massachusetts car-pedestrian accident. That is when a pedestrian is hit by a two-ton steel vehicle, and that person does not have the benefit of a car seatbelt or airbag to protect him or her.

Any pedestrian who is hit by a car is typically going to undergo serious injuries. Most victims, if they are not killed instantly, wind up with severe cuts and lacerations, broken bones, bleeding and bruising.

Car-pedestrian accidents most frequently occur in streets, parking lots and intersections.

As a Boston car accident attorney, I’m always saddened to hear about yet another death due to a car accident, especially one that has taken the life of three young people.

Another tragedy happened this past Tuesday morning at approximately 4:30 AM on Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester.

Two young men, and a young woman, all from Neponset, were in an automobile that left the road between two sections of the guardrail, then went up an embankment, before it rolled over and landed on its roof. The three occupants of the car – 19-year-old Samatha Pinson, 19-year old Paul Reagan, and 20-year-old John Carter – were trapped in the car and had to be rescued by the fire department. Paul Reagan and John Carter died at the scene, and Ms. Pinson was later pronounced dead at Boston Medical Center.

He was known for his Hollywood good looks, his skills as a motorcyclist, and was nothing but a positive force in the Norfolk County Sheriff’s office.

But Deputy Sheriff Ryan Tvelia, 42, was killed in a Walpole motorcycle accident this past Tuesday, on Interstate 95. Mr. Tvelia was in uniform, and was riding his department-issued Harley-Davidson motorcycle. He was enroute to Quincy, to serve in an honor guard at a funeral for the mother of a corrections officer. Mr. Tvelia’s motorcycle collided with one car, and then was also struck by a second car. The Walpole motor vehicle accidents occurred near Exit 11 on Interstate 95.

Mr. Tvelia had worked as a corrections officer, and was part of the transportation unit that transported inmates between the Dedham jail and courthouses.

Last Sunday, a Massachusetts car accident led to yet another Massachusetts car crash fatality.

On Sunday morning at 3:30 AM, one Ashleigh Baudin, 25, of Methuen, crashed into the rear of a truck that was parked in the breakdown lane of I-93, with its emergency flashers on. For some reason that is still undetermined, Baudin’s 2005 Volkswagen Beetle drifted into the breakdown lane, smashing into the truck. Ms. Baudin was pronounced dead at the scene.

As a Massachusetts car accident attorney, I’m saddened to hear of this case. It just goes to show you that you must always be alert when driving, because danger does indeed lurk around every corner, literally, if you are not careful.

It’s always a sad situation when there is a Massachusetts car crash, and one would think that the only thing worse than that is a Massachusetts car-bus crash. Now factor in the fact that the accident involved four Kingston students – on the very day of their Junior Prom – and you have a horrible situation that instills even more grief in everyone.

The Kingston car-bus accident took place on Lake Street this past Friday morning at 7:15AM. Four students – three girls and one boy – were headed to school, when apparently, the red BMW carrying the four students crossed over the double yellow line. They then crashed into the front grill of the school bus.

The four students involved in this Kingston car-bus crash were taken to Silver Lake Regional High School’s football field, where they were then taken by helicopter to Boston hospitals. The only student identified in the crash was one Monica Knight, who, according to a spokesperson for the South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, said that Knight was in fair condition. No information on the other students is currently available. The injured students are from Halifax and Plympton.