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This past Sunday’s tragic pedestrian death of a 4 year-old girl at the intersection of Congress and Sleeper streets in the Seaport area of Boston, has drawn attention to the question of which cities & towns in Massachusetts have the highest rates of fatal auto accidents.  She was killed when struck by a pickup truck.  The intersection is very near to the Boston Children’s Museum.  A horrific incident.  The lives of her parents and family will never be the same.

This is made all the more tragic by the story behind the story.  You see, not all traffic intersections are created equal, nor are all cities and towns equally safe or equally dangerous.  Some municipalities stand out as especially dangerous, and a recent study from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has made this clear.

This study examined 218 traffic locations in Massachusetts that have seen at least 500 motor vehicle crashes between the years of 2019 and 2023.  The objective was to identify which locations involved the highest percentage of fatalities from motor vehicle accidents.  Statistically, these are the most unsafe areas to drive in Massachusetts.  Not a pleasant topic – especially for the family and friends of those killed or injured in these locations. So, here is what can be called the “Massachusetts Traffic Fatalities Hall of Shame.”  I call it the Hall of Shame because many of these cities and towns were aware of these dangerous roads in their communities, but apparently did not take effective action to correct them.  This despite the fact that proactive measures can be taken to reduce these tragedies, as there were 11 towns that were part of the MassDOT study that didn’t record a single fatal roadway accident between 2019 and 2023.  Obviously, those cities and towns are doing something right.

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As a Massachusetts catastrophic injury attorney, I see the real-life consequences of a lot of terrible accidents that were caused by someone else’s negligence.  I see these consequences in the eyes and the lives of my clients, who have to bear these consequences, sometimes for the rest of their lives.  Often these catastrophic accidents involve the death of the victim, and that is always a tragedy.

But each case is unique, and sometimes the tragedy is even more pronounced.  That appears to be the case in the death of Robinson Lalin, a 39 year-old father of five children.  Mr. Lalin was killed this past Sunday early morning when, according to all reports as of today, his arm became trapped in a Red Line subway car as it exited the Broadway T Station.  According to reports, Mr. Lalin was dragged to the end of the platform to his death, his arm being severed before his torso was crushed by the train’s exterior walls.  The damage to his body was so severe that his funeral services will reportedly not allow for an open casket.

Mr. Lain’s family is demanding answers from the T as to how this horrific event could have happened.  And so far, they aren’t getting much.  The T has reportedly only issued comments that both the operator of the train involved, and the train car itself, have been “removed from service.”  Other than that, the T has been tight-lipped.  The federal National Transportation Safety Board has now become involved.

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Reports tonight of a construction worker death in partial collapse of a Boston Government Center garage.  Yet one more awful example of just how dangerous construction site jobs are.  Prayers to the family of the victim.  A lawsuit will certainly follow here, and I hope the family is guided by the best legal talent that they can find.  As  a Boston construction site fatality attorney, I know how these cases “go”, and they demand the best legal talent available, or the victims’ families suffer even more.

Update:  Just learned that the name of the victim is Peter Monsini,  He had apparently been a construction worker for more than 20 years, and was the father to a teenage son.  https://bit.ly/3JPd5qO

This is a typically awful story – construction site fatalities always are.  This may sound insensitive, but in fact it’s the very opposite:  As soon as Mr. Monsini’s family can possibly can muster their strength, they must recover their clear-thinking, and take the critical steps needed to hire the “right” law firm for the wrongful death lawsuit that will follow here.   The “right” Boston construction accident law firm for a case like this, is not one that has handled just “a few” of these cases.  They will need to speak with a construction site death law firm that can prove that they have handled many of these death cases – and , most importantly, that they can prove that they won those cases, securing the highest financial damages possible for the victim’s family. 

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Breaking news reports tonight of a construction worker killed in the collapse of a Government Center garage that was being worked on.  https://boston.cbslocal.com/2022/03/26/government-center-garage-collapse-haymarket-construction-worker-dead-crane/.

Prayers to the family.  This is just one more awful example of just how dangerous construction site jobs are.  Almost certainly, a lawsuit will follow here for damages in this person’s death.   I hope the family finds the best legal talent out there:  As a Boston construction site fatality attorney, I know from experience how these cases “go” – and the defendants fight these cases, tooth and nail.

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For nearly the past four months, our way if life in this state and country has been turned almost completely upside down.  We’ve been forced in to “lockdown”, workplaces shut, schools closed for months on end, and everyone required to “practice social distancing”.  Now it’s summer, with its glorious heat and long, lazy days, and people just want to get outside, play, and have a good time, with many opting for “staycations” instead of travel.

And having a good time in the summer while staying at home, often means backyard water sports of some kind – usually swimming pools, whether inground or above-ground.

Yet, hidden among the fun and enjoyment that so many people understandably seek in swimming pools and watersports during summer, tragedy can occur.  Actually,while water sports injuries are not as common as other types of accidents such as car accidents, truck accidents, nursing home injuries and other types of injuries, Massachusetts swimming pool accidents happen more than most people might think.  The reasons for this make it no surprise why this is so.

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Understandably, we are receiving a high number of calls from clients, friends and potential new clients who are worried about their loved ones in Massachusetts nursing homes, long-term care facilities, rehabilitation facilities, and assisted living facilities.  A number of these facilities throughout the state have recently been reported to exhibit troubling rates of COVID-19 infection, and possible violations of state and federally imposed health, safety and infection control protocols.  The worries that these families are experiencing is made even worse due to the fact that visitors to nursing homes and long-term care facilities, are restricted during the current stay-at-home orders – even family members (absent an emergency).  Stress doesn’t begin to describe what many families and loved ones have been experiencing as result of all this.

In response, the state has set up a dedicated Nursing Home Family Resource line, available 7 days a week from 9am-5pm.  That number is: (617) 660-5399.  Regulations recently enacted make it mandatory that nursing homes report COVID-19 cases to residents,  families of residents, and to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Additionally, we have published additional COVID-19 information at our website at:  www.kickhamlegal.com.   If you call the above Nursing Home Family Resource line and don’t get the answers or results that you feel you need, and you want to speak with a law firm that specializes in nursing home neglect or abuse, please feel free to call us at either phone number on this page or send us a contact form.  We will help you any way that we can, and there is no charge at all to speak with us.

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While we’ve all been hearing about Coronavirus for the past two weeks or so, this past week has seen the most drastic and impacting of events surrounding this subject.  Seemingly, almost everything has been shut down around us: Important government offices & agencies, colleges & universities , grammar & high schools, sports games, businesses left & right. Uncertainty seems to be the order of the day, and unfortunately, it may continue to be this way for some time.

Regardless of this virus and the measures being taken to deal with it, people will still suffer accidents and injuries during this period of uncertainty. As a result, our office has been receiving a lot of calls from existing and potential new clients, wanting to know if they could still meet with me as their cases move forward, or if other legal problems suddenly develop. The answer is, yes.  No one here has tested positive for this virus, and so long as clients that need to meet with me also have not tested positive for this virus, I am happy to meet with you at your home, as my website advertises, and obviously also speak with you by phone. No one who is facing a serious legal problem or issue should delay speaking with or meeting with an attorney due to this present issue.

In addition, the Massachusetts Trial Court has issued Standing Orders that limit in-court appearances to emergency matters that cannot be heard through videoconferencing or teleconferencing and those notices can be found by clicking here.

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Welcome to the New World of transportation. A taxi?  What’s that? Most people now turn to their smartphone for an Uber (or Lyft) ride. Actually, the New World of ride-sharing services (“Transportation Network Companies”, as they’re known legally), have been around since about 2016 or so. While many people are familiar with how they can summon and pay for a ride-sharing service on their smartphones, very few people know how the legal system works in Massachusetts if they are injured either while a passenger in an Uber or Lyft ride, or hit and injured as a pedestrian by an Uber or Lyft driver. This is a really important topic.

Actually, “old-style” taxis and cabs, are a good jumping-off point to discuss the legal and liability insurance differences with ride-sharing services. I’ll try not to bore you here, so here’s the short version: Because of the powerful political influence that the conventional taxi industry carried on Beacon Hill for many, many years, taxis and cabs in Massachusetts were only required to carry bare minimums in bodily injury liability insurance coverage on their vehicles – a paltry $20,000 in liability coverage. An amount that low would barely cover the bills and expenses that a person injured in a Massachusetts taxi accident would likely face: Hospital & medical bills, lost wages and compensation for pain & suffering. For many years, if you were injured in or by a taxi, you’d have to hope that your damages were very low.

Thankfully, that liability picture has changed with the explosion of ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft. Now, if an Uber driver in Massachusetts is negligent and causes an accident that results in someone’s injury, passengers and pedestrians have expanded legal options in seeking compensation for their injuries. The Massachusetts Ride Sharing Bill, which became law in August 2016, created the state’s first regulations for ride-sharing services like Uber. Under this law, such drivers must now carry at least $50,000 of coverage for bodily injury claims per individual, a minimum of $100,000 of coverage for bodily injury claims per accident and $30,000 of coverage for property damage, uninsured motorist coverage and personal injury protection. (We can explain all those to you  when you call us.) The transportation network company must pay for excess insurance coverage, above those limits. The cost of this liability insurance coverage is shared by both Uber corporate and individual Uber drivers. A massive improvement from the measly $20,000 of coverage that the taxi industry got away with for years, no? That’s great news! As Massachusetts Uber accident lawyers, that enables us to obtain far higher financial damages and compensation for clients injured in Uber accidents.

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By now, millions of people have learned about how, in seeming staccato fashion, dozens of homes in North Andover, Andover and South Lawrence Massachusetts literally blew up, one after another, yesterday (September 13.)  Fire, police, and disaster crews from across northeastern Massachusetts poured in to these communities in response.  As of right now, there has been one fatality reported – a young man – 18 year-old Leonel Rondon of Lawrence, was killed when a home on Chickering Road exploded, causing the chimney to collapse on a car that Rondon was in, inside the driveway of that home.  A photo of the boy is below.  Other fatalities may follow.

News helicopters observing from the sky have commented that these communities looked like they were bombed by enemy airplanes, strafing the region.  The word “Armageddon” has been used by more than one source to describe the devastation, which from accounts issued so far, would indeed replicate house after house, exploding one after the other, as if either on timers or bombed from above.   I hope to observe some of the damage myself, but rescue and safety crews will likely mean that aerial news footage will have to suffice, for now.

MEMA Director Kurt Schwartz stated that emergency crews have so far responded to somewhere between 60 and 80 fires, and multiple explosions within a brief time frame.

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As I write this post, I am on Cape Cod, in the early hours of July 4 2018, having spent a glorious, happy day on the Cape Cod National Seashore. I am, with thousands of other people, celebrating our nation’s Independence Day. Everyone seems happy.

Yet, hidden among the pleasure, happiness and enjoyment that bring so many people to Cape Cod in summer, tragedy can occur . It happened most recently within a subject matter that I have blogged about previously: The subject of swimming pool accidents, and of how dangerous swimming pools actually are. In fact, while they are nowhere near as common as other types of accidents such as car accidents, truck accidents, or slip-and-fall accidents, Massachusetts swimming pool accidents are not exactly rare. Swimming pool injures are quite common, and when the reasons for this are examined, it’s not surprise why these types of injuries happen. Continue reading