Car Accidents

April 13, 2018

When Should I Hire a Car Accident Lawyer?

When people are debating whether or not they should retain legal counsel for assistance in filing a claim following a car crash, the individuals are usually having one or more internal debates. In many cases, people have some initial doubts about whether an attorney would handle their case.

hire Boston personal injury attorney

If the accident does seem like the kind of case that a lawyer would handle, then the next concern is usually paying that attorney. Some people begin convincing themselves that they’ll be able to keep more of their money by handling cases themselves.

April 13, 2018

Driver Under the Influence Hits a Department of Natural Resources Officer

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

A Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Officer was struck Wednesday night, April 11, 2018, by a driver under the influence. The DNR officer had responded to a call regarding a lost seal. The seal was spotted near Onset Avenue.

The DNR officer was not injured in the crash, but the driver who was under the influence and struck the DNR officer was treated by Wareham EMS workers who then took the driver to local area Tobey Hospital for evaluation and treatment of his injuries. The extent of the driver’s injuries has not been released. He is being charged with operating while under the influence, as well as other charges.

The Wareham DNR driver had his warning lights flashing while he was sitting in his truck on Onset Avenue. He was trying to find a seal that had previously been seen nearby. The driver of the other vehicle struck the truck while attempting to drive past.

April 13, 2018

Multiple Lanes Closed on Route 93 In Woburn Due to Crash and Reported Injuries

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Major backups reported in Woburn due to a crash on Route 93 North. The crash caused both right lanes to be closed during rush hour traffic. The accident happened late afternoon on Thursday, April 12, 2018. Injuries have been reported by State Police at the crash near the interchange of Route 128. Only one travel lane remained open for the rush hour traffic.

The State Police reported that all lanes had been reopened and the scene was clear around 4:23 pm. Further details surrounding the cause of the accident and the injuries sustained have not yet been released.

Although the cause of the above accident has not been identified, car accidents can happen due to a myriad of factors, any place, any time. The leading cause of accidents across the United States is distracted drivers. With the use of and ease of access to technology, drivers are becoming more and more distracted. The more drivers are distracted, the more accidents and higher the severity the accidents will become.

April 13, 2018

Sexagenarian Injured by Turkey Crashing through her Windshield

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

“Turkey town” sees another car accident caused by a turkey flying through a windshield. On Friday the 13th of April, a 60-year old woman was driving on Route 25 in Wareham in the early hours of the morning when a turkey smashed through her windshield completely destroying it; her Volvo XC90 was towed from the scene. She was treated by Wareham EMS and the State Police were called.

This is the third such incident in as many weeks in this town. Wareham is known as “turkey town” because of the neighboring turkey farms.

April 13, 2018

Hit-and-Run Accident Sends Man to Hospital in Brockton

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

At noon on April 12^th, in Brockton, a vehicle attempted to make a left turn onto Nilsson Avenue from Warren Avenue and collided into a Honda Accord and another driver. The vehicle fled the scene and Brockton Police later uncovered it on Fulton Street where they learned it was reported stolen prior to the accident.

The triple car collision resulted in an injury the driver of the Honda Accord, who was ultimately hospitalized. The Honda Accord was smashed into a utility pole. There were several witnesses who gave their observations to the police.

April 13, 2018

Flatbed Truck Runs Over Man, Crashes Into Tree

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Earlier this afternoon, as two flatbed truck workers were loading a Honda Accord onto the tow truck, the truck began to roll and ran over one of the workers. He was taken away in an ambulance. The Pipo’s Towing truck ended up descending approximately 250 feet down hill. This occurred on Haviland Street in Worcester at around 1:30 p.m. There were several witnesses to the incident including the three women getting the Honda Accord towed.

The other Pipo’s Towing worker was also injured when, after attempting to jump into the tow truck to stop it from continuing to roll down hill further, he fell out of the truck onto the pavement. There were no further injuries when the truck came to rest against a tree that stopped it. The accident investigation team of the Worcester Police are investigating mechanical failure as a possible cause, among other factors.

March 14, 2018

Are Sunroofs Safe? Feature Grows in Popularity, But Regulations Stagnant

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

More than a dozen years ago, a teenager was paralyzed in a single-vehicle crash after being thrown from the closed sunroof of her sport utility vehicle. She and her family filed Hankins v. Ford in a federal court in Mississippi, alleging her severe personal injuries were the result of a defective sunroof that was unreasonably dangerous and defendant car maker was negligent in failing to warn them of the risk.

The case dragged on for years, but ultimately ended with Ford prevailing under the argument that there is no government regulation that requires a sunroof (even one that is closed) to keep occupants inside a vehicle, particularly in the event of a rollover crash.

Fast-forward to today, and there are still no government regulations that require sunroofs to be safer, despite the fact that there are hundreds of ejections via sunroof every single year. Continue reading

January 19, 2018

Releases of Liability Waivers in Personal Injury Settlements

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

If a plaintiff accepts any money from an insurance company following an accident which was not their fault, an insurance company may offer money in exchange for signing a general release and waiver of further liability in connection with the accident. Victims of an accident involving personal injury should not sign such a document or accept any money until first speaking with an experienced personal injury attorney to see if signing this document is really in their best injury, and in most case, signing the document is not.

If a person in involved a serious car accident in Boston, at-fault driver’s car insurance company will typically have a claims adjuster contact plaintiff, (or plaintiff’s family in cases where plaintiff is incapacitated) within 48-hours after the accident. These claims adjusters will generally act friendly, as if they are just trying to help. It is essential to understand they work for the insurer, not you. This means they do not necessarily have the injured party’s best interest in mind. They are tasked with settling cases for as little money as possible so their employers can make more money.

December 20, 2017

Compensation for Personal Injuries Caused by Assault and Battery

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

The term “accident” gets thrown around a lot when describing injuries no one intentionally set out to cause. However, the reality is most personal injury cases are the direct result of a failure by someone else to use reasonable care when they had a duty to do so. This is referred to as “negligence,” and it’s grounds to obtain compensation if you’re injured.

Negligence however, is not the only tort. A “tort” is the legal term for anything a defendant does to a plaintiff that results in some loss or damages for which plaintiff can seek “remedy” from defendant “tortfeasor,” or person who committed the tort. In addition to negligence and negligence-based torts, there is also an entirely different type of tortious conduct known as intentional torts.

Because we know that negligence essentially involves acting in an unreasonably careless manner so as to harm a plaintiff, intentional torts do not involve carelessness, but rather conduct characterized as intentional harm to plaintiff. So if you’re injured in a robbery or some other type of assault, you can sue your attacker for that too. (You can also, in some cases, sue the property owner where the crime occurred for negligent security, though that will be a negligence-based tort.)

July 8, 2017

Mechanics of a Boston Personal Injury Claim

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

We have all heard of personal injury claims and seen commercials for personal injury law firms. But other than just hearing the term personal injury, and knowing that you are trying to get compensated by the person who caused your injury, not all that much else is often understood by the average personal injury victim.

The Initial Consult in Boston Personal Injury Cases

During the initial consultation, the attorney will hear your story about what happened to you and how you were injured. He or she will likely ask about what medical treatment you are receiving and find out as much information as possible. This is a private and confidential meeting and there should be no cost to you. If any personal injury lawyer wants to charge you for an initial consultation, this might be cause for concern. Continue reading