Boston Drunk Driving Accidents

September 15, 2025

Massachusetts Wraps “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over”: What It Means for Victims and Families

Massachusetts closed out the annual Labor Day impaired-driving enforcement wave on September 1 as part of the national “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign. At Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers, we recognize the effectiveness of high-visibility patrols, sobriety checkpoints, and public education efforts in preventing tragedies. When a crash does happen, they can also shape the evidence, the criminal charges, and the path to civil recovery. Below, we explain what the campaign is, why it runs in late August through Labor Day, how it connects to Massachusetts crash trends, and what steps victims should take after an impaired-driving collision.

What the enforcement wave is and when it ran in 2025

Each summer, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration coordinates a nationwide crackdown on impaired driving around Labor Day. In 2025, the enforcement period ran from August 15 to September 1, supported by paid and earned media that encouraged drivers to plan a sober ride. You likely saw messages like “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” and “Ride Sober or Get Pulled Over” across television, radio, digital platforms, and highway signs.

August 29, 2025

Drunk Driving Victims: Late-Summer 2025 Developments

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Late summer is a dangerous time on American roads and waterways. From mid-August through Labor Day, alcohol related crashes historically spike as travel, celebrations, and late nights increase. This year is no exception. Our drunk driving victims’ attorneys are tracking high-profile cases, new enforcement waves, and policy changes that matter to victims and their families. In this update, we walk through what happened in August and early September 2025, what these developments mean for your rights, and how we build strong civil cases for those harmed by impaired drivers.

What Happened in August 2025: A Snapshot of Tragedy and Accountability

Across the country, police and prosecutors announced charges in several heart-wrenching crashes. In Houston, two young men visiting friends were killed when an allegedly intoxicated driver slammed into their vehicle in Midtown. Prosecutors brought murder charges, reflecting how seriously Texas treats extreme intoxication and reckless conduct that causes deaths. Families and classmates held vigils and called for accountability.

June 17, 2025

Understanding Your Rights as a Victim of Drunk Driving in Massachusetts

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

The Human and Legal Cost of Impaired Driving

Every year in the Commonwealth, crashes caused by drivers under the influence shatter lives and place an enormous financial and emotional burden on victims and their families. Massachusetts law recognizes that innocent people injured by drunk driving deserve not only compassion but robust legal remedies that make them whole and deter future misconduct. This article explains those remedies from the vantage point of a Boston personal injury practice dedicated to protecting victims’ rights. Our Boston drunk driving team at Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers has recovered compensation for crash survivors across the Commonwealth. We provide the following overview as a public service resource, not as individualized legal advice.

Massachusetts Drunk-Driving Statutes: A Foundation for Your Civil Claim

June 28, 2019

Tragic Motorcycle Fatalities Blamed on Massachusetts Commercial Driver

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

The head of the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles resigned this week after revelations that the department should have already suspended the commercial driver’s license of the man responsible for killing seven motorcycle riders in a horrific crash last weekend.

The car hauler he was driving collided with a group of motorcycle riders who were veterans and members of the Marine Jarheads motorcycle club enroute with their spouses to a nearby fundraiser. The defendant, a 23-year-old Springfield truck driver, has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of vehicular homicide.

Massachusetts Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack announced the resignation of Erin Deveney, registrar of the Massachusetts RMV, effective immediately after revelations the trucker was able to keep his Massachusetts commercial operator’s license, despite a history of serious traffic infractions, including a drunk driving arrest last month in Connecticut. Even more recently, WCVB-TV reported Tuesday, he was involved in a June 3 rollover crash on an interstate in Texas. He also was arrested for drunk driving in 2013, and had his license suspended.

May 27, 2019

Record Number of Convicted Drunk Drivers on Boston Roads

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Boston is among the cities with the highest number of convicted drunk drivers on the roads, according to a new study by the insurance industry.

The report by QuoteWizard found Boston has the second highest number of drivers with drunk driving convictions of any city in the United States.

While it might sound like good news, and evidence of tough enforcement, our drunk driving injury attorneys in Boston know the number of drunk driving arrests only serves to illustrate the true extent of the problem. Most people convicted of drunk driving have previously driven drunk at least 80 times.

April 22, 2019

Graduation Season Increases Drunk Driving Risks in Massachusetts

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

May is graduation season and is often a time of great joy and family gatherings.

Don’t let irresponsible use of alcohol or drugs turn the season into a tragedy.

There are more than 100 high schools in Suffolk, Norfolk, Bristol, Plymouth and Middlesex counties. And the Boston area is home to more than 50 colleges and universities, including Boston University, Harvard, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Our drunk driving injury lawyers in Boston urge parents and party hosts to take seriously the responsibility of safe hosting this graduation season. While additional liability can result from serving alcohol to those under age 21, even those hosting graduation parties for college students can face significant liability when an intoxicated guest causes injury, whether as a result of a motor-vehicle collision, assault or by other means.

March 20, 2019

Spring is Most Dangerous Time for Teen Drunk Driving Accidents

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

It is the most dangerous time of the year on the roads for young drivers, and alcohol is a factor in a significant number of these crashes.

From spring break until the end of graduation season, teenagers and young adults will be celebrating newfound freedoms, hitting the road with friends, and attending parties and family gatherings. Our drunk driving injury lawyers urge parents and friends to reduce the risk of tragedy by talking openly to young people about the dangers of driving intoxicated, and by being a proper role model.

And it’s not just alcohol that is cause for concern. As we’ve reported, the opioid crisis and increasingly permissive marijuana laws continue to increase the risk of a collision with a drugged driver. The Spring Break season began with an editorial in the Boston Herald that suggests drugged driving is now as serious a problem as drunk driving.

February 21, 2019

Who Pays for Massachusetts Drunk Driving Crashes?

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Gov. Charlie Baker is recommending adoption of a state panel’s recommendation of a series of efforts to combat drunk driving. The measures target marijuana specifically, and would revoke a driver’s license for refusal to submit to testing when suspected of driving under the influence of marijuana.

The commission, which included law enforcement, defense attorneys and civil rights activists, made 19 recommendations in response to passage of the 2016 ballot initiative that legalized recreational marijuana. Our Boston injury lawyers have written about the increasing risk of traffic collisions with intoxicated motorists under the influence of a substance other than alcohol. Such risks continue to increase because of relaxed marijuana laws and the opioid epidemic.

Recommendations include more drug-intoxication training for officers and changes aimed at better enforcement of marijuana possession and open-container laws.

July 18, 2018

Congressional Candidate Hit by Drunk Driver in Fatal Collision

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to recent news article from CNN, Katie Arrington was involved in a fatal drunk driving collision as she was on the campaign trail to be a South Carolina representative in the U.S. House. In this accident, the alleged drunk driver hit her head-on and died as a result of the accident. Arrington was left with serious personal injuries and spent time in the hospital.

Authorities have alleged the 69-year-old female driver was operating her motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .153 grams of ethanol per hundred milliliters of blood. This is nearly two times the legal limit of 0.08. The legal limit is 0.08 not only in the jurisdiction in which this alleged fatal drunk driving accident occurred, but also across the nation, including Boston. Continue reading

June 20, 2018

Boston Drunk Driving Accidents involving Commercial Vehicles

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Most Boston drunk driving accidents involve one or more personally owned vehicle. They also typically occur late at night or in the overnight hours after the bars close since this is the most likely time for someone to be out on the road while drunk. While this is certainly the norm in terms of Boston drunk driving crashes, it is not the only time drunk driving accidents occur in Boston and around the nation and not every accident involves personal vehicles.

In some cases, we have seen drivers of vehicles, such as a semi tractor trailer or other large commercial vehicle, involved in a Massachusetts drunk driving collision. Because of the size of these commercial vehicles, there is so much weight that is transferred into energy in a crash that smaller vehicles and pedestrians or bike riders do not really stand a chance. These vehicles also take a lot longer to stop than a standard passenger vehicle. Continue reading