Drunk Driving in Massachusetts

January 5, 2016

Drugged Driving Suit Shows Boston Drivers The Real Risks of Getting Behind the Wheel Impaired

Drivers have become aware of dangers associated with drunk driving thanks to decades of education and advocacy by groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Unfortunately, while the DUI death rate due to impaired drivers has gone down, the number of people who drive under the influence of drugs is rising. Driving while drugged is often just as dangerous (or more dangerous) and just as illegal as driving while under the influence of alcohol. Unfortunately, motorists underestimate the risks and aren’t aware of how impairing it can be to operate a motor vehicle after consuming prescription or non-prescription medications.

As medical marijuana legalization moves through more states in the U.S. and as baby boomers age and prescription drug use becomes ever-more common, lawmakers are grappling with how to establish and enforce DUI laws for narcotics use. However, motorists need to make a commitment now to staying sober and not getting behind the wheel when they’ve either drank too much or consumed drugs that cause impairment. To help encourage motorists to understand risks of impaired driving and to make the necessary commitment to staying sober, Ford has created a drugged driving suit.

January 4, 2016

Boston Suburb Gets Grant to Increase Drunk Driving Patrols

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

The time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s is historically the most dangerous period of the year in terms of serious drunk driving accidents and drunk driving fatalities. According to a recent news report from the Concord Patch, the town of Concord, Massachusetts has recently received a grant to increase drunk driving patrols this holiday season.

Specifically, this campaign is called “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” and the Concord Police Department will be part of an effort with 201 other law enforcement agencies trying to significantly reduce the number of drunk driving accidents this holiday season. Continue reading

December 18, 2015

State Rep. Arrested for “Super Drunk Driving”

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the legal limit a driver’s blood alcohol content (BAC) when getting behind the wheel of motor vehicle is 0.08 grams of alcohol per hundred milliliters of blood. This is the legal limit across the United States due to the lobbying efforts of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and others in support of cutting down on drunk driving fatalities in the nation.

Technically, the United States federal government does not have authority to create a mandatory blood alcohol limit in each of the several states because of the 10^th Amendment states rights provision. However, Congress does have a enumerated plenary power to tax and spend for the general welfare of the American people. It is the spending clause that allows for a national drinking age and a national blood alcohol limit. Congress can give highway-funding grants to the states as its members see fit. If they wish to tie receipt of federal highway funding grants to the state’s choice to institute a specific law, they have the right to do so without violating the 10^th Amendment. This is how Congress was able to a pass a national BAC limit in an attempt to curb drunk driving accidents, including drunk driving fatal accidents, in the United States. Continue reading

December 15, 2015

Massachusetts Man Convicted for Fatal DUI Accident

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

A drunk driving car accident that results in a serious personal injury or a fatality is at its essence a civil personal injury lawsuit filed under a theory of negligence or wrongful death under negligence. The first element in any negligence case in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is that the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff. This means that defendant was obligated to act as a reasonable and prudent person to prevent foreseeable harm to foreseeable persons and property.

Generally speaking in our legal system, a person does not owe a duty of due care toward others unless he or she has a legal obligation, contractual obligation, or a fact-based obligation. Everyone who gets a driver’s license at the RMV in Massachusetts, or at the counterpart agency in their own states, most typically called a DMV, signs a document (usually electrically) in which they agree to abide by all traffic regulations and drive in a reasonable and prudent manner. This means everyone who has a drivers’ license has a generally duty of care toward all other drivers and pedestrians on the road. Continue reading

November 25, 2015

Driver Charged with Criminal Offenses Following Fatal Mansfield Car Accident

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent news article from My Fox Boston, a 67-year-old driver from Norton, Massachusetts has been arrested and charged with motor vehicle homicide and operating a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs (OUI) after allegedly making “intentional contact” with another vehicle.

Authorities are saying the driver intentionally hit another car near an exit along Interstate 495. After this impact, the suspect allegedly hit victim’s car again and fled the scene of the accident. When the second collision occurred, authorities say the vehicle rolled over on the exit ramp, killing the victim. Continue reading

November 17, 2015

Seven-Car Accident in Stoughton Proves Fatal

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent news report from ABC Boston, one man died in seven-car accident, which occurred early one Sunday morning in Stoughton. Massachusetts State Police troopers were first called to the scene of the deadly accident in response to a report that a pedestrian was hit by car.

While it is still very early in their investigation, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts State Police said an older Acura was driving north on Route 24 when it crashed for a reason that is not yet know to authorities. As the car crashed, an occupant of the Acura was thrown clear of the vehicle and then was hit or run over by six cars in a row. The victim was 21 years of age at the time of this fatal traffic crash, and he was from Brockton, just south of Boston. Continue reading

September 8, 2015

Massachusetts Man Allegedly Crashed Stolen Car While Drunk Driving

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent news article from the Morning Sentinel, a Massachusetts man was arrested for driving a stolen motor vehicle while drunk and then crashing. Authorities say the 34-year-old defendant was heading northbound when another driver on the same road noticed he was driving in an erratic manner.

The other motorist called 911, because he was concerned about defendant possibly causing a serious car accident, based upon how he had been driving. A sheriff’s deputy responded to the dispatch, but by the time he located the suspect, the suspect had allegedly crashed. When the deputy arrived at the scene of the crash, he reports to having seen the suspect unloading things from the disabled vehicle and loading them into another car. Continue reading

August 7, 2015

Drunk Driving Accidents Involving Commercial Vehicles

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

While most drunk driving car accidents involved defendants operating a personal motor vehicle, some accidents involve an at-fault driver behind wheel of a large commercial vehicle, such a semi-tractor trailer or even a fully loaded dump truck carrying 80,000 pounds of gravel.

Large commercial motor vehicles take an extremely long time to stop, even under ideal conditions. For example, a loaded dump truck traveling at 55 mph would take more than a football field in length to come to a complete stop. When a driver is operating a large commercial vehicle and is tailgating a car in front of them, this is a recipe for disaster if the front car slams on its brakes. Continue reading

July 25, 2015

Sen. Chuck Schumer Pushes for National Vehicle Interlock Law

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

A vehicle ignition interlock is a device that some states require to be installed on the cars of repeat drunk driving offenders. The device consists of a breath test tube in which the driver must blow before starting the vehicle.

Originally, alcohol interlock devices were only used prior to starting the car. However, it became apparent that many intoxicated drivers were having a sober person blow into the tube, so they could start the car before driving away. This is what prosecutors call a “blow and go.” Now, the device can alert the driver at any time, and he or she is required to blow into the tube again to keep the car running. There were many who were concerned this could result in a serious danger to the driver if his or her vehicle shut down in a unsafe location and would not restart, but the companies manufacturing the devices say they have designed their respective systems say they were made in a way that will not occur. Continue reading

June 25, 2015

Boston 4th of July Celebrations Too Often Capped With Drunk Driving

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

All over America, people are gearing up to celebrate the July 4th holiday with family, fireworks, cookouts and, quite often, booze.

Generally, there is nothing wrong with adults imbibing in a few brews at a gathering. But there is nothing patriotic about getting behind the wheel after doing so.

Consistently, the Fourth of July has been labeled the most dangerous holiday of the year in terms of crashes.This has to do with the fact that most people are off work, usually for several days at a time, it’s summer time and people are more apt to not only drink but feel obligated to travel to more than one destination.