Articles Posted in Drunk Driving in Massachusetts

Drunken driving deaths in Massachusetts are reportedly down significantly, according to the latest report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In fact, the rate has dropped so sharply, it’s down by almost three times the national average.

The NHTSA indicates of the 326 people killed in motor vehicle accidents in Massachusetts in 2013, there were 118 who lost their lives in alcohol-related crashes. That figure represents a 15 percent drop from 2012, which saw alcohol-related traffic deaths dip by 8.5 percent from the year before that.

As noted by a state lobbyist for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, while that kind of decline is encouraging and welcome, the deaths of 118 people is “nothing to celebrate.”
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A significant element of damages in a wrongful death lawsuit is the element of pre-death pain and suffering. Compared to other elements of damage, such as lost wages and medical expenses, this element can be tough to prove.

Still, it can result in a substantial amount of compensation. Mass. General Laws c. 229-6 allows for recovery of damages for conscious suffering.

Other states grant the same allowance. But in order to prove it, one must show decedent was alive and in pain for a time prior to dying.
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Every year around the holidays, we tend to see more drunk drivers out on the roads. New Year’s Eve probably has more drunk drivers on the road at any given time than any other day during the holiday season. Many people spend the day drinking and watching college football, and then get behind the wheel to drive to a restaurant or party where they will be doing more drinking before driving home. To some it seems like nearly everyone is driving drunk. Safety in numbers is not a defense to drunk driving nor does it make the extremely dangerous conduct any less negligent.

According to a recent news report from the Daily Journal, a man was driving just after midnight when he is alleged to have nearly hit a police K9 unit. Police say defendant drove through a stop sign and raced towards the car in front of him. A police officer who witnessed this, turned on his emergency lights and tried to pull over the suspect fearing he would also drive through the upcoming intersection.

Police then say suspect’s car came to a complete stop and the intersection but the car in front of suspect continued through the intersection and made a U-turn. This vehicle turned out to be the K9 officer.
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According to a news article in the Boston Herald, a suspected drunk driver crashed his car into a series of equipment operated by the utility company in East Boston. The alleged drunk driving accident occurred around 4 a.m.

Witnesses reported downed power lines, transformers, and multiple downed telephone poles as a result of the crash. The downed power equipment caused police and firefighters to close Route 1A to all traffic through in East Boston following the accident. Route 1A is the main access road to Boston Logan International Airport as well as towns north of Boston.

It has also been reported another accident occurred when a car crashed into the downed power equipment. An alleged drunk driver was arrested for driving his white pickup truck without a license, and operating a motor vehicle under the influence (OUI) of intoxicating liquor or drugs, and is scheduled to be arraigned at the East Boston District Court.
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It should come as no surprise people do things while drunk they would not ordinarily do while sober. However, being intoxicated is not a defense to their negligent actions. In fact, it is the very basis for establishing negligence in drunk driving accident lawsuits.
According to a recent news article from the Boston Herald, one alleged intoxicated driver is said to have “played chicken” with police during his drunk driving arrest. Authorities say a 42-year-old defendant was recently arrested on his fifth drunk driving charge.

Defendant is alleged to have crashed his truck into two parked cars. When police first found defendant around 1:30 a.m., he allegedly rammed one of the responding officer’s police cruisers with his truck and tried to drive away. Police chased defendant to Malden, Massachusetts, where officers say he aimed his truck at second police cruiser.

At this point, defendant is said to have tried to crash into the police car, but the officer managed to swerve to avoid a collision. When the police officer swerved his car, he crashed into a curb and blew a tire. Defendant is then alleged to have driven away on bare rims, as he had four flat tires and did not stop until driving into the Malden River. Once the car was in a few feet of water, defendant got out of the car and was wading in the water until being caught by police. He was taken to a local hospital.
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Every year, we tend to see an increase in drunk driving crashes around the holidays. One of the reasons is that people tend to drink more during the holidays. Sometimes it a festive occasion such as an office holiday party, and other times it is due to an underlying problem with alcohol and depression that is often more severe during the holiday season. When this increased drinking is combined with increased travel, as normally occurs during the holiday season, we end up with more alcohol-related car accidents. Some of the drunk driving accidents are fatal.

According to a recent news article from the Boston Herald, a fire fighter and senior citizen were both killed in separate drunk driving accidents in towns around Boston. The first accident involved a well-loved firefighter who defendant hit with his van. Victim and his fiancée, both 62 years old, were hit by the car. Police say victim was found lying in the road. He was found face down having sustained serious head injuries. His fiancée is expected to survive the accident. Defendant in this case is alleged to have admitted to authorities he had been drinking earlier in the night at two different establishments. Barnstable County prosecutors charged defendant with motor vehicle homicide involving drunk driving. Prosecutors also charged defendant with drunk driving involving serious personal injury.
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Around the holidays we tend to see some pretty strange behavior. This is especially true when dealing with drunk driving arrests. During this past Halloween, we saw a woman dressed as a Zombie get arrested twice for drunk driving in the same night while in full costume. According to a recent news article from the Gothamist, a man dressed as one of Santa’s elves was arrested for driving drunk in New Jersey this holiday season. Authorities have alleged defendant was passed out drunk behind the wheel of a motor vehicle after a long night of partying. He was dressed as an elf at the time of his arrest.

Police found the 23-year-old driver dressed as elf in a store’s loading dock in his car with the engine running, lights on, and radio turned up to full volume. He was wearing what police describe as a red shirt and pants and a white ruffled collar.
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