Articles Posted in Drunk Driving in Massachusetts

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A high-profile Boston drunk driving case recently resulted in conviction, just ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday – the No. 1 holiday for drunk driving deaths nationally. While public derision and criminal penalties can serve as powerful deterrents, it doesn’t necessarily make drunk driving victims whole. That’s why our Boston drunk driving accident attorneys are committed to fighting for compensation for victims. Note that civil lawsuits will be handled entirely separate from the criminal case, and a criminal case conviction won’t necessarily result in a civil case win. That’s why you need an experienced DUI injury lawyer.

By now many residents in the Greater Boston area have heard about the DUI arrest that led to a major scandal with the Massachusetts State Police (MSP).  According to a recent news report from the Boston Globe, the daughter of a local judge was detained following an alleged drunk driving accident in Framingham, Massachusetts.  Prosecutors alleged that the arresting state trooper wrote in his police report that the defendant admitted to performing sexual acts for drugs or money and also offered to provide sexual acts on the trooper if he would give her a break on the operating under the influence of liquor and drugs charge she was about to face.

Boston drunk driving accident Prosecutors say the trooper declined her offer and put all this in his report along with her allegedly telling him that her dad was a judge and, “would kill her” if he read what she said in the police report. At this point, prosecutors alleged the trooper was pressured by the state police colonel to remove these allegations from the police report to spare her and her father the embarrassment. There were also requests to remove the allegations from the report with the office of the district attorney. There have been no allegations that her father participated in any way with these efforts to redact the police report.   Her father did however, come to the MSP barracks and picked her up and found her fading in and out of consciousness.  The MSP Colonel resigned in connection with this scandal.  Continue reading

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Boston drunk driving car accidents sometimes involve a driver who attempts to flee the scene following the accident.  In some cases, the at-fault driver’s car is still running and able to move and they will try to get away in the vehicle.  In other cases, the defendant’s car will be totaled from the Boston drunk driving car crash and he or she will try to flee the scene on foot.  Even if they are eventually caught, the thinking process appears to be that they will no longer be intoxicated so it will be harder to prove a drunk driving criminal case.  When a driver leaves on foot, it is not too difficult for the police to catch them if the car is registered in their name.

drunk driving accidentIn some Boston drunk driving crashes where the driver flees the scene, he or she will never be caught.  When this occurs, car accident victims may have to find other sources of recovery than the at-fault driver’s car insurance company.  When the diver flees the scene and is not found, we typically call this a John Doe driver case. Continue reading

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A lawsuit filed after a drunk driving accident in Boston is a civil action where defendant may be held liable and the plaintiff awarded monetary damages. The same is not true in a criminal action.  However, unlike with many other Boston personal injuries, the tortious act in question is also illegal, so the defendant will likely be facing one or more criminal charges in a separate case.

Boston drunk driving crashEven though the criminal case and civil drunk driving lawsuit are separate cases, the criminal case can have major effects on the civil personal injury case.  The way this typically works is that following a Boston drunk driving crash, the police will be called to investigate, and if they suspect the at-fault driver was operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol (OUI), the officer will conduct a drunk driving investigation consistent with the officer’s training and experience and the DWI Detection guidelines established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which have been adopted by law enforcement agencies around the nation.

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Losing a family member in a Boston drunk driving accident can have such a devastating effect on the surviving family members. The emotional pain and mental suffering is unbearable, but the financial losses are crushing as well. These losses include medical expenses, lost wages and loss of potential future income and benefits. To compensate one surviving family, a defendant in one recent case agreed to a $4.8 million settlement, according to a recent news article from Fox News.

DUI Ignition InterlockThis was a very high-profile alleged drunk driving case in which the defendant was Amy Locane, who is an actress best know for her work in the 1990s cult classic musical “Cry Baby,” as well as a major role in the first season of the popular series, “Melrose Place.”  The fatal alleged drunk driving car crash occurred in 2010. Locane received a 2.5-year prison sentence, but that wasn’t enough to compensate the family of the 60-year-old decedent. Thus, they pursued a civil case. Much of the settlement payout will be derived from the hosts of the party where Locane was drinking prior to the crash, under the theory of social host liability.  Continue reading

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The clear majority of Boston car accident cases are purely civil matters.  The at-fault driver will likely get a citation for one of more moving violations such as failure to stay in the proper lane, or one of the others listed in Massachusetts General Laws (M.G.L.) Chapter 90C.

Boston drunk driving accidentsHowever, unless the driver was intoxicated by alcohol or drugs, or doing something extremely reckless like participating in an illegal street race, there will not be any criminal charges filed.  Continue reading

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When people talk about drunk driving crashes in Boston, they often call them drunk driving accidents.  While it is okay to use this term, as discussed in a recent article from The Chronicle of Higher Education, these are generally someone’s fault, and therefore, the proper term should be drunk driving crashes, as this does not indicate a lack of blame. The truth is, these collisions occur because of specific choices made by the driver. The offense of operating under the influence (OUI), as defined in MGL c. 90 s.24, is to drive a vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor and/ or with a blood-alcohol concentration that meets or exceeds 0.08. To do so is not only a criminal offense, it is a breach of one’s duty to passengers, other motorists and pedestrians to use reasonable care on the roads.

Boston car accident lawyer In keeping up with the changing terminology, Waze, one of the most popular navigation apps, has begun using the word “crash” when explaining a road hazard ahead that involves a motor vehicle collision.  Continue reading

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According to a recent news article from Boston.com, a man was just arrested in the greater Boston area after allegedly crashing his car.  When the police ran his driving record and arrest history through the computer on the cruiser, they saw that he allegedly had 18 prior offenses for drunk driving.

Boston drunk driving crashIn this particular accident, authorities say the defendant crashed his motor vehicle into a utility pole.  The 58-year-old man was driving his 2005 Toyota Scion at around 8 p.m. when the crash occurred, and the reason for the crash was that he failed to handle a curve in the road and allegedly left the road surface and crashed into the large utility pole.  Continue reading

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There is often a distinction between what actually happened and what can be proven in a court of law. This is because of the complex rules of evidence and trial practice that come into play during a civil drunk driving crash lawsuit in Boston. In some cases, the alleged drunk driving accident is actually captured on video, and that video may be introduced at trial in many circumstances.

Boston drunk driving According to a recent news article from CBS Local Boston, an alleged drunk driving car accident in Cohasset was captured on video by bystanders in a vehicle traveling behind the suspected drunk driving. Continue reading

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Drunk driving involves acting with an extreme risk towards the safety of oneself and others. The tort underlying a Boston drunk driving lawsuit is negligence which involves breaching one’s duty of care towards plaintiff in a manner that causes damages to others.  The four elements of negligence are duty, breach, causation, and damages. Causation can be further broken down into actual and proximate cause.

Boston drunk driving lawyerActual cause is also known as “but for” causation. This is where the harm incurred (damages) would not have happened absent defendant’s negligent conduct. One example would be where defendant is negligent in fixing plaintiff’s brakes.  Plaintiff is unable to stop in time at a red light and goes through the intersection where he or she T-bone’s another vehicle causing serious damage. Had the mechanic not been negligent in fixing the brakes, plaintiff would have stopped in time and the accident would not have occurred.  We could say that “but for” the mechanic’s negligence in fixing the breaks, the accident would not have occurred. This is actual causation. Continue reading

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Drunk driving is a dangerous crime that has caused hundreds of thousands of serious injuries and deaths over the last several decades. It is a somewhat unique offense in that it is sometimes committed by those who view themselves as average, law-abiding citizens who made a temporary lapse in judgment. For a long time, our legislature and courts held the same view, as reflected in light penalties for convictions.

But times are changing. Laws are becoming more stringent. Drunk driving accident victims often have many options when it comes to pursuing justice and compensation for the harm inflicted by impaired motorists.

Boston drunk driving lawyerWhile we know that drunk driving is illegal and dangerous, lets look at what it means to cause a drunk driving accident. In our legal system, the four elements of negligence are duty, breach, causation and damages.  Duty refers to the duty of care to act as a reasonable and prudent person so as to prevent a foreseeable injury to foreseeable persons and property.  A breach of this duty is failing to act in this reasonable and prudent manner, and that breach must cause damages to the plaintiff. Continue reading

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