Articles Posted in Drunk Driving in Massachusetts

Drunk-driving accidents are painful and shocking for everyone involved, especially when the accident results in an injury or death. For victims and their families, there are no answers. For alleged drunken drivers, the knowledge of being at fault for a deadly accident can be unbearable. In a drunk-driving case that went viral over the Internet last month, a man once in denial of the costs of his bad decision, made a YouTube video confessing his responsibility in a drunk driving accident that killed another man.

Drunk drivers face potential criminal as well as civil penalties. In the event of a drunk driving accident, our Massachusetts drunk driving accident attorneys are dedicated to protecting the rights of victims and their families. We will take a comprehensive approach to identify individuals and entities, including bar owners and others who may be responsible for a DUI accident. We are committed to holding drunk drivers responsible and to helping victims recover maximum compensation for their losses.

Many drivers are still drunk when apprehended at the scene of an accident. In an Ohio case, a driver was confronted at the hospital by police who informed him that he killed a man in a drunk driving accident. Police reported that he was angry and denial, shouting that he did not killing anyone and refused to provide a blood sample. When the driver sobered up, he quickly realized the severity of his actions and decided to take a different approach.
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Most reports featuring drinking and driving cases involve high-profile celebrity criminal cases or local DUI accidents. This week, a DUI case made national headlines after a jury awarded $5 million for punitive damages. While criminal charges are usually brought after DUI accidents, many people forget that victims are also entitled to pursue civil cases against negligent drivers and other entities that may be responsible for the accident.

Drinking and driving accidents are devastating and for victims, the consequences are irreversible. Our Massachusetts DUI accident attorneys are dedicated to raising awareness to reduce drinking and driving and to holding negligent drivers accountable. We take a strategic and aggressive approach to protect the rights of victims and their families. Civil claims allow victims to demonstrate negligence and to collect monetary damages for their losses resulting from an accident.

In a recent case, a jury awarded $5 million punitive damages to a family of a Maryland married couple who died after a Miccosukee tribal member slammed into their vehicle. The driver was sentenced to 12 years in prison after he plead guilty to 2 counts of manslaughter. The jury awarded the surviving children $30 million for pain and suffering and loss of parental guidance as well as $5 million in punitive damages.
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The statistics are in, and women are being involved in more and more drunk driving car accidents and arrests. According to The Century Council, the problem of drunk driving has predominantly been viewed as a man’s issue, but the tables are turning.

Female drunk driving has become a growing concern since the late ’80s. Just 20 years ago, women accounted for less than 10 percent of the nation’s drunk driving arrests. Since then, the proportion has increased dramatically, up about 30 percent from 1997 to 2007. Officials are looking deep into the problem to try and find solutions and to help better prioritize female drunk drivers in the context of the overall drunk driving problem.

Our Boston drunk driving accident lawyers understand that, generally speaking, women are less likely to drink than men. On the other hand, self-report data indicated that female drinking and driving behavior is mixed. There have been a number of explanations provided for the increase in female drunk driving arrests. Some say that it’s because of a declining trend in male arrests — making the female arrests more noticeable. Others say that it’s because of the changes in legal policy and enforcement practices — that there’s now a greater likelihood that law enforcement will detect and arrest female drunk drivers. Some have even said that it’s because women are more likely to be affected by alcohol, even at lower blood-alcohol concetrations (BAC) and because of the physiological differences. Many studies indicate that women have less alcohol metabolizing enzyme in their stomachs, as well as having smaller volumes of distribution.
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Sometimes there’s just no stopping drunk drivers — or so it seems. According to the Patriot Ledger, a 51-year-old man from New Bedford was arrested on his fourth drunk driving charge and for driving with a revoked driver’s license after he nearly slammed into the Back River Bridge in Weymouth.

The man was also charged with a marked lanes violation, refusing to identify himself, driving with an open container of alcohol and driving to endanger. It all happened shortly after 3:00 a.m. on Lincoln Street. When officers stopped the intoxicated driver, they reported that they could not understand him as his speech was “so extremely slurred.” While attempting to complete field sobriety tests, the driver allegedly almost fell down and was put under arrest when he “passed out lying across the cruiser’s rear seat.”

Our New Bedford drunk driving accident lawyers understand that this incident falls under the state’s Melanie’s Law, which means that anyone who is convicted of drunk driving in the state with a driver’s license that has already been revoked because of a drunk driving charge is required to serve a minimum mandatory jail sentence of one year. This law is in place to help to prevent repeat offenses. According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), about one-third of the drunk driving problem – arrests, crashes, deaths, and injuries – come from repeat offenders.
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Our Boston drunk driving accident lawyers know that it is extremely important to get drunk drivers off the road before they cause an accident or hurt themselves or others. Of course, the needs of the public to stop drunk drivers must be balanced against constitutional protections, including the right to be free from unlawful search and seizure.

Unfortunately, according to NECN.com, a decades-old law has created a loophole allowing for drunk drivers to get away with driving while impaired. The loophole has been described by police in Massachusetts as hamstringing law enforcement efforts aimed at “stopping the highway carnage caused by drunk drivers.” Safety advocates and law enforcement officials argue that the loophole needs to be changed to make the roads safer.
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In Massachusetts, Melanie’s Law requires those convicted of a second drunk driving offense to have an ignition interlock device installed in their vehicles. These repeat drunken driving offenders must keep the ignition interlock device installed for two years if they want their license reinstated.

Our Boston drunk driving accident lawyers know that ignition interlock devices help to prevent many accidents by preventing intoxicated motorists from getting behind the wheel. Now, advocates are urging Boston lawmakers to extend the ignition interlock requirement to any motorist who is convicted of drunk driving, even for a first offense.
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Driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs is a top cause of teen auto accidents, and unfortunately more teens than ever before may be getting behind the wheel when they are high. Studies show that even as the rates of teen drunk driving have declined in recent years, there has been an increase in the number of high school seniors who drive after smoking pot or who get into the car with someone who is high.

Our Boston drunk driving accident lawyers know that Massachusetts legalized medical-marijuana last year and that lawmakers both at the federal level and across the United States have been moving towards relaxing penalties or even decriminalizing marijuana use altogether. As the political climate changes regarding the use of marijuana, however, it is important to remember that driving high or getting in the car with someone who is high is both illegal and could be extremely dangerous.
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Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) began partnering with the National Football League (NFL) back in 2010 to help to curb drunk driving. Through game day initiatives, player and employee programs and awareness and community relations programs, officials are practicing efforts to combat this problem. But there is still more that needs to be done.

Each and every year, officials with the NFL and with MADD remind fans to play the most important position of the season — the designated driver. With this, they’re working to promote designated drivers through MADD-branded booths at games and sports facilities to remind fans about the importance of safe drinking habits.

Our Quincy drunk driving accident attorneys understand that officials with MADD and the NFL have been able to prevent more than 4,500 fatalities each year cause by teen alcohol use. Officials ask teen’s to check out MADD’s Power of You(th)® Facebook page and take the pledge to not drink before age 21 and also to never ride in a car with someone who has been drinking.
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Labor Day enforcement is coming a bit early this year, and it’s all thanks to a Massachusetts grant. According to the Boston Globe, officers stepped up their enforcement efforts back on the 16th and will be going full force through the Labor Day weekend. It was all made possible by a grant from the state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.

Our Massachusetts drunk driving accident lawyers understand that these funds aim to help get more officers on the road — and on the lookout for drunk drivers. These enforcement efforts will be focusing on very specific times of the week, including nighttime hours and weekends as that’s when we see the most drunk drivers and accidents.

Officers in Hingham had a similar enforcement effort going on last Christmas, Thanksgiving and Super Bowl Sunday. It’s common for officers around the country to step up their enforcement efforts around holiday periods as that’s when we see and alarming increase in these kinds of accidents.
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When we talk about drunk driving, you probably think of driving a motor vehicle while intoxicated. But the truth of the matter is that there are many other forms of drunk driving, like drunk biking, drunk walking or even drunk golf carting.

According to ABC40, police in Maine report that the golf cart accident causes some serious injuries — so serious that a LifeFlight helicopter was summoned. In this accident, a 52-year-old golf cart driver was thrown from the cart that was being driven by a Massachusetts man. The driver of the golf cart was arrested for drunken driving.

Our Boston drunk driving accident lawyers understand that alcohol’s effects on your body can significantly increase your risks of an accident, regardless of what you’re doing. Difficulty walking, blurred vision, slurred speech, slowed reaction times, impaired memory: Clearly, alcohol affects the brain. Alcohol affects brain chemistry by altering levels of neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that transmit the signals throughout the body that control thought processes, behavior and emotion. And most importantly, alcohol increases your risks for an accident, no matter how you’re traveling.
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