A 24-year-old woman in Massachusetts was pronounced dead on Aug. 4 after she was involved in a collision with a dump truck. The fatal crash happened in Deerfield while the woman was driving a Toyota pickup truck along Route 116. At around 12:30 p.m., there was a collision between the woman’s pickup truck and a dump truck filled with asphalt.
Business owners in Massachusetts and around the country are expected to take all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of customers, vendors and others who enter their establishments. While workers who are injured due to an unsafe condition will generally seek compensation by filing a workers’ compensation claim, visitors who are harmed may file a premises liability lawsuit when this duty of care is not met.
Massachusetts residents may have heard about Tesla’s Autopilot software, the autonomous technology that is supposed to help prevent accidents. Though the Autopilot feature on Tesla vehicles is designed to thwart collisions with other vehicles, there have been multiple news stories about incidents when the technology failed.
Massachusetts travelers should be aware of laws regarding hotel liability for injuries. Slip and fall injuries are common in hotels, but liability is not always clear. Hotels are responsible for reasonably foreseeable injuries that occur on their properties and that are caused by negligence on their part. Premises liability holds that all property owners are responsible for maintaining safe premises.
In states like Massachusetts, someone who owns a vehicle might not have to directly cause an accident to face penalties for the outcome. One rule known as the Family Car Doctrine, for instance, holds parents legally liable for any damage caused by minors who drive their vehicles. This rule can be applied regardless of whether the at-fault driver was insured by the family. In other cases, car owners may face penalties for accidents that occur after they permit individuals who are known to be dangerous drivers to operate their vehicles.
Motorcyclists are not protected by seat belts or airbags and their machines have no crumple zones to absorb the energy of colliding vehicles. They often suffer catastrophic injuries after being struck by a car, truck or SUV, and studies show that a great many of these accidents are caused by distracted, reckless or impaired passenger vehicle drivers.
A report into the habits of teen drivers compiled by researchers at Liberty Mutual will likely make difficult reading for parents of teenage drivers in Massachusetts and around the country. Almost 70 percent of the teens polled told researchers that they routinely use the apps installed on their smartphones while behind the wheel, and only 6 percent felt that this was the most distracting form of driver behavior. The results of a study of drivers of all ages sponsored by the nonprofit National Safety Council was equally alarming. Almost three quarters of the drivers surveyed by the NSC said that they had no problem accessing Facebook while driving.
On any given day or night, there are a lot of sleep-deprived people driving around in Massachusetts. Though the behavior is dangerous, drowsy driving is often overlooked as a leading cause of fatal car accidents. A report has pointed out the dangers of drowsy driving, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has decided to include drowsy driving in its list of impaired driving causes alongside drugged, drunk and distracted driving.
When the weather in Massachusetts warms up during the summer months, a lot more people decide to go swimming. Every year, a number of people drown in swimming pools that are located at private residences, parks and commercial properties such as hotels. The owner of a property with a pool owes a duty of care to their visitors and may be held liable for a drowning that occurs in their pool.
A notorious stretch of Massachusetts highway was the scene of another serious traffic accident on Aug. 4. A 45-year-old woman was left fighting for her life when the SUV she was traveling in on Interstate 495 in Middlesex County was struck by a semi-tractor trailer. The driver of the SUV and two children were also injured in the crash, which took place in Littleton at about 3:00 p.m.
Automobile Accident, Motorcycle Accident, Bicycle Accident
Bicycle Accidents
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Be Safe RulesMotorcycle Accident
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Sports & School Injuries
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Complex Pain Syndrome (RSD)