Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Mass. Man Victim of Road Rage

A couple of Massachusetts seniors were the latest victims of a road rage incident that occurred last night in Newburyport.

The couple, both 69-years-old, from Lawrence, Mass., were driving on Storey Avenue (Route-113) when another driver behind them , Neil Christopherson, 39, of Derry, NH, got upset and used his vehicle, a Mini Cooper, to injure one of them for driving too slowly.

Police said that Christopherson, who was travelling east on Route 113 through West Newbury, came upon the couple’s 2007 Cheverolet Impala. He became upset that they were driving below the 50-mph speed limit, and drove within 2 feet behind their car. He then began to wave a baseball bat out of his window, signaling the Impala driver, who pulled over to let him go by, the Eagle Tribune reports.

Christopherson stopped his car behind the Impala, too. Both drivers got out of their cars, engaging in verbal altercation. According to the police, Christopherson then got back in his car and drove into the 69-year-old man, hitting his hands, elbows and knees at least three times.

After two witnesses came to help the victim, Christopherson got into his car and drove off, but he was soon traced to a Dunkin’ Donuts store and held until police arrived.

Christopherson, who has no prior criminal record, is now being held on $25,000 cash bail on charges with three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon to a person over 65, one count of assault by means of a dangerous weapon (bat) on a person over 65, leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident with personal injury and reckless operation of a motor vehicle.

He will be arraigned today in Newburyport District Court, the news report said.

The victim suffered only minor injuries.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Woman Critically Injured in Hit-And-Run

A 45-year-old woman was critically injured in a hit and run accident on Route 44 in Plymouth, MA, yesterday afternoon. Cape Cod Today reports that the victim, whose name was not released yesterday, was struck by a motorist on Route 44 West as she got out of her vehicle. The motorist fled the scene leaving her with serious injuries.

Plymouth police seeking the alleged hit-and-run vehicle discovered that it later crashed into a building at the intersection of Sandwich Road and Winter Street. The hit-and-run driver was seriously injured in the second crash, and was transported to Jordan Hospital for treatment.


The hit-and-run accident, which occurred in the Monday rush hour (about 4:30 pm) remains under police investigation.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Mass. Man Sentenced to 60 Days for Fatal Crash

WBZTV recently reported on the outcome of a case in which a 22-year-old Lowell man was sentenced to serve 60 days in prison for a crash that killed a Texas couple last August. The two people were killed as they changed a flat tire on their travel trailer.

Wahome was found guilty of two counts of motor vehicle homicide by negligent driving for the accident in which his car drove into the breakdown lane on I-395 in Webster, crashing into the 81-year-old Robert Farner and his wife, 77-year-old Chloe Farner, of Cottonwood Shores, Texas. They were killed almost instantly.

According to the police, Wahome's fatigue and inattention were contributing factors in the crash. He was driving home from a late-night concert in New Jersey and probably didn't see the two people on the side of the road.

Wahome was sentenced on Friday. He would also lose his driver's license for 15 years and is required to serve 300 hours of community service.

Two Motorcyclists Killed in 2 Car-Motorcycle Collisions

Two motorcyclists were killed in two separate car-motorcycle collisions in New England in the last 2 days.

The first crash, involving a drunk driver and 2 motorcycles occurred on Saturday in New Hampshire, in which one Salem woman who was travelling on a motorcycle with her husband was killed, and another motorcyclist was critically injured. The drunk driver had been arrested for DWI only one day before the fatal crash.

The second accident occurred on Cape Cod on Sunday, and involved a motorcycle speeding at 100 mph that crashed into a car taking a left turn. The motorcyclist died on the scene, while three people in the car were injured, two of them seriously.

We offer our sincerest condolences to the families of the deceased.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

24-Yr-Old Driver Suffers Head Injuries in Crash

A two-car head-on rollover accident in Middleton on Tuesday night left a Cape Ann man with head injuries. Police say the crash occurred on North Main St (also known as Route-114) in Middleton, MA.

The injured driver, Darius Gregory, 24, of Gloucester, was airlifted to Mass. General Hospital for treatment, though there is no word yet on his condition.

According to the police, Gregory was driving east toward Danvers when his SUV, a white 2000 Ford Explorer, collided with a Volvo heading in the opposite direction. The head-on crash caused Gregory’s SUV to hit a retaining wall and flip over, throwing him off the car, Salem News reported.

The other vehicle, driven by Alexandra Kury, 20, of North Andover, also sustained heavy damage. Kury was checked out at the scene, but did not require to be transported for treatment, police said. On the other hand, Gregory sustained head injuries so he was flown by a medical helicopter to Mass. General.

Police are investigating the cause of the crash.

Mass. House Passes Texting and Driving Bill

The Massachusetts state House of Representatives voted almost unanimously (150-1) yesterday to approve a bill that will ban texting while driving.

The bill also bans drivers under 18 from using cell phones while driving, as well as imposes new requirements for senior drivers.

The next step would be for state Senate to approve the bill.

If approved, Massachusetts will join 28 other states and the District of Columbia that already have bans on texting and driving.

Under the bill, motorists caught texting while driving would face a $100 fine for a first offense, $250 for a second offense and a $500 fine for all subsequent offenses, as well as the possibility of suspended driver's license or learner's permit.

You can read more about the texting&driving bill here.

News sources: Boston Herald, MassLive, Eagle Tribune.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

MedFlight Turns 25

We mentioned that an injured driver in a 2-car rollover accident had to be airlifted by a Boston MedFlight helicopter in our previous post, and a recent article about MedFlight in the Boston Globe has inspired us to write a few words about this amazing life rescuing service that is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.



As described on their website, MedFlight is a not-for-profit, air and ground critical care transportation company based in Columbus, Ohio that completes nearly 7,000 critical care transports by helicopter and mobile intensive care unit each year.

The Boston charter of MedFlight is headquartered in Bedford, Mass. – more specifically, at the Bedford’s Hanscom Air Force Base, from where it flies over to transport critically injured patients to nearby hospitals. It was created in 1985 by Boston’s six teaching hospitals. According to the company, Boston MedFlight has transported 43,000 patients so far, the numbers increasing by 1-2 percent every year.

Equipped with a crew that includes a pilot, and a specially trained critical-care transport nurse and paramedic, MedFlight’s goal is to connect a critical-care medical team to patients who need life-saving care the most and no time to lose.

Sometimes, patients transported by MedFlight are involved in serious vehicle accidents that make the news. However, most often than not, MedFlight patients don’t make headlines. In fact, the article reported that only 18% of all 2,941 patients transported by Boston MedFlight last year were of news-worthy interest.

The only thing connecting patients flown by MedFlight is their critical condition where minutes count and ambulance vehicles are not fast enough.

To view the article, please click here. Also, here’s a link to MedFlight’s official website.

Two People Injured in Car Rollover Crash

Two people were injured in a 2-car rollover crash on Route 25 W in Bourne, MA, over the weekend. The accident occurred as one of the drivers travelling eastbound on Rt-25 crossed over the median and struck the second vehicle head-on on Saturday.



Cape Cod Today reported that a female driver was trapped in her vehicle and had to be flown by a MedFlight helicopter to a hospital in Rhode Island for treatment of serious injuries.

The cause of the crash is under investigation by Mass. State Police.

No other details were available, but you can find the whole story here.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Bail Set for Driver Involved in Crash That Killed Weddleton

In the latest news regarding the recent accident that killed Doug Weddleton, a state police sergeant from Brockton, a bail was set at $2,500 yesterday for the alleged drunken driver involved in the crash.

The bail was set for Kenneth R. Weiand, 43, of Walpole, who is charged with drunken driving.

Weddleton, 52, was killed last Friday on I-95, while working a construction detail near exit 6 in Mansfield.

According to the authorities, Weddleton's cruiser was blocking an off-ramp when an Acura sedan driven by Weiand attempted to exit the highway there and came to a stop, Enterprise News reports.

Weddleton activated his cruiser’s blue lights and got out to speak with Weiand, police said.

While Weddleton was speaking to the sedan driver, a pickup truck driven by Anthony Perry Jr., of Boston, slammed into Weiand’s car, pushing it into Weddleton, who sustained fatal injuries.

While Weiand’s blood-alcohol level was .20, more than twice the .08 concentration used as a threshold for drunken driving, the other driver's was .07. However, officials say the law allows police to charge suspected drunken drivers who have blood-alcohol concentrations lower than .08 if the arresting officer has reason to believe the person is intoxicated.

Weiand will apear for pretrial hearings on August 5.

The second driver, Perry was released after posting $10,000 bail following his arraignment Friday.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Undercover Officer Injured by Pickup Truck

A Springfield officer working undercover was struck by pickup truck over the weekend and suffered head injuries.

MassLive reported that the officer, James Kelly, was knocked unconscious by the pickup truck driven by a 20-year-old Chicopee man early Saturday morning.

According to the police, officers Kelly and Darrin Fitzpatrick were patrolling the Paramount Street area in Springfield around 3:30 a.m. due to numerous reports of break-ins when they spotted a brown pickup truck parked in front of a closed oil business.

Police said Kelly and Fitzpatrick approached the truck and told the two occupants to get out, but instead the driver raced the engine and drove at the officers, striking Kelly, who landed on the truck's hood and shattered the windshield, MassLive reports. The driver then drove toward Page Boulevard.


Police later stopped the truck at Main and Myrtle Streets in the Indian Orchard section, where the driver, Joshua Cayo resisted arrest, and was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (motor vehicle), attempted murder, leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, resisting arrest and trespassing with a motor vehicle.

Cayo is expected to be arraigned on Monday in Springfield District Court.

This incident occurred only one day after veteran state Trooper Doug Weddleton was killed in Mansfield after leaving his cruiser to talk to a motorist he had pulled over.

According to the police, Kelly was treated for head injuries at the Baystate Medical Center and was later released.

Friday, June 18, 2010

NSC Estimates a Quarter of 1.4M Crashes Involve Cell Phones

The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that a quarter of the 1.4 million crashes in the US involve some kind of cell phone use.

In addition, there are 6,000 fatalities a year caused by distracted driving that link cell phones as the possible reason.

The NSC recently released a white paper focusing on distractions and how the human brain copes with multitasking. The paper, titled, "Understanding the distracted brain: Why driving while using hands-free cell phones is risky behavior" explains the limitations of the brain specifically in terms of driving safely while using a cell phone either to talk, text or email.

Referencing more than 30 scientific studies and reports, the paper describes how using a cell phone, hands-free or handheld not only impairs driving performance, but also weakens the brain's ability to capture driving cues.

For example, drivers who use cell phones have a form of inattention blindness - they have a tendency to "look at" but not "see" up to 50% of their surroundings. Distracted drivers have trouble seeking and identifying potential hazards, and responding to unexpected situations on time. So, it's no wonder that distracted driving is a lethal problem.

Part of the problem is that although most drivers believe using a cell phone while driving is dangerous, still 11% of all drivers are using cell phones, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports.

There are efforts to curbe cell phone use across states, and laws restricting their use while driving are slowly spreading. So far, no state bans all cell phone use by all drivers, but 25 states and the District of Columbia ban all cell phone use by novice drivers.

Also, bus drivers in 18 states (including Massachusetts), and D.C. are banned from using a cell phone when passengers are present.

Further more, 25 states, including New Hampshire, ban texting while driving. However, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, only 7 states and D.C. also ban drivers from talking on handheld devices.

The NSC white paper shows that this is not enough and drivers need to be aware of the dangers they face every time they pick up the phone while driving.

Keeping eyes on the road instead of on their cell phone screen is the safest thing drivers can do to protect their lives, their passengers and other drivers.

Veteran Trooper Killed by Drunk Driver

Another drunk driving accident in Massachusetts, this time resulting in the death of a Massachusetts State Police Trooper.

Sgt. Doug Weddleton, 52, a veteran trooper working an overnight construction detail was struck and killed by a suspected drunken driver, AP reports.

Police said that Weddleton had pulled over a car on I-95 North in Mansfield, MA, to prevent it from entering a closed ramp at about 1:30 am last night. He was out of his cruiser when a second vehicle struck the first, pushing it into the trooper, the AP report said.

The first driver, Kenneth Weiand, 43, of Walpole, faces drunken driving charges. The driver of the second vehicle, Anthony Perry, 45, of Boston, is charged with motor vehicle homicide, drunk driving and speeding.

We offer our sincerest condolences and sympathies to his wife and four sons.

Check out the Drunk Driving Statistics in Massachusetts here.

You can also find more information about alcohol-related accidents on the NHTSA website, and information on DUI laws in Massachusetts on the US DUI Laws website.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Free Consumer Guide

Check out this Free Consumer Guide "The 7 Biggest Mistakes That Can Wreck Your Massachusetts Accident Case" written by the Million Dollar Man himself, the Boston personal injury lawyer, Thomas M. Kiley.



This controversial book provides answers to questions like:

- What mistakes do I need to avoid?
- How do I choose the right attorney?
- What makes one attorney better than another?
- How will I pay my medical bills?
- Will I receive fair compensation for my injuries?
- Should I talk to the other driver’s insurance company?
- What will a Massachusetts accident attorney do for me?


Boston car accident attorney Thomas M. Kiley wrote this book with the intent of providing you with insider’s tips to dealing with the insurance company, as well as hiring a lawyer.

Mr. Kiley is known as the "Million Dollar Man" and has been representing accident victims for over 30 years.

You can get the book for free here.

Motor vehicle accidents can cause debilitating physical injuries and leave lasting psychological effects.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, over 2 million people were injured in traffic accidents across the country in 2007.