Boston Personal Injury Lawyer - Trucking Accidents

Freight Train and Commuter Train Collide, Over 200 Injured

Jenny Albano — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:54:38 GMT

On Tuesday afternoon a freight train rolled from a side track onto the main line and collided with a commuter train that was stationary injuring over 200 people. Around 150 people were treated on scene and another 80 were taken to local hospitals. None of the injuries were life-threatening and the majority were minor. There were about 300 passengers on the Stoughton-bound train.

Pesaturo said the CSX freight car, loaded with lumber, rolled about two miles from where it had been parked at a lumber yard on the siding. It traveled onto the Stoughton commuter rail branch line, then onto the main line where it struck the passenger train's locomotive near Canton Junction just before 5:30 p.m. Pesaturo said the engineer, who was among those injured, was alerted by a track signal that something was on the line and was able to stop the commuter train before the crash.

Authorities are investigating to find out how the freight train became loose. The train was number 917 and left from Boston's South Station at 4:40 p.m.

Passengers involved in the crash said that the train suddenly stopped at the Canton Junction and then there was a loud bang. Also, a small brush fire ignited outside of the train and there was dust filling up the train car. Passengers were flying down the aisles and people had fallen on the floor. According to the passengers it was a terrifying experience.

The train service resumed Tuesday night from Boston and Providence, R.I,, but passengers had to be bused from Canton to Stoughton because crews were still cleaning up the debris from the accident.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jenny Albano

Cell Phone Driving Fatalities

Ken Margolin — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 16:10:00 GMT

If the sight of the driver to your right on the interstate, chatting away on his cell phone gets you angry, you've got a right to be. Various studies have shown that driving while talking on a cell phone can be as dangerous as driving with a blood alcohol level over the legal limit. Estimates of the number of U.S. traffic fatalities caused by cell phone talking while driving are generally in the 2,000 - 3,000 range with one hundred times as many injuries. The best remedy for the menace of cell phone traffic accidents, would be common sense by most drivers and a realization that the common practice is anti-social and dangerous. Failing a sudden epidemic of common sense, legislation and tough enforcement need to be implemented. Enacting legislation will be tough given the lobbying power of the cell phone industry. The effort, though, coupled with public education, can save thousands of lives each year.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ken Margolin

A Victory Against Trucking Fatalities

Ken Margolin — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 12:45:00 GMT

The federal Appeals Court of the D.C. Circuit, struck down new rules of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, that would have allowed big rig truckers to drive many more consecutive hours. The case was brought by Public Citizen, a public safety advocacy group, and other groups formed to protect the public against tired truckers. The Appeals Court held that the federal agency had not justified the change in rules, in light of data that showed the trucking industry to be amongst the most dangerous, and fatalities in accidents involving large trucks to be far more likely than those involving cars alone. Naturally, the rules change was pressed by the trucking industry, which consistently ignores the data regarding trucking fatalities, and places profits ahead of quality of life and safety on our roadways.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ken Margolin

Truck Accidents Unbound

Ken Margolin — Mon, 14 May 2007 07:00:00 GMT

Last week, it was a large truck that overturned on Route 128, near Lexington, creating a massive traffic jam for hours. On almost any given day on an elevated ramp near Chelsea, a truck may catapult the guard rail and fall to the road below. Large trucks so frequently cause gridlock, crashes, injuries, and death, on Massachusetts roadways, that reports of the damage they cause, seem interchangeable. Speed, long driver hours, overweight loads, time pressures, and driver inattentiveness, are amongst the causes of the truck accident carnage.

The road monsters are so prevalent and the speeds at which they travel, so excessive, that they have negatively impacted the very quality of life in this state. There is plenty of blame to spread around for the problem. It began some years back with the federal government, when the Department of Transportation required Massachusetts, with the threat of withholding of federal funds, to allow double rigs on the interstates.

Our roadways were never designed to handle these behemoths, but handle them, the roadways now must. The powerful trucking industry lobby is a major culprit, fighting tirelessly, to prevent laws and law enforcement rigorous enough to significantly reduce truck injuries. The Massachusetts State Police, by training and dedication, one of the finest in the country, is not blameless. Every Massachusetts driver has undoubtedly received his fair share of speeding tickets, but will be hard-pressed to ever recall seeing a "Statie" pull over a large truck, no matter how recklessly driven. Until the public says, "enough," and requires elected officials to come down hard and often on dangerous truck drivers, the big rigs will continue to create havoc and injury.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ken Margolin

Disastrous Distractions

Ken Margolin — Mon, 07 May 2007 07:00:00 GMT

Driving while chowing down a donut, alternating the snack with a cup of hot coffee, is a time-honored example of dangerous, distracted driving. Even though driving safety researchers preached that drinking a beverage while driving, could lead to car crashes due to distraction, human nature dictated that eating and drinking while driving, was never going to stop. The ante was raised with the invention of the cell phone. It is simply impossible to maintain complete road awareness while talking on a cell phone. Dialing the phone while driving, is practically begging for a serious car crash to happen.

Cell phone technology is still in its infancy, and the devices have more road perils in store. The latest, a serious menace, is text messaging. Roadway accidents have already occurred while drivers have been looking down at their cell phones, typing a text message on the tiny keyboards. Virginia Beach Injury Board partner, Rick Shapiro, tells of a study that found that cell phone use while driving can be more dangerous than driving while intoxicated. There is no easy solution to the dangers posed by distracted drivers. New legislation will not create the manpower necessary for enforcement. It is more difficult for law enforcement officials, to spot a driver talking on a cell phone, or tapping out a text message, than it is to spot a car driving 90 miles per hour. I fear that it may take a spectacular and well-publicized crash caused by cell phone use while driving, involving death or paralysis, before people remember that driving, without more, requires 100% of the driver's attention.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ken Margolin

Truck Accident Victims Unite for Change

Ken Margolin — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 13:50:00 GMT

Sometimes the only solace after a loved one has been killed due to corporate negligence and greed, is to join with other grieving families to lobby for change. That is just what the families of children killed by truck driver negligence did, in forming Parents Against Tired Truckers (P.A.T.T.), and Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH). Together, they call themselves the Truck Safety Coalition, and are dedicated to reducing deaths and injuries due to truck-related crashes, educating the public, changing policy, and helping families of victims of truck crashes. Daphne Izer, of Lisbon, Maine, founded P.A.T.T. in 1993, after her son and three friends were killed when a WalMart truck driver fell asleep at his big rig, while his truck crushed the car in which the victims were driving. The Texas Injury Law Blog reports that up to 15% of truck-related fatalities are caused by tired truck drivers. Until Congress forbids the trucking industry from putting profits over people, the carnage will continue.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ken Margolin

Injuries to Disabled People

Ken Margolin — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 11:20:00 GMT

It may be tempting to think that the value of a serious injury case due to negligence, to a person already burdened with significant disabilities, has to be substantially discounted. Unfortunately, I've dealt with some insurance adjusters who take just such an attitude. They are seriously mistaken. Juries throughout the country, including my own state of Massachusetts, have recognized the value of life and quality of life possessed by a severely disabled person.

Naturally some elements of economic damages may be compromised, such as lost earning capacity. When it comes to damages for pain and suffering, most jurors understand the irony that the most severely disabled amongst us, have less cushion against disaster. If you look at their damages not only in terms of what was taken from them, but in terms of what they have left, it is easy to imagine a jury enhancing rather than minimizing their injuries. A Florida jury awarded $8 million to a mentally retarded woman raped in a group home. An article by the Center for Public Representation, a non-profit organization that handles disabilities rights cases, summarizes numerous significant awards resulting from personal injury to disabled people. In the late 1990s, M.I.T. and Quaker Oats settled a shocking case stemming from radiation experiments conducted on mentally retarded individuals in the 1940s and 1950s. Notwithstanding the passage of time and difficulty of proving damages, the $1.85 million settlement on behalf of 100 disabled plaintiffs seems relatively modest.

Early in my career, I had a disabilities rights practice. I saw first hand, the dignity and nobility of many individuals with severe mental retardation, cerebral palsy, and other disabling conditions. To properly convey the loss to a person with serious disabilities, caused by a significant personal injury, it is important to employ a physiatrist or other appropriate expert who understands the client's disability. Day-in-the-Life videos can play a major part, accompanied by before and after testimony from family members or caregivers. Serious consideration should be given to bringing the individual into the courtroom, even if briefly, so the jury sees the real person behind the trial story. A jury may have to be the best education for an adjuster who lowballs the value of injuries to a disabled person.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ken Margolin

Winter Driving Accidents

Ken Margolin — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 13:15:00 GMT

While the northeast of the country experiences nasty winter weather, from 2 feet of snow to frozen precipitation, it's a good time to remember the added responsibility on anyone who drives in the winter. Most serious highway accidents in winter conditions are the direct result of driver negligence.

The most frequent cause of fatal car crashes in winter is the same as other times of year - speed; in winter weather, going too fast for conditions. Other less obvious causes of winter car crashes have to do with proper maintenance of the car. It is not acceptable to take a rear-wheel drive car into the teeth of a snowstorm, without snow tires. Forgetting to fill the windshield washer tank or driving with a faulty defroster so that the driver can't see clearly through the windshield is obviously negligent. There may be no choice but to drive, even in severe winter weather, but knowing how to do it safely is the driver's obligation.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ken Margolin

Reducing Traffic Fatalities

Ken Margolin — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 16:00:00 GMT

A widely cited USA Today analysis of 2006 statistics shows that traffic fatalities were down significantly in sixteen states. Obviously that's good news. The causes of reduced fatalities raise some interesting cost-benefit questions. Some measures - public relations campaigns to reduce aggressive driving - are not controversial. Other means to reduce car accidents force the public to think about how much freedom, even freedom to break the law, they are willing to give up to lower highway fatalities. Seat belt laws are known to reduce serious automobile crash injuries. So do laws and enforcement campaigns targeting speeding, driving under the influence, and aggressive roadway behavior. All of those campaigns mean more police on the roads and more chances for the average citizen to get pulled over if he doesn't like seatbelts, drives 70 mph in a 55 mph zone, or had that 3rd drink with dinner. I'm not suggesting that aggressive policing of the roads is anything but a plus, but some readers may feel differently when they're asked to pull out their license and registration.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ken Margolin

Blame it on the Trial Lawyers

Ken Margolin — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 11:15:00 GMT

I was thinking the other day about the gripes of the anti-justice forces who would reserve the courts for corporations and the wealthy and who enhance political careers by bashing trial lawyers. If they long for an America of 100 years ago, they have a good reason for their animosity. Want your segregated schools back? Sorry. Brown v. Board of Education took care of that, using trial lawyer tricks to convince the court that "separate but equal" was a big lie. Push people with retardation back into hell hole institutions? Too late. A series of trial lawyer-orchestrated federal court cases lay the foundation for the Fair Housing and Americans with Disabilities Acts and other laws protecting the dignity of vulnerable citizens. Missing those old Ford Pinto exploding gas tanks? They won't be replicated in any other cars, thanks to some bruising verdicts against Ford courtesy of trial lawyers. Your states won't be able to give back those billions in tobacco settlements that trial lawyers gained either. Sorry, but smoking-related deaths are on a downward slide for good. I don't have to tell you who was at fault. The list of old time pleasures that are now in retreat courtesy of trial lawyers, sexual abuse, medication errors, nursing home neglect, construction deaths, to name just a few, is far too long for this short piece. Shackle those lawyers and we may just get back to the good old days

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ken Margolin