Boston Car Accident Attorneys

Distracted Driving
The near-ubiquity of mobile phones, GPS navigation devices, streaming music, and other forms of electronic technology currently incorporated into many modern motor vehicles, has led to a dramatic rise in serious motor vehicle injuries and deaths. Simply put, distracted driving occurs when a driver diverts his or her attention from the road to some other activity while driving. Common examples of distracted driving include texting while driving; talking on the phone while driving; entering addresses in a GPS navigation system while driving; adjusting the car radio or streaming music service while driving; eating while driving; and retrieving fallen objects from the floor of the car while driving, to name but a few. Distracted driving is highly dangerous, and laws imposing serious criminal penalties now exist in Massachusetts and New York to help thwart distracted driving, particularly among young drivers.

Driving While Intoxicated or Under the Influence of Drugs
It is illegal to operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or any drug known to impair the ability to drive safely. Operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of certain controlled drugs, such as opiates, may also result in a criminal conviction involving a period of incarceration. Even medically prescribed medication can result in criminal and civil penalties if such drugs are consumed and impair the ability of a motor vehicle operator to drive safely. It is therefore important to check with your physician as to whether any medication prescribed to you may impair your ability to safely operate a motor vehicle.

Road Conditions Caused by Poor Weather
Poor weather, creating dangerous road conditions, is another common cause of serious motor vehicle-related accidents. In New England, where icy road conditions are common during winter months, drivers must take deliberate steps to reduce speed and maintain control of their vehicles at all times. The failure to abide by posted speed limits, and to operate at below the posted speed limit when dangerous weather conditions exist, is another common cause of serious motor vehicle accidents.

Speeding
Driving in excess of the posted speed limit is dangerous and a common cause of countless motor vehicle accidents each year. New technology, incorporated into many modern vehicles, now allow police and others to download data from onboard “black boxes” to reveal the actual speed of a motor vehicle at the time of an accident. Surveillance cameras now located at many major intersections and even along smaller roadways, increasingly allow for more accurate forensic evaluations of car accidents to more scientifically determine the speed of a motor vehicle causing the car accident. 

Many people who have suffered serious injuries as a result of a motor vehicle accident wonder if they need to retain a car accident attorney in Boston to assist them with their claim. While there is no legal requirement that an injured person retain an experienced attorney to represent their interests, doing so can provide you with enormous advantages in terms of maximizing your recovery from the offending driver’s insurance company.

The most important reason to retain an attorney with significant experience representing persons injured in motor vehicle accidents, is to ensure that your right to receive full and fair compensation for your injuries and losses, is protected. Insurance companies have one – and only one objective: to pay as little as possible (or nothing at all) to resolve your claim. Most people have little to no experience evaluating the value of their own claims. In contrast, most insurance companies have access to troves of data which provide them with a far more accurate valuation of your claim. Lawyers with significant experience resolving serious motor vehicle accident cases have the knowledge and experience to more accurately value your claim, which is vital to obtaining the best possible recovery. 

It is also essential that the lawyer you select has a significant number of years of courtroom experience, trying car accident cases to juries. While it is indeed true that most (>90%) of all car accident claims do not resolve by way of a jury trial or bench trial, insurance companies are often well aware as to which lawyers have the skill and experience to take a case all the way to trial and those who will ultimately accept the insurance company’s best offer. Insurance companies generally do not welcome the risk posed to them by way of jury trials. For that reason, lawyers and law firms respected for their litigation and courtroom skills, can often deliver the best results to their clients. 

The attorneys at Parker Scheer have decades of experience trying cases before juries and judges in both State and Federal court. That experience has served our clients well in countless instances. 

There are many excellent car accident lawyers and law firms located in Massachusetts and New York. But how do you go about choosing the best personal injury law firm to undertake your case? 

First, do some research. Peruse the websites of various firms to determine which law firms have the most documented track records of success in the area of car accident-related cases. Many of the most outstanding law firms do not advertise on television, radio, or billboards. Rather, many of the leading attorneys and law firms receive the bulk of their cases from other lawyers who are well acquainted with their trial work and claims experience. Clients of Parker Scheer LLP are most often directed to us by lawyers familiar with the quality of our work, or by former Parker Scheer clients who have experienced our work firsthand. 

The quality of a lawyer’s legal skill and experience is often reflected in the awards and professional recognition bestowed on a lawyer by his or her peers. The overwhelming majority of Parker Scheer attorneys have received numerous repeated peer recognition from the legal community, year over year. Click here to see examples of the peer recognition earned by Parker Scheer attorneys over the past three decades. 

As car accident lawyers in Boston, we know that there can be no real dispute but that using a cell phone while driving can be distracting.  Drivers must divert their attention away from the road to look up a contact, dial a number, or even answer a phone call.  As a result, there has been a steady increase in the rate of car accidents caused by cell phone use.  In 2010, the National Safety Council estimated that 1 out of every 5.4 million car crashes in the United States – about 1.1 million – involved drivers who were talking on their phones at the time. Another 3% of car crashes, or 160,000, involved those who were texting while driving.

Because of the increased risk of car crashes, many states have enacted laws to regulate the use of cell phones by driver.  In 39 states, including Massachusetts, it is illegal to use text-messaging services while driving.  Despite this law, it is very difficult to police this behavior and the law protects those who have been involved in a car crash from turning over their phone, which could incriminate them.  As a result, the real statistics regarding the link between text messaging and car crashes will never be known.

In 10 states (not Massachusetts), there is outright ban on the use of cell phones unless the driver uses a hands free system.  However, research has shown that in those states that have ban hand held cell phone use, the rate of accidents has not decreased.  On July 1, 2008, California banned the use of hand held cell phones while driving. However, data reviewed from 2008 show no decrease in the rate of accident from before to after the ban.  There are currently no states that ban the use of cell phones outright for drivers.

In most states, those driving with a junior operator licenses (“JOL”) are barred from using a cell phone at all.  In addition, those with JOLs that are caught using a cell phone face a mandatory loss of license and fines to have their JOL reinstated.  Studies have shown that while the incidence of car accidents has been lowered since the implementation of these laws, car accidents among teenagers is still the leading cause of death among this age group.

Any evidence of use of a cell phone – lawful or unlawful – can still be used as evidence of negligence in a case relating to a car accident.  All operators owe a duty to other drivers to use reasonable care when operating a motor vehicle.  If a driver is shown to have been distracted because of their use of a cell phone while driving, that evidence would be used against them in a civil proceeding. Because of the higher risk of accidents when using a cell phone, the bumper stickers are worth reading “Drive Now, Talk/Text Later.”