Articles Posted in Boston bicycle accident

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Bicycle crashes in Boston and surrounding cities such as Cambridge happen all too often, sadly  resulting in serious personal injury or death.  When a person is gravely injured or killed in a bike crash,  there will be direct actions that can be filed by the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s estate, but there will also be potential claims if the plaintiff had a surviving spouse.

Boston bike crash One of these claims by the surviving spouse is known as loss of consortium.  This law, which has been applied in various other states, was addressed in a landmark case in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts entitled Diaz v. Lilly.  The tort had been around for a long time at common law, but at common law, there were many ambiguities. In Diaz, the court held that the tort of loss of consortium could be brought as a direct claim. Continue reading

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There are a lot more people on bikes in Boston and the surrounding areas than there are in many other cities across the country, but Boston is not by any means the only city in which more people are taking bikes to work than they have in years past.  It is not only about commuting on bikes, either, as we see many more people riding for fun and exercise.

bicycle crash lawyerHowever, as we have more people on bikes, we are seeing more serious, and sometimes fatal, bike crashes involving a collision between a bike and motor vehicle.  While we are going to talk about a ways biking can be made safer, as well as things bike riders can do to avoid a collision, it is important to understand that, despite the fact that many motorists, and even police, like to assume the bike rider is at fault, the reality of most of these situations is quite different. Continue reading

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Boston and the surrounding areas are becoming more and more bike friendly each year.  Not only are more people riding bikes, but the local governments including the cities of Boston and Cambridge are doing what they can to make things safer and more enjoyable for       bike riders and for the rest of the community.

Boston Bike Crash lawyerThere are a lot of reasons that cities like Boston are interested in making things better for bike riders.  One of the reasons is that young professionals who they are trying to get to move back to urban areas are one of the main groups of people who ride bikes.  This brings us to another reason why bike riding is good for the community.  It is good for the environment as it reduces one’s carbon footprint and also reduces the amount of noise and congestion on the roads. Continue reading

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Imagine you are biking home from work, and you live in Brighton.  You are riding down a small street lined with cars on both sides. There is barely enough room for a car to squeeze through.  As you are riding home, you suddenly see that one of the parked cars is occupied, and a door swings open right in your path of travel.

Dooring Injuries Boston As this point, you have basically two choices.  The first choice is that you can swerve to avoid the door and possibly crash into another car and be seriously injured, or you can try to stop in time, but will likely end up crashing into the open door.  None of these choices is a good option.  But the occupant of the car didn’t give you any choice.

This is called “dooring,” and no matter what the driver or even the police tell you, it is the fault of the occupant of the car, not the bicycle rider. Continue reading

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According to a recent news article from BBC News, the teacher of a teenage student made him a finger on a 3D printer after he saw how much trouble the boy was having with typing following a serious bike crash.

bike accident lawyer Boston The 15-year-old boy was seriously injured when the brakes failed on a bike he had been fixing, and he crashed into a window.  He was unable to stop when the brakes failed, so he put his arms out in front of him to brace the impact. However, when his hand hit the pane of glass, it shattered, and the boy when flying through the window. Continue reading

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Two years ago, Shane Snowdon, a non-profit health educator and consultant, lost one of her good friends to a fatal bicycle crash in Cambridge. Her 65-year-old friend, a songwriter and social activist, was struck by a vehicle while on her bicycle. sadness

For Snowdon, it was 1997 all over again. That was the year Snowdon says she struck and killed a bicyclist in Boston. Writing for WBUR 90.9, she notes that she was not found at-fault for the fatal crash that night. She was not speeding or distracted and she was completely sober. However, she says she’ll never forget the look of the cyclist, staring wide-eyed at her as he crossed in front of her vehicle just as she was rounding a curve. His body flew into her windshield and over her car. She stopped at the scene, as required, and got out to find him motionless.

“You do not want to be me,” she writes. “No destination, no text, no drink, no glance away from the road is worth knowing that you have killed another human being.”

She went on to add that it’s agony living life knowing that whatever you accomplish isn’t going to matter because you caused the death of someone else. Whatever happiness you may enjoy could only serve as a reminder of the happiness you stole from the person whose life was lost, and their family and friends.
Continue reading

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The number of bicyclists killed in 2015 rose by 12.2 percent from the year before. That’s according to the most recent final statistics released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which annually releases national traffic safety facts.bike1

This report specifically analyzed bicycle-car crashes, in which a motor vehicle collided with a bicycle causing injury or death. The report did not include incidents wherein a bicycle defect may have contributed to a single-rider crash into a fixed object, such as a tree or pavement. It also excluded incidents that occurred in private property – including parking lots and driveways.

So once we understand that we’re actually discounting a number of fatal crashes, we know the figures about which we’re talking are low to begin with. That means the rate of bicycle crashes and bicycle injuries is actually quite a bit higher than these statistics suggest.  Continue reading

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A much-loved scientist was killed in a bicycle accident recently when she crossed into the path of a light rail train in Houston.rail

The Houston Chronicle reported the Rice University professor, who had been on staff since 1980, was a nationally-renowned leader in the scientific field of particle physics. In her line of work, she sought answers to questions like, “Why is there so much less anti-matter in the universe than matter?” She was interested in delving into discovery of what makes our universe. The 66-year-old was killed on her bicycle when she crossed over the southbound tracks of a a Metro light rail train around 8:15 one Friday morning, right near the Houston Zoo. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

It was the second time a person on a bicycle collided with the Metro light rail in Houston that week – a scenario that has occurred here in the Boston area as well. In the second Houston crash, a bicyclist reportedly collided with a moving METRORail train just before the start of the Super Bowl. He was transported to a local hospital where he underwent surgery, but ultimately died of his injuries.

Although authorities in both cases have said initial investigation indicates the victims did not have the right-of-way, a local biking advocacy group has released a statement calling on city officials to launch an investigation into these deaths and determine whether the designs of the roads and intersections may have in any way contributed, and whether improvements can be made or alternative routes provided.  Continue reading

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Bike riding is becoming increasingly popular nationwide, with a growing number of cities launching bike-friendly initiatives, including bike share programs, Complete Streets road design and safe cycling education campaigns. bicyclelane

Minneapolis-St. Paul, also referred to as the “Twin Cities,” has joined the bandwagon too, installing bicycle lanes throughout the city, which has a number of bicycle clubs, meet-ups and annual sponsored rides.

However, a lawmaker has recently caught heat after introducing a bill in the state legislature that would make bicycling more expensive. House File 499, introduced by Republican Duane Quam, would require cyclists who want to use public bicycle lanes to purchase a permit, pay a $5 fee and complete a bicycle safety education course. Additionally, all bikes being used on public streets would need to be registered with the state public safety commissioner. Additionally, riders using bicycle lanes would need to be at least 15-years-old, making no provision for where school children commuting to class are supposed to ride. Continue reading

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It’s one of those cases where simply no amount of money is going to alter the circumstances or make it right. Still, it’s an action that matters for one Illinois man and his five children, who lost the woman who had been the center of their family. It’s particularly important for the two youngest children, who both have special needs and had relied on their mother to ensure their daily nbicycleeeds were met.

Now, local media reports, decedent’s widower has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the sport utility vehicle driver who struck his wife, who was on a bicycle in a crosswalk, last summer. Plaintiff and his children gave emotional testimony in October when a county judge issued a $150 fine to the driver of that SUV in connection with the crash for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. The penalty was pittance compared to the magnitude of the losses suffered by the family, and their attorney noted it was important for the driver to hear from them about what her carelessness had caused.

An attorney for the driver explained her client was deeply shaken by the crash, and has been unable to return to work. Remorse can be healing, but it doesn’t ease the burden now borne by the family, particularly with regard to the care of the two youngest children with special needs.  Continue reading

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