Here is a list of the common types of auto accidents our personal injury law firm has handled:

• Rear-end collisions
• Single car accidents
• Multi-car accidents
• Pedestrian accidents
• Bicycle accidents. For more information on the law relating to bicycle, see our blog post here.
• Drunk driving accidents
• Distracted driving/texting accidents
• Rollover accidents
• Auto defects
• Hit-and-run accidents
• Truck accidents

Car accidents can be caused by a number of factors, such as:

• Improper vehicle maintenance.
• Drunk driving
• Drugged driving
• Distracted driving – texting, eating or drinking while driving
• Driving while tired
• Roadway hazards, such as potholes, debris on the road, snow and ice on the road.
• Road construction sites
• Defective vehicle parts, such as tires, brakes or steering
• Snowy and icy roads

Our car accident attorneys handle cases involving all type of injuries, from very serious or even fatal injuries, to relatively minor injuries. Most motor vehicle accidents result in so-called “soft tissue” injuries, such as sprained and strained necks, backs, shoulders and knees. We know these injuries are just as painful as a fracture and usually take a lot longer to recover from. We take the time to learn how these injuries affect our clients and then demand our clients be compensated fully and fairly for all they have gone through. The following are common injuries we see in our cases:

• Shoulder injuries, such as a torn rotator cuff
• Concussions
• Leg and ankle fractures
• Ruptured or herniated discs in the spine
• Neck injuries
• Lower back injury
• Knee injury

Our law firm has helped our clients recover the compensation they deserve for the following losses:

Medical bills

Loss of income, including loss of overtime pay

Other out of pocket expenses, like the cost of renting a car while yours is repaired

• Pain and suffering
• Physical disability
• Permanent scars
• Emotional distress
• Mental anguish
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Loss of love and affection
• Embarrassment and humiliation
• Mental disability
• Damage to your vehicle

Our car accident lawyers have handled cases involving car accidents from Cape Cod to the Berkshires, and every place in between. Certain roads and highways seem to have more than their share of car accidents, such as the following:

• The Mass Pike
• Southeast Expressway, particularly the Boston sections
• Route 24 in and around Fall River
• Interstate 95
• Interstate 93
• Route 1 on the North Shore

Being involved in a car accident is a frightening and confusing experience. Your body may be flooded with a surge of adrenaline during and immediately after an auto accident, which can make it difficult to fully understand what happened. You might make irrational decisions or statements that could affect your legal rights.

To prevent this, here are some things you should do if you are ever involved in a car accident.

Assess your medical condition. If there is any question in your mind as to whether you should get medical attention, you probably should, so call 911 immediately. If you feel OK on the day of the crash, but worse the following day, seek medical attention then.

Carefully document relevant details. If you are able, take photographs of any damage to your vehicle, the other vehicle, and the location where the crash occurred.

Do not speak with anyone other than police officers and emergency medical personnel.

File an official auto accident report with the local police department.

Contact your insurance agent.

All lawsuits for injuries caused by Massachusetts car accidents must be filed in court within three years of the date of the crash. However, it is always best to get an experienced car accident lawyer involved in your case as soon as possible after a car accident. Sometimes important evidence can be lost if an investigation of the accident is delayed.

An injured person may recover as long as he or she is not found to be more at fault than the other persons who caused the injury. In other words, if the injured person and another person are equally at fault, the injured person can still recover, but their recovery is reduced by their own percentage of fault. So, if a jury decides the injured person was 25% at fault, that person’s recovery is reduced by 25%. If the jury decides that the injured person was 51% or more at fault, he or she recovers nothing. For additional information on how courts compare the fault of persons involved in car accidents, see our blog post on that topic here.

Massachusetts law requires all drivers to have a minimum amount of auto insurance coverage of $20,000. This amount is not enough to cover anything but minor injuries. In addition, if the driver’s insurance has been cancelled, or if the car was stolen, there will likely be no insurance at all. In situations like that, we can recover from your own insurance policy, under what is known as uninsured motorist benefits coverage. It is well worth spending the extra money to purchase higher limits to make sure you are properly covered in case you are injured by an uninsured or underinsured driver. For additional information on Massachusetts auto insurance, see our recent blog article here.