Boston Injury Lawyer Blog

According to news reports, forty-seven-year-old Barbara Wood of Middleborough died today aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship while it was off the Florida coast. She apparently slipped on stairs and fell down a staircase, and hit her head. Although rushed to the infirmary, Wood was pronounced dead approximately an hour later.

Wood was on a five-day cruise on the Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas. Like most cruise ship companies, the Royal Caribbean says it was prepared to handle medical emergencies. According to a spokesperson for the Royal Caribbean, each ship has 24-hour medical professionals, as well as an infirmary stocked with a plethora of pharmaceuticals and equipment, including x-rays and cardiac defibrillators.

As this incident indicates, cruise ships, while hot spots for vacationing and sightseeing, are also prime breeding groups for all types of injuries—from slip-and-fall accidents, to food poisoning, to sexual assaults and rape, to fires and collisions. Whether this particular ship’s medical equipment and facilities were adequate is currently unknown, and some people are skeptical about whether cruise ships are generally prepared for life-threatening situations.

This accident comes only a few weeks after the devastating Carnival Corp. accident that resulted in several deaths when it crashed off the coast of Italy. Cruise ship accident cases can be difficult to litigate because such ships are often governed by antiquated maritime and international laws. Individuals injured in cruise ship accidents should seek immediate medical attention and contact a skilled personal injury lawyer to determine their best avenue of recovery.

Middleborough woman dies aboard cruise ship in waters off Florida, Boston.com, January 30, 2012.

Cruise lines say they’re prepared for medical emergencies, Sun-Sentinel.com, January 30, 2012.

A Winthrop woman was killed on Saturday night in a Hull, Massachusetts boating accident. Regina Mosher sustained a fatal brain injury when she fell off the powerboat she was in a passenger in after it struck a moored sailboat.

The driver of the powerboat, Lloyd W. Thompson, is charged with negligent homicide and drunk driving. The 39-year-old Winthrop man has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges. While Thompson has admitted to consuming alcohol, he says that he didn’t have more than two or three drinks. Police did retrieve an empty wine box, wine glasses, and beer bottles from his vessel.

The Massachusetts boating accident took place close to Hull’s Spinnaker Island. 10 people were riding in the powerboat that Thompson, who is vice commodore of the Winthrop Yacht Club, was steering. He claims he didn’t notice the sailboat until the last moment and that he tried to avoid colliding with it. He also says that he did not see the channel markers prior to the crash. Police, however, say that following the collision, Thompson exhibited slurred speech and his eyes appeared glassy.

There were several passengers on the boat. A second woman who also was thrown during the Massachusetts boat crash was treated at a hospital.

Massachusetts Boating Accidents
Injuries during boating accidents can happen and a Boston injury lawyer can help you figure out whether you have reason for filing a civil case. Drunk driving, operator negligence, operator inexperience, boat malfunction, boat defects, overcrowded vessels, no flotation devices, sinking boats, falls overboard, carbon monoxide poisoning, boat crashes, and personal watercraft accidents are some of the reasons why boating accidents happen.

Man pleads not guilty to fatal boat crash, Boston.com, September 13, 2011

Woman killed in boating accident off Hull, skipper faces charges, Patriot Ledger, September 12, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Boating Accident Statistics, US Coast Guard

Boating Accidents, Justia

More Blog Posts:
Capsized Boat Leaves One Dead, Boston Injury Lawyer, November 15, 2010

US Coast Guard Reports 9 Massachusetts Recreational Boating Accidents in 2007, Boston Injury Lawyer, September 24, 2008

9-Year-Old Massachusetts Girl is Seriously Injured in Boating Accident on Indian Lake, Boston Injury Lawyer, July 23, 2007

Continue reading "Alcohol Allegedly a Factor In Hull, Massachusetts Boating Accident that Caused Winthrop Woman to Sustain Fatal Head Injury" »

One man died and one was rescued after a lobster boat capsized on Sunday. The rescued man was found on Little Brewster Island, a Boston Harbor island, and was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital. The other man was found unresponsive in the water and was taken to the Coast Guard Point Allerton Station where he was pronounced dead.

The boat, called the Jacquelyn Ann, had left the Wessaguesset Yacht Club in Weymouth around noon on Saturday to retrieve lobster traps from Hull.

The Boston Globe: One rescued, one dead after boat capsizes

Sometimes, boat accidents are simply accidents where no one is to blame. Other times, boating accidents can be caused because of careless operation, operator inexperience, alcohol use, speeding, or defective products. If you or someone you know has been injured in a boating accident and you are not sure whether you have a personal injury claim, call the attorneys of Altman & Altman LLP today.

Continue reading "Capsized Boat Leaves One Dead" »

A confidential Massachusetts injury settlement has been reached between the plaintiffs, Katie Nardin and Thomas Soisson, and the insurers of the Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity and MIT graduate Bhaskar Mookerji. Nardin and Soisson sustained severe chemical burn injuries to the face, arms, and legs while doing environmental cleanup volunteer work on the Charles River Cleanup Boat on September 6, 2007.

A Styrofoam-like object that was scooped up from the water and deposited in a plastic trash barrel on the boat exploded, causing their injuries. The object, which was actually sodium metal, had been stolen from an MIT school lab as part of an annual tradition that involves throwing the material into the Charles River.

Mookerji, now 22, came forward in April 2008 and admitted that he threw the sodium metal into the water. He was charged with environmental pollution and disorderly conduct. The criminal charges against him were eventually dropped.

Soisson had to have skin graft surgery for his injuries and has spent a great deal of time recovering. Nardin received treatment for her burn injuries and has had to seek medical attention another nine times because of infection and scarring. The Massachusetts personal injury compensation settlement is for their physical injuries and emotional trauma.

The blast also cost thousands of dollars in decontamination efforts.

Chemical Burns can cause:
• Tissue damage
• Blisters
• Numbness or pain
• Black dead skin
• Vision problems
• Low blood pressure
• Seizures
• Cardiac arrest

Chemical burns can be very painful and traumatic.

Deal reached in MIT fraternity prank, Boston.com, August 10, 2010

Confession linked TEP to Na injuries, The Tech Online, March 12, 2010

Chemical Burns, emedicinehealth

Related Web Resources:
Tau Epsilon Phi, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Charles River Cleanup Boat

Continue reading "Massachusetts Personal Injury Settlement Reached in MIT Fraternity Prank that Severely Injured Two Volunteers" »

At the US Department of Transportation’s Distracted Driving Summit this week, family members who lost loved ones in car accidents involving drivers who were distracted spoke to attendees about their tragedies. One woman lost her mother of a driver who was talking on his cell phone. Another woman, a motorcyclist, was killed when she was struck at a red light by a driver who was painting her nails. And of course, there are the accounts of loved ones lost because drivers were texting while driving, reaching for a cell phone, or glancing at a PDA to "quickly" read a text message.

According to the NHTSA, almost 6,000 people died in distracted driving accidents last year. Over 500,000 others survived these auto accidents with injuries. As one man who lost his mother told the summit, “distracted drivers destroy lives.” Yet many drivers continue to engage in some form of distracted driving.

Talking on a cell phone and texting while driving have proven especially dangerous, and calls for a nationwide ban on texting has become more urgent. The CTIA-The Wireless Association reports that 110 billion texts were sent out in December 2008. Compare this figure to the 10 billion texts that were transmitted in December 2005.

On Wednesday, the Obama Administration announced that federal workers will no longer be allowed to text message while operating a motor vehicle while on the job or in a government-owned auto. According to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the government is also considering restricting truck drivers, train operators, and bus drivers from using cell phones.

In Massachusetts, there is still no ban on text messaging. Localities are allowed to decide whether to restrict cell phone use. Earlier this year, the Boston area’s transit authority announced a new policy change banning bus, trolley, and train operators from carrying cell phones and personal electronic devices while they are on the clock. The crackdown came after a trolley operator who was text messaging caused aBoston train accident that injured 49 people.

Boston car drivers are allowed to talk on handheld devices and text message while driving an auto. This can result in serious Massachusetts traffic accidents and personal injuries and wrongful deaths may ensue.

Cell Phone Ban After Boston Trolley Crash, Huffington Post, May 9, 2009

New regulation bans federal employees from texting while driving, Los Angeles Times, October 1, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Distracted Driving Summit, US Department of Transportation

State Cell Phone Driving Laws, Governors Highway Safety Association

An Examination of Driver Distraction as Recorded in NHTSA Database (PDF)

Continue reading "At Distracted Driving Summit, Families of Car Accident Victims Bring to Life the Deadly Consequences of Multitasking While Behind the Wheel " »

The US Coast Guard has released the latest statistics involving boating accidents in Massachusetts and throughout the United States.

Statistics Include:

• 685 boating fatalities throughout the US in 2007.
• 9 of these deaths occurred in Massachusetts, where 36 boating accidents occurred.
• There have been at least 6 Massachusetts boating fatalities so far this year.
• There have been 101 boating accident deaths in the state over the last 10 years.
• A total of 5,191 recreational boating accidents occurred throughout the US in 2007.
• 3,673 people suffered injuries in these accidents.

Massachusetts Environmental Police Capt. George Agganis says that while the exact number of deaths may vary from year to year in the state and throughout the US, the causes of boating fatalities tend to stay the same and include:

• Drunk driving
• Driver inattention
• Speeding
• Careless or reckless operation of the vessel

More Boating Accident Facts from the US Coast Guard Study:

• The cause of death of over 2/3rds of all boating accident deaths is drowning.
• 90% of the victims were not wearing life jackets when they died.
• Alcohol is a main factor in 21% of all boating deaths.

Safety instruction key to fewer boat fatalities, Telegram.com, August 22, 2008

Accident Statistics, US Coast Guard

Related Web Resources:

Department of Conservation and Recreation, Mass.gov

Massachusetts Boats, DMV.org

Continue reading "US Coast Guard Reports 9 Massachusetts Recreational Boating Accidents in 2007" »

9-year-old Yaritza Diaz is not very responsive and is in critical condition at Franciscan Hospital for Children in Boston after being seriously injured in a boating accident involving two Sea-Doo watercrafts last May.

Carlos Lopez, 21, and Jose M. Cruz Delgado, 30, have both been charged with negligent driving of a watercraft, failing to follow inland navigation rules, failing to file a written boat accident report, and driving a personal watercraft in excess of headway speed.

Investigators say that Yaritza was riding on the back of the family’s Sea-doo, which had been driven by Lopez. Another Sea-doo, driven by Delgado, was driving on the same course but coming from the opposite direction. The two watercrafts collided. Yaritza was thrown at least 15 feet into the air and was struck by part of one of the vessels. She sustained serious head injuries in the crash.

An investigator on the case says that the vessels were moving at 31 mph, which is way over the 6mph speed limit.

Charges have been filed against the drivers of both vessels—one of them is a family friend of the Diaz family.

Antonia Diaz, the mother of Yaritza, believes that more severe charges should be made against the men. She thinks that misdemeanor charges are not enough to hold the men responsible for what happened to her daughter, who is unable to stand or sit on her own. Yaritza uses a feeding tube and has not been responsive to treatment.

Felony charges, however, can only be made if the two men had been drinking while driving a watercraft and if someone had been killed during the accident.

Yaritza will soon be transferred back to U Mass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester. Her mother says that a full-time nurse will be needed to take care of her daughter.

The CDC offers a number of 2005 boating accident statistics on its Web site, including the following:

*In 2005, the U.S. Coast Guard received reports for 4,969 boating incidents; 3,451 participants were reported injured and 697 died in boating incidents.

*Open motorboats were involved in 45% of all reported incidents and personal watercraft were involved in another 26%.

*The number of reported nonfatal injuries (1,007) involving personal watercraft (PWC), such as Jet Skis® and WaveRunners®, increased for the first time since 1996. PWC-related fatalities (65) also increased in 2005.

Watercraft drivers face charges in accident, Telegram.com, July 23, 2007

Boating Safety, Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Related Web Resources:

Sea-Doo

Your Resource Center for Boating Safety, USCGboating.org

Continue reading "9-Year-Old Massachusetts Girl is Seriously Injured in Boating Accident on Indian Lake" »