Massachusetts police return to scene of fatal truck accident

In some cases, it can take months for police to bring an accident investigation to a close. In complex cases where a cause is not clear, Massachusetts police will often undertake an accident reconstruction in order to gather more detailed information about the crash. Police conducted such an investigation recently in a fatal truck accident that took the life of a young boy.

The accident occurred two months ago when a boy was hit by a dump truck as he was riding on his bike. At the time of the crash, police looked into the matter and did not issue any criminal charges. However, they concluded that further review was needed.

As a result, police conducted a four hour reconstruction where police blocked the area off from traffic. Police used the same truck that was involved in the accident as well as a boy of similar size so they could properly reenact how the accident occurred. A final report on their findings is not expected to be released for several more months.

Although the officers’ work in reconstructing this fatal truck accident may be useful, the victim’s family may not need to wait until the report is released to file a suit in a Massachusetts civil court. If, however, the report comes back while the wrongful death suit is pending, this could further assist them in arguing that this fatal truck accident occurred because of driver error. If this claim is supported, the family may be entitled to recover financial damages against the driver and the driver’s employer.

Source: wggb.com, “Local, State Police Work to Reconstruct Deadly Westfield Crash,” July 16, 2013