Pedestrian injured in Massachusetts accident

A pedestrian was injured by a suspected drunk driver in an accident about 40 miles from Boston in Gloucester on Sept. 3. The driver who hit the local woman allegedly had a BAC of .16 percent at the time of the crash, which is twice the legal state limit of .08 percent. The pedestrian was taken to the Gloucester Coast Guard Station and then airlifted to Boston Medical Center where she was in good condition the following day.

According to police, the auto-pedestrian accident took place around 8 p.m. when a 51-year-old man, also a Gloucester resident, driving a Chevrolet sedan east on Atlantic Road struck a female pedestrian who had been walking on Atlantic Road on the city’s Back Shore. The car then spun 180 degrees. Witnesses told police that the car had been traveling at a high rate of speed in the 25-mile-per-hour zone. Police estimate that the man had been driving at around 50 miles per hour at the time the accident.

Police reported that they had noticed a smell of alcohol on the driver as the man spoke with them, and the man admitted to having drank two small bottles of Goldschlager. Police confiscated the man’s driver’s license at the scene of the crash and soon destroyed it. They charged the driver with operating a motor vehicle to endanger, speeding, having an open container while operating a motor vehicle and operating a vehicle under the influence of intoxicating liquor.

A lawyer representing a victim in a case like this might advise the victim to file a personal injury claim to recover damages experienced because of the incident. These damages might include remuneration for medical expenses and lost wages as well as compensation for pain and suffering. Evidence uncovered in a criminal case could be used to strengthen a civil claim.

Source: Gloucester Times, “Man faces DUI charge, victim recovering after car-pedestrian crash“, Arianna MacNeill, September 04, 2014