Fifty-six year old Lay Bou of Lawrence, Massachusetts was jogging his regular path along Route 110 around rush hour one morning, when police report that he was struck and killed by a drunk driver heading east toward the 110/93 Rotary.
The driver, David Diaz of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was arrested in the emergency room where he was being treated for minor injuries after the accident. According to the Essex county police department, he has been charged with motor vehicle homicide while operating under the influence of alcohol and operating negligently, and a marked lanes violation. The motor vehicle homicide charge is a felony with a maximum penalty of fifteen years in state prison.
What the article about the accident doesn’t report is that this very intersection was named THE most dangerous intersection in the Merrimack Valley area of Massachusetts as early as 2007 by the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission. A study by the city of Methuen (where the rotary is located) recommended that the intersection undergo a major overhaul that would cost the state nearly $50 million; to date that recommendation has not been acted on.
This case is tragically similar to a case Callahan & Blaine successfully settled in orange County, California. In that case two joggers were hit and paralyzed by a drunk driver in the early morning hours. Attorney Daniel J. Callahan knew from previous experience that the intersection was dangerous and that the city of Dana Point, California knew it and had failed to do anything about it. In the Dana Point case, Callahan & Blaine achieved a record-breaking $50 million settlement for the injured joggers, and convinced the city of Dana Point to make the highway safer for pedestrians.
At Callahan & Blaine, California’s premier litigation firm, we believe our success in litigating and negotiating personal injury cases comes from our uncommon approach; we handle each personal injury case as though it were a complex business litigation case, attacking it from every angle possible; our approach is persistent, thorough and relentless.
If you or someone you know has suffered a catastrophic injury or died as the result of a road accident, please contact our Orange County, California law firm for expert legal counsel.
