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13-Year-Old Massachusetts Bicyclist Dies After Being Struck by Driver Who Was Text Messaging

By Altman & Altman

In Massachusetts last month, at about 12:30am on, 13-year-old Earman Machado was riding his bicycle next to a friend, who was walking on the shoulder of the road that runs parallel to Route 24, when he was plowed down by a car. The driver of the motor vehicle did not stop at the accident scene.

Instead, Craig P. Bigos, the driver of the car, turned himself in to New Bedford police the next day. He claims he did not intend to hit-and-run and was not aware that he had struck anyone. Bigos said he had been text messaging on his cell phone when his car swerved off the road and hit what he thought was a mailbox. It wasn?t until the following day when he noticed the accident site that he realized that he might have struck someone.

Machado died from serious head trauma caused by the injury accident.

If you are a bicyclist who was seriously injured in an accident involving a negligent car driver, bus driver, motorcyclist, or truck driver, you should contact a Massachusetts bicycle accident lawyer immediately.

Bicycle accidents can lead to serious injuries, such as broken bones, road burns, severed limbs, major internal injuries, spinal cord injuries, head injuries, neck injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and death.

The Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute says that:

? 85 million people ride bicycles in the US.
? Of the 773 bicycle fatalities that occurred in 2006, 92% of them involved motor vehicle collisions.
? 50% of the victims were children younger than 15 years of age.
? 2/3 of the deaths were due to fatal traumatic brain injuries.
? Some 540,000 bicyclists are sent to hospitals for treatment following motor vehicle crashes.
? Approximately 67,000 injured bicyclists are treated for head injuries each year.

A good Massachusetts bicycle accident lawyer will know how to properly investigate the accident scene and any evidence that will prove that another party?s negligence was responsible for your injury accident. If your loved one is a bicyclist who died after being struck by a motor vehicle, you are entitled to receive wrongful death compensation.

Fatal hit-run driver was texting, Boston.com, December 29, 2007

Helmet-Related Statistics, Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute

Related Web Resources:

Massachusetts Laws Pertaining to Bicyclists, The Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition

Massachusetts Bicycle Helmet Law

Full post as published by Boston Injury Lawyer Blog on January 08, 2008 (boomark / email).