If you’ve driven Route 6 or Route 28 in the last few weeks, you already know what’s coming. Spring break brings the first real surge of out-of-town traffic to the Cape, and by Memorial Day the roads are packed with visitors who don’t know the rotaries, aren’t watching the crosswalks, and are often still looking at their phones.
For year-round residents and locals, this seasonal shift means a real increase in accident risk, and it’s worth understanding your rights before something happens.
Distracted Driving is the Leading Cause of Car Accidents in Massachusetts
Distracted driving kills more people in Massachusetts each year than drunk driving. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation consistently ranks it as the top contributing factor in fatal crashes. Texting while driving is the most dangerous form, but anything that pulls a driver’s eyes, hands, or attention away from the road qualifies, including GPS use, eating, adjusting music, and talking to passengers.
Under M.G.L. c. 90, § 13B, Massachusetts prohibits handheld mobile device use while operating a motor vehicle. A driver who causes an accident while texting or scrolling is not just facing a traffic fine. That behavior is evidence of negligence, and in a personal injury case it can significantly strengthen your claim.
Why Cape Cod Roads Are Especially Dangerous in Spring and Summer
The geography of the Cape creates conditions that magnify distracted driving risk. A few factors that make this stretch of road uniquely hazardous this time of year:
- Unfamiliar drivers. Visitors from out of state often don’t know that Route 6 speed limits change frequently, that rotaries yield to entering traffic differently than they may be used to, or that pedestrian crosswalks on streets like Main Street in Hyannis or Commercial Street in Provincetown are heavily used and legally must be respected.
- Cyclist and pedestrian traffic. Warmer weather brings cyclists onto the Cape Cod Rail Trail and pedestrians onto every main street in every town. Intersections that were quiet all winter become busy overnight.
- Distraction from scenery and navigation. Tourists looking for a restaurant, checking their phone for directions, or simply gawking at the water are more likely to miss a stop sign or drift out of their lane.
- Construction season. Spring also brings road work back to the Cape’s main corridors, narrowing lanes and creating sudden stops that catch inattentive drivers off guard.
What to Do if You’re Hit by a Distracted Driver
The steps you take immediately after an accident matter a great deal to any future claim.
Call 911 and make sure a police report is filed. Even if the other driver seems cooperative, you need an official record. If the officer’s report notes that the driver was on a phone or appeared distracted, that documentation is valuable.
Get medical attention right away, even if you feel okay. Some of the most serious injuries, including concussions, soft tissue damage, and internal injuries, don’t present symptoms immediately. Waiting to see a doctor can both harm your health and create gaps in your medical record that insurers will use against you later.
Photograph everything at the scene: the vehicles, the road, any skid marks, traffic signs, and your own visible injuries. If there are witnesses, get their contact information before they leave.
Do not give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurance company without speaking to an attorney first. Adjusters are trained to ask questions in ways that can minimize your claim. You are not required to participate.
Comparative Fault and What it Means for Your Claim
Massachusetts follows a modified comparative fault rule. If you are found to be less than 51 percent at fault for an accident, you can still recover damages, reduced by your percentage of fault. Insurance companies will often try to assign you some portion of blame, even in clear-cut cases, to reduce their payout. Having an attorney who understands how this plays out in practice makes a real difference in what you ultimately recover.
If you’ve been injured in a car accident on Cape Cod or anywhere in Eastern Massachusetts, I sometimes handle these cases on a contingency basis, which means you pay nothing unless we win.
Call Weigand Law at 508-775-3118 or email [email protected] for a free consultation.
Attorney Blair E. Weigand — Helping those with legal questions for 35 years and counting.