Massachusetts
Massachusetts is a commonwealth in the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, Vermont and New Hampshire to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Massachusetts is called the “Bay State” because of its three large bays that dominate and shape the coastline.
Massachusetts has played a significant role in American history since the pilgrims, seeking religious freedom, founded Plymouth Colony in 1620. Tourism (historical landmarks) is a large revenue generator and supports the state’s economy. The easternmost region of the state, including the Cape Cod peninsula and the peninsula’s southern islands (including the Elizabeth Islands, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket), are also a popular tourist destinations due to the region’s natural scenic beauty.
Boston is the state capital and the largest city in Massachusetts. Other major cities in Massachusetts include Worcester, Springfield, Lowell, and Cambridge, which is home to two of the nation’s most eminent educational institutions: Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Boston is at the innermost point of Massachusetts Bay. Most of the population of the Boston metropolitan area does not live within the city limits. Eastern Massachusetts is densely populated and largely suburban as far west as Worcester in central Massachusetts. Greater Boston is the area inside the wide loop Interstate 95 creates as it diverts traffic from Downtown Boston. Massachusetts is the most populous of the six New England states with an estimated population of 6,593,587 (2009 U.S. Census).
Interstate 90, also known as the Massachusetts Turnpike, runs for 136 miles from the New York state line until the roadway terminates near Logan International Airport in Boston. Other major interstates serving Massachusetts include Interstate 91, Interstate 93 (which runs north and south through central Boston), Interstate 95, Interstate 495 (which forms a wide loop around the outer edge of Greater Boston), Interstate 291, Interstate 391, Interstate 84, Interstate 195, Interstate 395, Interstate 290, and Interstate 190.
The Port of Boston is considered New England’s maritime hub. The port’s commercial activity includes containerized cargo, vacation cruises, and Boston’s commercial fishing fleet. The port also hosts privately-owned petroleum and liquefied natural gas terminals, and the port’s Autoport. These facilities, along with the state’s other ports and distribution facilities, increase truck traffic on the roadways. While port activity contributes more than $2 billion to the local, regional, and national economies, heavy trucks provide most of the port’s landside port access both to the regional highway system and to the Beacon Park Yard operated by CSX, which is approximately 4 miles away. These trucks include auto carriers and large trucks carrying petroleum and liquefied natural gas, which when involved in traffic collisions, can cause devastating damage.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation shows the Massachusetts Turnpike and the Metropolitan Highway System as primary arteries for trucking companies in Massachusetts. Interstate 495 in Massachusetts is a major truck route for goods being imported from, or exported to, Canada. Nearly 20% of the traffic on Interstate 495 consists of large truck traffic (2007 Regional Transportation Plan). Congestion from heavy truck traffic is most acute near industrial areas along Interstate 495, with large trucks traversing narrow streets in residential areas. This use of residential roads creates safety concerns among residents who worry about traffic accidents between cars and heavy trucks. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported 363 fatalities in Massachusetts as a result of traffic accidents in 2009. Large trucks were involved in 20, or 4.5%, of these fatal accidents.
Accidents involving collisions between heavy trucks and passenger cars or light trucks are typically more catastrophic than accidents involving a collision between two cars. As a fully loaded large commercial truck can weigh 80,000 pounds or more, any collision between a heavy truck and a passenger car is likely to result in serious, even fatal, injuries for the driver or occupants of the car.
In 2007, truckers from Massachusetts moved over 128,000 thousand tons of freight. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in 2008, there were approximately 2,300 fatal and non-fatal truck crashes in Massachusetts. The state is comprised of 35,311 miles of public roads. Massachusetts has 3.7 million automobiles registered along with 13,000 heavy trucks registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Of the 2,340 crashes that occurred in 2008, there were 24 fatal crashes along with 2,316 non-fatal crashes. Of the total large truck crashes that happened that year, 1,024 involved some type of major or minor injury, and 1,299 accidents required a vehicle to be towed away. The trucks involved in the 2008 statistics represented 4.5% of the total number of vehicles involved in accidents and represented .5 percent of all large trucks in the United States. In 2009, Massachusetts trucks were involved in both single-vehicle and multiple-vehicle crashes; in both cases the initial point of impact was the front of the truck, which represented both 62.5% and 46.2%, respectively. The occurrence of “jackknifing” did not occur with trucks that had single trailers; in addition, single-unit trucks experienced more rollover occurrence than combination unit trucks.
