Red Light Accident Lawyer
Someone ran a red light and changed everything.
A driver who runs a red light was told to stop and did not, so when they hit you the fault is theirs, and Massachusetts law lets you recover for the harm that a rash choice caused.
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What a red-light claim covers
A red-light accident happens when a driver enters an intersection against a signal that told them to stop and strikes someone who lawfully had the green. When that someone is you, there is nothing ambiguous about what went wrong. The other driver had a clear, unmistakable instruction, stop, and chose to go, and the crash that followed is the direct result of that choice. A Boston personal injury attorney at Larson Law can pull together the signal timing, the witness accounts, and the physical evidence to show the light was red, place the fault on the driver who ran it, and pursue the full cost of what they did. The consultation is free, and there is no obligation.
Red-light cases carry a particular kind of frustration. The rule could not be simpler, and nearly everyone obeys it thousands of times without incident, so when a driver blows through a red and hurts someone, the unfairness is stark. Yet the at-fault driver and their insurer will still look for a way to muddy it, claiming the light was yellow, that you entered too soon, that you could have avoided them. Understanding that this is the predictable move of a driver caught on the wrong side of a red light is the first step toward holding them to the rule they ignored.
You may already be replaying the seconds before the crash, wondering whether you could have seen them coming or braked in time. That second-guessing is human, but it is not the legal question. The law does not ask whether a perfect driver might have escaped a car that ran a red light; it asks who was obeying the signal and who was not. Keeping the case anchored there, on the plain fact of who had the green, is how we make sure your honest doubt is never twisted into an admission you never meant to give.
What our clients say
Why red-light victims call us first.
- We pin down the signal timing and the camera footage, not the other driver’s late-yellow story.
- We answer the insurer’s shared-fault arguments before they can chip away at what you are owed.
- We line up the medical proof so every lasting cost is counted, not just the first hospital bill.
- We know the Boston intersections where drivers run reds and how those right-angle crashes happen.
- We handle the adjusters and the paperwork so you can focus on healing, not on fighting the claim.
- No fee unless we win.
- Free case review, no obligation.
- Available 24/7 for your call.
- Decades of trial experience.
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8+ Years of Legal Expertise
98% Legal Success Rate
100+ Injured Victims Helped
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How red-light law works here.
Who had the right of way. A traffic signal simply assigns the right of way in time: green means go, red means stop and yield to the traffic that now has it. Massachusetts sets out the right-of-way rules at intersecting ways in G.L. c. 89, §8, which also makes clear that a driver may turn right on red only after coming to a full stop and yielding to cross traffic and pedestrians. A driver who enters against a red light, or turns on red without stopping, gives up any claim to the right of way, and the driver with the green keeps it.
How shared-fault arguments work. Massachusetts follows a modified comparative negligence rule under G.L. c. 231, §85. You can recover as long as you were not more at fault than the other driver, though your award is reduced by your own share. In red-light cases the insurer’s favorite move is to claim the light was really yellow, or that you jumped the green, so that some of the blame slides onto you. Signal-timing data and witness accounts are what answer that.
The deadline that governs your claim. Under G.L. c. 260, §2A, you generally have three years from the date of the crash to file suit. Miss it and the claim is gone, no matter how plainly the other driver ran the light.
How your own coverage fits in. Massachusetts is a no-fault state, so your own Personal Injury Protection coverage under G.L. c. 90, §34M pays initial medical bills and part of lost wages regardless of fault. To step outside no-fault and pursue the driver who ran the light for full damages, including pain and suffering, your case must meet the tort threshold in G.L. c. 231, §6D, generally more than $2,000 in medical expenses or an injury such as a fracture, permanent scarring, or loss of a sense. The high-speed, right-angle crashes that red-light running produces routinely clear that bar.
It helps to remember what a red light really is: a promise every driver makes to every other driver that they will stop when told. A driver who runs it does not just risk a ticket, they break the one rule that makes an intersection survivable, which is why the law and the evidence usually line up so clearly against them once the timing of the signal is known.
Knowing these rules early also changes how you handle the insurer from the first call. Adjusters count on the fact that most injured people have never read the traffic laws, and they use that gap to reframe a red-light crash as a shared misunderstanding. When your side can point to the signal timing and the comparative-negligence standard, that reframing falls apart, and the conversation returns to what the evidence actually shows rather than what the insurer wishes it showed.
Where red-light crashes happen
Red-light crashes tend to happen at the big signalized intersections where speeds are high and the temptation to beat the light is strongest. In Boston that means the wide crossings along Massachusetts Avenue, Commonwealth Avenue, and Dorchester Avenue, the approaches to the bridges, and the downtown intersections where a driver racing a stale yellow meets cross traffic that just got the green. Because the impact usually lands at right angles and at speed, these are among the most violent crashes on any city street.
A driver who runs a red light endangers everyone legally in the intersection, which is why we handle these claims across the full range of people they hurt. We represent drivers and passengers in Boston car accidents and the far more destructive Boston truck accidents, where a heavy vehicle running a light leaves little margin for survival. We stand up for the road users a red-light runner is most likely to catch in the open, from motorcyclists and pedestrians crossing with the walk signal to cyclists in the bike lane and riders on scooters, because a body with no metal around it has no defense against a car that never slowed down. Whatever you were doing when the crash found you, the question is the same: whose light was green?
What makes these cases so hard to accept is how needless they are. The driver who ran the light saved a few seconds at most, and took from someone else a recovery that can stretch across months or years. A claim cannot rewind that, but it can put the cost of those saved seconds where it belongs, on the driver who decided a red light did not apply to them.
If you are not certain the other driver truly ran the light, that is exactly the question we exist to answer, and the review costs you nothing. In most red-light cases the honest answer is written in the signal data and the damage pattern long before anyone starts arguing about it, and we know how to read both.
The red-light crashes we see
Red-light running produces a few recognizable crashes, and each carries its own pattern of injury. The classic is the right-angle or T-bone collision, where a car entering on the red slams into the side of a vehicle crossing on the green, striking the door with almost nothing to absorb it. There is the pedestrian or cyclist struck in the crosswalk by a driver turning on red without stopping. And there is the high-speed rear-end that happens when the car ahead stops for the light and the following driver, expecting them to run it, does not.
The injuries follow the physics. A side-impact from a driver who ran a red light can break ribs, wrists, hips, and the bones of the spine, tear the soft tissue of the neck and back, and cause a head injury that is not obvious on the first day. A motorcyclist, cyclist, or pedestrian struck by a car moving at intersection speed has no shell around them and absorbs the entire collision. These are exactly the lasting, life-altering harms the signal was there to prevent.
None of this depends on the other driver admitting anything. Modern intersections and nearby businesses are full of cameras, signal controllers keep timing records, and the crush pattern and resting positions tell their own story. Our job is to gather that evidence before it is overwritten, line it up against the simple fact of who had the green, and present the two together so the conclusion is the only one the record will support.
Moving quickly matters here more than in almost any other crash. Signal-timing logs are overwritten, security footage is recorded over within days, and vehicles are repaired or scrapped, so the proof that a light was red has a short life. The sooner a lawyer is involved to secure it, the harder it becomes for the at-fault driver to rewrite what happened.
It is worth saying plainly what is at stake. A person who was doing everything right, moving on a green light, can end up carrying the medical bills, the missed work, and the long recovery, while the driver who caused it often drives off with a dented bumper. A claim exists to correct that imbalance, to move the weight of the crash off the person who obeyed the signal and onto the person who ignored it. That is not about punishment; it is about making sure the cost lands where the choice was made, and the sooner we begin, the more fully we can do it.
Medical Bills and Future Care
Lost Wages and Earning Capacity
Pain, Suffering, and Hardship
Wrongful Death of a Loved One
What to do after the crash.
Photograph the cars and the signals
Photograph both vehicles, the signal heads, the point of impact, and the final positions before anything moves, because in a red-light crash the evidence shows who ran the light and who had the green.
See a doctor even if you feel fine.
See a doctor promptly even if you feel only a little shaken, because the injuries a side-impact or turning crash causes can surface days later, and an early record ties them squarely to the collision.
Call a lawyer before you settle up.
Before you accept the other driver’s version, let a lawyer prove who had the green, because the rules place the fault on the driver who ran the red light, and the evidence clearly backs that story up.
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Talk to us before you talk to them.
If a driver ran a red light and hit you in Boston, you should not have to argue about whose light was green with an adjuster whose job is to pay you less. Larson Law will take that fight off your hands. We will secure the signal timing and camera footage, deal with the insurer, and make the case that the crash belongs to the driver who ran the light. Call today for a free, no-obligation consultation, and pay nothing unless we recover for you.
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Our Clients.
Our Practice Areas.
Larson Law represents injured people across Boston in serious crash and injury cases. If a driver ran a red light and you were hurt, the rules of the road are squarely on your side, and we will use the evidence to hold the responsible driver accountable for what running that light cost you.
Personal injury law in Boston answered directly.
Do I have a personal injury claim?
You may, if someone else’s carelessness caused your injury. The key questions are whether another person or company was negligent, whether that negligence caused your injury, and how serious the harm is. Many people are unsure whether their situation rises to a claim, especially when an insurer downplays it. A free review with an attorney is the best way to find out, because we can look at the facts, the evidence, and the insurance and tell you honestly whether you have a case and what it may be worth, at no cost to you.
What kinds of cases do you handle?
We handle the full range of serious injury and wrongful death cases, including car, truck, motorcycle, bus, rideshare, bicycle, and pedestrian crashes, slip and fall and other premises injuries, dog bites and animal attacks, injuries from dangerous or defective products, and fatal accidents. What these cases share is that someone was hurt by conduct that should not have happened. If you are not sure whether your situation fits, the simplest thing is to ask; the review is free, and we will tell you honestly whether we can help.
How much is my claim worth?
It depends on the severity of the injuries and their lasting effects. Value can reflect past and future medical care, lost wages and reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering, and the long-term impact of a serious or permanent injury, along with property damage in a crash. Every case is different, and the future care is often the largest part of a serious claim. Be cautious of anyone who promises a number up front; a careful attorney evaluates the claim only after reviewing how the injury happened and the full medical picture.
What if the insurer says I was partly at fault?
You can still recover as long as you were not more than half to blame. Under comparative negligence, MGL Chapter 231 Section 85, your compensation is reduced by your share of fault but not eliminated unless that share passes fifty percent. Insurers often exaggerate the injured person’s role to cut what they pay, sometimes based on little evidence. An attorney can present the full picture of how the injury happened and protect your recovery from an unfair or inflated fault argument.
Should I talk to the insurance company?
It is best to be cautious. The other side’s insurer, and sometimes even your own, may contact you quickly and sound friendly, but their goal is to limit what they pay, and an early recorded statement can be used against you while you are still hurting. You are not required to give one. An attorney can deal with the insurers for you, so you do not say something that is later taken out of context, and so the focus stays on the other side’s fault and your recovery rather than on the insurer’s bottom line.
How long do I have to file a claim?
Most injury claims must be filed within three years under MGL Chapter 260 Section 2A, and for an injured child the deadline is paused under MGL Chapter 260 Section 7. Claims involving a city or other public entity can carry much shorter notice deadlines. Because evidence fades and cameras record over their footage within days, it is best to act soon so the proof can be preserved well before any deadline approaches.
What if I cannot afford a lawyer?
You can. Larson Law handles injury claims on a contingency fee, which means there is no charge unless we recover money for you, and the first review is always free. We advance the costs of investigating the claim and working with any experts the case needs. You do not pay out of pocket while you recover, and we are only paid from a successful result. That arrangement exists so that anyone, regardless of their finances, can afford strong legal help after a serious injury.
Do I really need an attorney for my claim?
For a minor injury you may not, but for any serious injury an attorney usually makes a real difference. Insurers settle for less when no lawyer is involved, and the rules around fault, deadlines, and coverage are easy to get wrong on your own. An attorney levels the field, handles the insurers, proves the claim, and pursues the full value while you focus on recovering. Because the first review is free and we work on a contingency fee, there is no cost to find out whether you need one and what your claim may be worth.
How long will my case take?
It depends on the case. Some claims resolve in a matter of months through negotiation, while others, especially serious injuries that are still healing or cases an insurer refuses to value fairly, take longer and may require filing suit. It is usually wise not to settle until the full extent of your injuries is known, since you generally cannot reopen a claim later. An attorney can give you a realistic timeline for your situation and work to move the case as efficiently as possible without leaving money on the table.
What if a loved one died from an injury?
If an injury proved fatal, close family may bring a wrongful death claim under MGL Chapter 229. Such a claim can seek compensation for the loss of the person’s income, services, companionship, and guidance, along with funeral and related expenses. These cases are painful and the legal steps are complex, and an attorney can handle the investigation and the filings so the family can focus on each other, never paying anything up front and owing a fee only if there is a recovery.
How much does a personal injury attorney cost?
Nothing upfront. Larson Law handles personal injury claims on a contingency fee, so there is no charge unless we recover money for you, and the first review is always free. We advance the costs of investigating the claim, obtaining the records, and working with experts. We are only paid from a successful result, which lets an injured person take on the insurers without paying out of pocket while they recover, so cost is never a reason to wait to find out what your claim may be worth.
What should I do after an accident?
Get medical care right away, even if you feel okay, since some injuries appear hours or days later, and keep every record. Write down how it happened, photograph the scene, the cause, and your injuries, and get the names of any witnesses while it is fresh. Report the accident as appropriate. Avoid giving the insurer a recorded statement or signing anything before you have spoken with an attorney, who can preserve the evidence and protect both your health and your claim from the start.
Results Disclaimer: Past case results, settlements, and verdicts mentioned on this website do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case. Every case is unique and depends on its own facts and legal issues.