Defective vehicle equipment can be one cause of fatal or near-fatal automobile accidents. As a Maryland car accident attorney and personal injury lawyer, the potential for injury in a highway collision is quiet high when a critical vehicle system, such as steering or brakes, fails to function properly. As drivers, we rely on our vehicles to be not only trouble free, but remain safe for long periods of time and over tens of thousands of miles.
While many car and truck accidents are caused by another person’s negligence, instances of defective equipment can and do occur raising the question of product liability in the minds of victims and their attorneys. Not long ago, a Baltimore County resident was tragically killed when her vehicle was struck by another car whose driver apparently lost control of it.
According to news reports, the accident happened along a stretch of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway in Anne Arundel County at about 8:30pm on a Wednesday evening. Maryland State Troopers arriving at the scene determined that a ‘98 Toyota Camry traveling south crossed the median and hit a northbound ‘96 Chevrolet Metro driven by Stacy Alvater.
Police reports show that the Camry’s driver, 52-year-old Francois Verleysen of Ellicott City, lost control of the vehicle, which then struck the Chevy. Altvater was declared dead at the scene and a passenger who was riding with her was injured in the crash.
According to reports, both Verleysen and Altvater’s unidentified passenger were taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and subsequently released. At the time of the news article, the Maryland State Police were planning on conducting an investigation into the crash, which may or may not indicate that someone was negligent in regard to this awful collision.
Ellicott City driver involved in fatal crash on B-W parkway, ExploreHoward.com, September 17, 2010