Accidents happen for numerous and varied reasons. The ones that occur due to driver error are quite common and can range from simple fender-benders to deadly high-speed head-on collisions. As a Maryland personal injury lawyer working to help victims of automobile, trucking and motorcycle accidents, I know the pain and sadness that comes in the wake of a tragic and fatal traffic wreck.
When a person is believed to be at fault, it’s sometimes easier for a victim’s family to focus their anger. On the other hand, sometimes there isn’t an immediately known reason for a terrible car accident that takes the life of a loved one. Defective vehicle equipment, which usually comes under the heading of product liability, has no face and can sometimes be difficult to come to terms with.
No matter what the cause, when a person dies in a single-vehicle crash, questions loom both for the family and for the authorities. Police and other forensic investigators can usually get to the bottom of the cause for a loss of vehicle control. It’s not unheard of for a car or truck’s braking system to have proven faulty or poorly maintained. With such a critical safety system compromised by another’s negligence, a mechanical failure can quickly escalate into a fatal car or trucking accident.
A news article not long ago described a single-car crash that took the life of the driver. While no decision had been reached as to the cause of the accident, police were in the course of investigation the incident at the time of the article.
According to the report, a 41-year-old Reisterstown man was killed when the Chevrolet Corvette he was driving went out of control in Westminster, MD. Police reports show that Bruce Samuelson was driving southbound along Rte 140 near Market Street when for some reason he lost control of his vehicle. The car crossed the road, went over a curb and hit two other parked cars before coming to a stop in a parking lot.
Emergency responders arriving on the scene found Samuelson trapped inside his vehicle. After freeing him from the Corvette, Samuelson was rushed to Carroll Hospital Center where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Maryland State Police were still investigating the crash at the time of the article and had yet to determine the actual cause.
Reisterstown man killed in serious crash in Westminster, ABC2news.com, October 7, 2010