As Baltimore personal injury lawyers we understand quite well that anyone who follows us on this venue has a very good chance of being involved in some kind of accident involving bodily injury during the span of their life. This is not to say that one should expect to be hurt as a result of a car, truck or motorcycle crash, just as nobody should look forward to being hit by a car while walking to the store or being injured as a nursing home resident in the distant future. But our statement is purely to illustrate the extremely high odds of such events.
Of course, being automobile accident attorneys, I and my staff know that with the millions of vehicle miles traveled every year by residents of Maryland and surrounding states, the chances of anyone being hurt as a result of a car or commercial trucking wreck may be very good. We’ll say, up front, that if you or someone you love has been injured as a result of another driver’s negligence, it is always a good idea to consult with a qualified personal injury attorney. For our part, we help accident victims in this state, as well as the District of Columbia.
Of more than five million roadway collisions annually across the U.S., many of these are of the minor, so-called fender-bender variety. But there are a large percentage of car and trucking-related crashes that result in both property damage and bodily injury. A percentage of these more serious collisions can result in death or life-threatening injuries.
Whether through careless driving habits, thoughtless operation of a car, SUV or minivan, or outright reckless behavior, the result can easily be the same. Negligence on the part of many a motorist has left one or more men, women and children in a hospital bed fighting for their lives. Most of these event could be termed senseless, which makes it all the more painful for the victims and their families to deal with the “what-ifs” that follow a tragic car or truck wreck.
Car accidents, which are typically caused by one driver not paying attention to his immediate environment, can usually be attributed to a negligent party. The act of operating a two-ton motor vehicle in a reasonable and proper manner can open the door to a potential personal injury lawsuit or, in the case of a fatal traffic collision, a wrongful death suit filed against the negligent party or parties.
This can also apply to pedestrian-related traffic accidents. And while anyone who consciously chooses to walk, run or ride a bicycle near an active roadway should understand the risks involved, it doesn’t change the fact that a negligent driver might be sued for injuring or killing a pedestrian following a tragic crash. When one considers that more than 50,000 people a year are involved in pedestrian-related accidents — with thousands of those killed or maimed as a result — it’s not unjustified to throw up a caution flag to everyone who steps out of their homes and ventures out on public streets.
Take a recent incident that left a Maryland woman thankful for her life after a serious highway collision on I-95 in the Baltimore area. According to news articles, Ms. Kelly Burke was apparently minding her own business and driving her Subaru when she was hit from behind by a semi tractor-trailer rig last month. As a result of that initial impact, Ms. Burke’s vehicle was pushed into a flat-bed tow truck ahead of her on the roadway. The impact not only caused severe damage to the woman’s vehicle, it sent the car being towed on top of that flat-bed truck to be nearly thrown off an overpass into traffic below.
Based on news reports, the so-called “chain reaction” crash did not result in injury to Ms. Burke, or anyone else involved, but it did point up the dangers that we all face as drivers on Maryland roadways. For her part, Ms. Burke was reportedly pulled from her wrecked car by others who witnessed the crash. According to police, the accident occurred on an I-95 overpass during a Monday. From the sound of it, all involved were happy to have survived the ordeal.
Woman Grateful To Be OK After I-95 Crash Monday, CBSLocal.com, October 9, 2012