Maryland Car Accident Attorney Blog
Even experienced drivers and other professionals who operate motor vehicles for a living can be caught in a serious or fatal car, truck or motorcycle crash. As Baltimore auto accident lawyers and D.C. personal injury attorneys, we represent numerous individuals who have been hurt in traffic collisions between passenger cars, SUVs and other larger vehicles, such as tractor-trailers, commercial delivery trucks and gasoline tanker trucks.
Not long ago, one of our Maryland State Police troopers was killed in the line of duty when his patrol car slammed into the rear of a tractor-trailer rig parked on the shoulder of Interstate 95 a little bit south of the Laurel rest stop. The accident occurred in the early morning hours on a Saturday as Trooper First Class Shaft Hunter was heading southbound apparently pursuing a motorcyclist who may have been speeding along the interstate.
A witness reportedly saw the biker pass by at a high rate of speed sometime before 2:30am with the trooper not far behind. No details were given at the time of the news article, but for some reason Hunter’s patrol car struck the parked semi just south of Rte 32.
Hunter, who was an 11-year MSP veteran, died as a result of the collision. He is the 43rd state trooper to die in the line of duty here in Maryland. In fact, nationwide, over 19,000 police officers have reportedly given their lives in the service of the public good, according to news articles.
While it is doubtful that a police car would experience an equipment failure which might result in an officer losing control of the vehicle, a percentage of road accidents can be attributed to defective equipment, such as faulty brake and steering components, or poorly maintained tires.
The trucker, 46-year-old Albert Sandino, was reportedly uninjured as a result of the car-truck crash. The man told police he had stopped his rig on the side of the roadway in order to check his directions before traveling further.
Hunter, 39, had reportedly not contacted the barrack regarding his pursuit of the speeding motorcyclist; however authorities have said that this is not an uncommon practice. According to news reports, the MSP was apparently anxious to track down the biker they believe Hunter was chasing and it planned on using a license plate reader to help in the search for the motorcyclist in question.
Maryland state trooper killed in crash on I-95, WTOP.com, May 21, 2011