Drunk Driving Accidents

Silver Springs DUI Accident Results in One Woman’s Death

March 3, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier last month, one woman was killed while she was waiting for the bus when she was hit by a drunk driver. According to one local news report, the tragic accident occurred on the 1100 block of Cresthaven Drive just after 11 in the morning.

A witness to the accident told police that the driver was seen erratically driving a red 2005 Nissan X-Terra shortly before the accident. At some point, the driver crossed over into the left lane and hit the victim, who was waiting near a Ride On bus stop. After hitting the woman, the driver vehicle continued on, eventually hitting a 1999 Buick that was parked on Park Avenue and then a 2010 Ford Focus that was parked in a nearby driveway.

Police arrived on the scene and immediately took the driver into custody for suspicion of drunk driving. The results of the driver’s blood-alcohol content are still outstanding, but it is expected that the results will show that he was legally intoxicated. Changes against the driver are pending, awaiting the result of the investigation.

Maryland Woman Arrested for DUI with a BAC over Four Times the Legal Limit

October 23, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this week in Deer Park, a woman was arrested after she crashed into a car while driving drunk. According to a report by one local news source, a couple was driving along State Road 219 when another driver pulled in front of them, cutting them off.

Due to the driver cutting off the couple, the two cars collided in a minor collision. However, rather than stop and ensure that everyone was all right, the woman kept on driving. The couple followed her for several miles, honking their horn and flashing their lights, trying to get her to stop. They were also able to get the car’s license plate number and call police.

When police finally tracked the woman down, she was at home and admitted to driving while she was drunk and also apologized for hitting the people. A blood test was given to the woman, and the results indicated that her blood-alcohol content was .33, which is one-third of her blood. She was immediately arrested and charged with driving under the influence and also with fleeing the scene of an accident.

Single-Vehicle Accident Takes the Life of One Fifteen-Year-Old and Injures Two Others

September 3, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this week in Montgomery County, a fatal single-vehicle accident claimed the life of one teen and injured two others. According to a report by CBS DC, the accident occurred in Olney, near Hines Road and Macduff Avenue.

While police are still piecing together the facts from the accident, they believe that around one in the morning a Chrysler 200 convertible was heading east on Hines Road when it suddenly left the roadway and struck a tree before reaching Macduff Avenue. After crashing through the tree, the car continued across Macduff Avenue, crashing into a street light pole and a telephone box before rolling over and finally coming to a rest.

The car was being driven by a 17-year-old and had two other teens as passengers. The teen in the back seat of the Chrysler was ejected during the accident and was taken into the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Unfortunately, shortly after being admitted to the hospital, the young boy succumbed to his injuries.

One Dead in Glen Burnie Crash, Alcohol May Have Been Involved

July 2, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in Glen Burnie, one man lost his life and two others were injured when the car they were riding in left the roadway and crashed into a tree. According to a report by WBALTV, the accident occurred on Route 10, right before the entrance to the Capitol Beltway at around 9:30 p.m. Evidently, the driver of the car failed to properly negotiate a corner, spun off the road, and crashed into a tree.The driver of the car was taken to Shock Trauma in Baltimore, but was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival. The other two passengers in the car were also taken to the hospital, one in critical condition and the other in serious but stable condition.

Police are currently investigating the accident, however, they have concluded that the driver of the car was speeding at the time. Currently, police are trying to find out if alcohol was involved in the fatal single-vehicle accident.

Alcohol and Speed Responsible for Another Maryland Traffic Death

June 9, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in an accident that occurred in Clements, Maryland, a young woman lost her life when her car left the road and crashed into a tree, ejecting her in the process. According to a report by Southern Maryland News Net, the accident occurred near the intersection of Colton’s Point Road and Oakley Road just before seven in the evening.

Evidently, the driver was heading southbound on Colton’s Point Road when she began to drift into the oncoming lane of traffic. As she attempted to get the car back into its proper lane, she overcorrected, and the vehicle left the road, traveling over an embankment, into the air, and ultimately into a tree. The driver was ejected from the vehicle. She was not wearing her seatbelt.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. There was also a three-year-old child in the car with the woman who was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Drunk Driver Hits College Student in Baltimore County and Keeps on Driving

April 22, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in Towson, Maryland, a 19-year-old college student was struck and killed by a driver on Dulaney Valley Road, a major arterial road. According to a report by the local NBC affiliate, the driver was heading north in the right turning lane when she struck the student just before 2 a.m. on Sunday morning.

The driver did not stop, but continued on her way until police caught up with her later and arrested her. The student was taken to the hospital early Sunday morning, immediately after the accident, but died form the injuries he sustained the next day. The student was a well-liked and integral member of the school’s lacrosse team as well as a double major in Economics and Business Management.

The hit-and-run driver who was also intoxicated at the time was arrested and charged with driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident. Police and prosecutors are currently investigating the accident to determine if she should face more serious charges.

Driver Sentenced to Five Years for Pokomoke Hit-and-Run Accident

February 20, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this week, a Philadelphia man was sentenced to five years for hitting and killing a woman in a 2012 drunk-driving hit-and-run accident in Pokomoke, Maryland. According to a report by Delmarvanow.com, not only was the man drinking from a bottle of brandy as he was driving, but he was also driving with a suspended license.

Back in December of 2012, the victim had finished dinner out with a friend and was heading home when the friend’s car somehow ended up on the side of the road. As the victim stumbled from the wrecked car across the highway, she was struck by a truck that was drifting between lanes. Bystanders stopped to render aid to the woman, however, the driver did not.

The “black box” that all new cars are equipped with showed that the driver hit the woman while traveling at about 58 miles per hour and did not attempt to slow down before the collision. When police searched the scene of the accident the following day, they found a bottle of brandy and a receipt to a nearby liquor store; surveillance footage from the liquor store on the night of the accident showed the man purchasing the brandy.

Should Interlock Ignition Devices Be Required for Drunk Drivers?

January 6, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It’s common knowledge that drunk driving is the cause of countless accidents across Maryland, many of which result in serious injury. For the most part, the State of Maryland takes drunk driving offenses very seriously due to the danger it presents to everyone on the road. However, unlike many other states, Maryland does not require that those who have been convicted of a DUI offense install an interlock ignition device on their vehicle as a precondition to driving.

What Is an Interlock Ignition Device?

An Interlock Ignition Device (IID) is a small box affixed to a vehicle’s dashboard that measures the driver’s blood alcohol content and prevents the car from starting if the driver has even a trace amount of alcohol on his or her breath. In vehicles with IIDs, before starting the car the driver must blow into a tube that sends the driver’s breath into a box that measures the driver’s blood alcohol content. If the driver “passes” then the car starts normally. If the driver “fails” then the car will not start and that information is stored on the device for later extraction.

Do IIDs Have Any Affect on DUI Arrests and Accidents?

Most likely, the answer is yes. In fact, some suggest that requiring those drivers convicted of a DUI offense to install a IID on their vehicle decreases repeat DUI offenses by up to 65% because it actually prevents drivers from getting behind the wheel while intoxicated. In addition, requiring an IID for DUI offenders does not cost the State anything because the driver is required to install and maintain the device at their own expense.

One Dead, Two Critically Hurt in Alcohol-related Traffic Collision in Baltimore County

March 7, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

How many times does it have to happen before society can even hope to eliminate the senseless, costly and many times tragic consequences caused by drunken driving. As Baltimore personal injury attorneys, we have seen too many victims of alcohol-related automobile and motorcycle accidents come forth in our local courts seeking recovery of medical and rehabilitation costs from negligent individuals who chose to get behind the wheel of a passenger car or commercial truck only to cause a serious roadway collision.

Far too many people have been hurt or killed on this nation’s city streets, rural routes and high-speed expressways as a result of another driver operating his or her vehicle while impaired by alcohol or prescription drugs. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), someone dies every 45 seconds in an alcohol-related traffic accident day-in and day-out all across this country. And Maryland is no different, with stories in the news almost daily describing the sad circumstances surround these senseless car and commercial trucking wrecks.

Our job here at Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers, is to work with our clients — the victims of these negligent drunk drivers — and help them try to piece together some semblance of their former lives. For the families of victims killed in a tragic road accident, there is no true recovery when one realizes that a child, parent or spouse has been wrenched away from the ones they love. In cases of where an individual has met an untimely death, a wrongful death lawsuit can be filed against the individual responsible for the fatal accident.

Drunk Driving Blamed in Deadly Kingsville, MD, Roadway Accident that Killed One, Injured Two Others

February 4, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

If random fatal traffic accidents caused by a moment’s inattention or a simple distraction inside a vehicle can be termed senseless, not to mention tragic, then drunken driving that leads to the death of an innocent person is surely one of the most unforgiveable acts that can possibly happen on our roadways in this modern age.

Of course, as Maryland personal injury attorneys, we can imagine that nearly every generation, since the advent of the horseless carriage, has lamented the senseless, useless and nonsensical deaths that have been occurring on our highways and city streets since early in the last century.

We’d like to think that driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs will soon be a thing of the past, if not for ourselves, for our children and their children. But is this a reasonable expectation? If human nature is any indicator, sadly we would have to say no; at least not in the foreseeable future.