Fatal Traffic Accidents

One Pedestrian Killed, Two Others Injured in Three Separate Traffic-related accidents in Arundel County

February 21, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

We hear of pedestrian accidents almost every week here in the Baltimore area, though we know that they happen all of the time across the nation; 70,000 or more occur every year according to the statistics compiled a while ago in 2009. It’s no secret that in densely packed urban areas — like Baltimore and the District of Columbia — people on foot who mix with vehicle traffic have a high likelihood of being hit by a car, truck or bus. Being Maryland injury lawyers, we have the skills and training to represent victims of car-pedestrian crashes, as well as commercial trucking accidents involving bicycles.

Driver distraction — whether caused by talking on a cell phone, texting on a smartphone or even eating or drinking a beverage while driving down the road — can lead to some serious injuries on the pedestrian’s part; the driver in those instances rarely receives significant injuries. When a driver is not paying attention, for whatever reason, may fail to notice a pedestrian attempting to cross the street, walking along the shoulder of the road, or pedaling his or her bicycle in the far right-hand lane.

It is incumbent on us to mention that intersections, even those with clearly marked pedestrian crosswalks, can themselves be the scene of a severe or fatal collision between a car or commercial vehicle and a person on foot. Even motorcycle accidents involving pedestrians have been recorded. These can be just as deadly as ones involving more massive passenger vehicles, delivery trucks and 18-wheelers.

Baltimore Injury Accident News: Maryland Woman Dies in Fatal Multi-car Collision in Carroll County

February 15, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Many fatalities resulting from passenger car and commercial trucking-related accidents come about due to a closed-head injury suffered by the victim or victims. Also known as a traumatic brain injury, the cause can be attributed to the victim’s head striking a solid object, such as the vehicle’s steering wheel, dashboard, A-pillar, or other non-moveable fixture within the car or truck.

Of course, in the case of motorcycle accidents, the road itself or another vehicle can become a blunt-force “weapon” when the rider falls from the bike or is throw by the impact. Helmets are useful and certainly nothing to be taken for granted, but even the best helmet cannot fully guarantee that a biker will walk away from a really bad traffic accident.

As Maryland injury lawyers, I and my colleagues understand the effects of closed-head trauma. We know that a hard enough blow to the head can easily disrupt the brain’s critical functions to the point of partial or complete paralysis, or even death. Commonly associated with passenger car collisions, commercial truck crashes and motorcycle accidents, cases of closed-head trauma have also been tied to sports-related injuries, such as concussions, which have been increasingly highlighted in the news over the past few years.

Back-to-Back Fatal Pedestrian Accidents in Annapolis Remind of Ever-Present Traffic-Related Dangers

February 12, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

On average Maryland sees a little over 100 fatal pedestrian and bicycle accidents each year. This compares with the national traffic-related death rate of 4,300 (based on data from 2010). As Baltimore personal injury attorneys, we have seen estimates for the nationwide cost of these accidents to society in the billions of dollars. Just here in our state, some experts suggest that over a 10-year period, from 2000 to 2009, the economic impact to our state for those pedestrians who were killed (1,057 in total) has been more than $4 billion.

Obviously, reducing pedestrian-automobile traffic fatalities would result in a great savings to everyone, not the least of which would be the families who would be spared the grief and emotional torment of losing a soon, daughter, husband or wife to a senseless roadway accident. For reference, the website Transportation for America ranks Maryland the 15th most dangerous state for pedestrians, giving us a 76.4 on its index of overall Pedestrian Danger.

It’s doesn’t take a statistician to understand how pedestrian and bicycle-related traffic collisions happen. For most people, it’s a basic fact that these kinds of accidents occur most frequently in metropolitan areas where people on foot are in close proximity to other vehicle traffic. Certainly, more densely populated urban areas will see a greater number of pedestrian accidents — involving car and commercial vehicle collisions — than that of more rural areas.

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.

Four Killed in Fatal Head-on Glen Burnie Car Crash on Marley Neck Blvd

February 1, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Far be it for us to make light of any traffic accident that has resulted in serious injury or death of any person, but we will say that the old adage, “Haste makes waste,” can be quite apropos in many instances of automobile, commercial trucking and motorcycle-related roadway collisions. Whether a single-vehicle crash caused by speeding or a multi-vehicle wreck resulting from impatience, whenever one reads of a bad road accident, one must seriously ask if shaving a few minutes off a commute is worth days or weeks of painful hospital recovery. There is obviously no reasonable excuse for an accident that causes the death of an innocent person.

As Maryland personal injury attorneys, we can fully appreciate the anger and bitterness that families of victims can feel toward a driver who through thoughtlessness or outright negligence has caused the death of a loved one. No amount of monetary penalty or jail time can bring back a person who has been killed in what can only be called a senseless roadway collision. While the common vernacular refers to car and trucking-related highway collisions as “accidents,” there are instances when the term has no basis in the reality of the act.

Although many automobile accidents can cause some property damage and some minor injuries, there are a percentage of traffic wrecks that result in severe and potentially life-threatening medical complications. Traumatic brain injury, spinal cord damage and extensive first-degree burns are a few of the more deadly injuries that victims of passenger car and commercial truck accidents can experience.

Prince George’s Patrolman Killed in Fatal Car Crash Was Not His Wearing Safety Belt

January 24, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As personal injury trial lawyers located in the Baltimore area, we see numerous victims of automobile, commercial truck and motorcycle accidents every year. And, as drivers ourselves, we know the value of wearing a safety belt whenever one ventures out on the road these days. With the volume and density of roadway traffic in towns and cities all around Maryland and the District of Columbia, there is no excuse for those drivers who throw caution to the wind and operate their motor vehicle while not “belted in.”

Of course, there are instances when seatbelts have been known to exacerbate accident victims’ injuries, although those cases are relatively few when compared to all of the lives saved by these albeit simple life-saving devices. In fact, since traffic collisions are the single-most common cause of death for people aged five to 34 years of age, it would seem prudent for anyone — drivers and passengers alike — to make it a habit of buckling up whenever getting into a motor vehicle these days.

The statistics speak for themselves: With upward of 40,000 individuals killed each year in highway wrecks, the use of seatbelts is not only a good idea, it has become law throughout much of the nation. Safety experts tend to agree that seatbelts have the ability to cut in half the number of deaths resulting from traffic collisions. Many of these deaths likely come under the heading of wrongful death, since they were caused by another person’s negligence.

Maryland Driver Killed in Head-on Montgomery County Car Crash; Weather Apparently to Blame

January 22, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Hurricane Sandy took many lives and left many more homeowners and families in desperate circumstances up and down the East Coast. But weather emergencies can also cause problems for drivers and can even threaten the lives of men, women and children attempting to get out of the way of such deadly storms. As Baltimore personal injury lawyers, my firm knows the pain and heartache that a fatal traffic accident can cause a family who has lost a loved one. The tragedy is that many single- and multi-vehicle roadway accidents could perhaps be prevented, though sadly not all.

Whether a roadway collision occurs in the Rockville, Gaithersburg, Bowie or Washington, D.C., area, the results can be very similar, though the circumstances are usually unique to that particular crash. In traffic accidents caused, at least in part, by inclement weather conditions, the normally safe and practical flow of traffic can become chaotic and confused. Even the best drivers can be caught unprepared for what follows.

Regardless of whether one is driving a small economy car, a mid-size sedan, large SUV or semi tractor-trailer rig, nature can throw some deadly conditions in one’s way. No matter if you live or work, ignoring the weather at times like these is to invite disaster. As the old saying goes, “Knowledge is power,” so take advantage of our modern information society and stay connected when the going gets tough. It could end up saving your life, or the lives of those in your vehicle.

Deadly Rear-end Traffic Accident Leaves One Driver Dead, Others Injured in Millersville, MD

January 17, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, and light trucks are all smaller and less massive than larger commercial vehicles, yet any kind of traffic accident that involves a modicum of speed can result in some serious injuries — sometimes even fatal ones. As Baltimore personal injury accident lawyers, I and my colleagues know full well that crashes involving passenger cars and light trucks make up the bulk of the roadway collisions in this country.

While motorcycle accidents can lead to serious closed-head injuries, broken bones and internal injuries, the carnage wrought by a speeding two-ton motor vehicle can impart such a large amount of energy, especially to a stationary passenger car, that the occupants can also suffer extreme and life-threatening injuries. For those who have survived a bad roadway wreck, few would ever want to relive such an event.

Although head-on passenger car and commercial trucking collisions can yield rather tragic results, side-impact wrecks and rear-end crashes have been known to result in critical and life-threatening injuries. Many rear-end crashes result in whiplash, neck sprains and other neck injuries. These can be combined with a variety of back-related injuries affecting the bones, muscles and tissues that comprise that area of the human body.

History of Fatal Traffic Accidents on Maryland Rte 32 Prompts Discussion on Adding Lanes in Clarksville

January 3, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

With one of the most deadly holidays — traffic-wise — behind us, it’s perhaps a good idea to review the dangers facing motorists these days. Car, truck and motorcycle collisions happen all of the time, but for some of us we find it hard to accept that people are dying in traffic wrecks all across the country on a daily basis; and maybe while you are reading this very sentence.

As Maryland personal injury attorneys, I and my colleagues understand that nobody can eliminate traffic deaths completely, save removing every car, bike and commercial delivery truck from the roadways. But as we have alluded, that is not a practical solution to the problem of highway fatalities in Maryland and across this great country.

Over in Clarksville, the stretch of Rte 32 between Interstate 70 and Rte 108 has long been the scene of many a fatal traffic wreck. Yet people are still arguing over what should, could and might be done to make that section of roadway safer for individuals and families living in the area or just passing through.

Maryland Driver Dies at Hospital Following Two-Car Accident in Carroll County, MD

December 29, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

All manner of injuries can result from a bad traffic wreck. As Baltimore area personal injury attorneys, I and my colleagues agree that being hurt in car, truck or motorcycle accident caused by another negligent individual can be reasonable cause for a legal action against the driver responsible for that particular traffic incident. To our way of thinking, there is hardly any good reason to accept the costs, in terms of pain, potential long-term disability and financial hardship, that a serious car or commercial trucking-related collision can impose on an innocent victim.

It seems only reasonable to hold that negligent party responsible for a victim’s hospital costs, medical and rehabilitation treatments, as well as other related expenditures. And the aftereffects of a roadway collision can be substantial and numerous; from simple, yet long-lasting whiplash injuries to soft tissue damage, broken bones, spinal cord damage and neck injuries, the complication from one or more of these can haunt an innocent accident victim for months or years to come.

In the case of soft tissue injuries, numerous structures throughout the body can be damaged or affected to the point that even daily tasks can be too painful for the average person to complete without assistance. Soft tissues include muscles and ligaments, as well as tendons and cartilage, all of which can be damaged to the point of excruciating pain during even the simplest of activities.