Fatal Traffic Accidents

Not So Rare, Deadly Car and Trucking-related Accidents Take Marylanders’ Lives on a Regular Basis

October 4, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Unless you or someone you know has lost a loved one to a tragic traffic accident, it would be hard to understand the shock, pain and anger that one can experience in a short span of time. As experienced auto, truck and motorcycle accident attorneys, I and my staff know that even good people can lose their cool under stressful and highly emotional circumstances. The wake of fatal car and trucking-related roadway collisions can certainly reveal an array of emotions that many people have yet to suffer through. We hope you never have to.

It’s sad enough when a spouse, parent, sibling or grandparent becomes badly injured in a highway wreck. Seeing a loved one who, just days prior was jovial, vibrant and full of life, lying in a hospital bed facing an uncertain future can be very disturbing. With injuries ranging from ruptured vital organs and internal bleeding to spinal cord damage and traumatic brain injury, the outcome for any individual who has been caught up in a bad car or commercial trucking accident can be nearly impossible to predict, at least at the outset.

Doctors, nurses, surgeons and other healthcare professionals can provide high-quality medical care to a patient suffering from serious injuries as a result of a motor vehicle crash, but even the best care can be provided in vain if the injuries are too extensive or the trauma to intense. And this is assuming that the victim of the car accident is lucky enough to make it to the emergency room. Sadly, many victims of traffic collisions succumb to their injuries right there, at the scene of the crash.

For Maryland Drivers Who Think that Traffic Accidents Are Not a Threat, Check the Stats

September 29, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Every year, here in Baltimore, over in Washington, D.C., and almost anywhere across this vast nation of ours, drivers and other occupants of cars and trucks, pedestrians, cyclists and riders of motorcycles are hurt or killed in traffic accidents every hour of every day for all twelve months of the year. As automobile and truck accident lawyers, I and my colleagues have met people who have received debilitating injuries thanks to a negligent drivers.

And the injuries are not reserved for just the driving public; many, and we mean, MANY commercial truck drivers are hurt on the job as a result of someone else’s negligence, mistakes made by third parties, and even through their own carelessness or recklessness. But the statement is often made, especially by those who have never been involved in a car or trucking-related accident that roadway collisions only happen to amateurs and poorly trained drivers. Frankly, this is not quite correct.

As Maryland personal injury attorneys, we understand the ways in which an individual can be injured in even the most innocuous of fender-benders, not to mention a full-blown, head-on collision with another motor vehicle. These types of traffic wrecks can be quite unpredictable and tragically random, especially for those who are killed by a negligent driver or through the careless actions of another individual.

Insurance Company Finally Settles with Family of Maryland Woman Killed in Fatal 2010 Car Accident

September 28, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

To paraphrase an oft-quoted saying: “Automobile insurance companies can sometimes work in strange ways.” To most people who have ever experienced a car, truck or motorcycle accident first hand, that would have to be an understatement. As automobile accident attorneys, we might have to agree, at least from the standpoint that many laypeople do not understand the inner workings of auto, life and health insurance firms.

As Maryland personal injury lawyers, our job is to help victims of car and commercial trucking collisions (or their families) make sense of the law governing personal injury as pertains to traffic-related accidents. We are also here to assist victims and their families recover costs arising out of serious or fatal roadway collisions. Long after the initial pain and suffering of a car crash, many financial loose ends typically remain, making daily life after a bad car or truck wreck difficult at best to get through.

For families who have little or no savings, the cost of medical care and physical rehabilitation can be overwhelming both in terms of finding the financial resources to cover those costs as well as the psychological impact that such a monetary drain can place on the surviving family and relatives. Being there to guide a spouse through the maze of legal issues and fiduciary responsibilities is another part of the process.

Baltimore Injury Accident News: Single-Car Accident Sends Two Marylanders to Hospital with Fatal Injuries

September 22, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Police accident investigators, auto accident attorneys and traffic safety experts, among others, understand the many and varied causes of single-vehicle traffic accidents. As some of the top causes, driver error, weather conditions, road surface type and even defective equipment can be found toward the top of the list. When it comes to faulty vehicle equipment, this can also include tires, failure of which have been known to result in some serious accidents. In fact, a blown tire can actually precipitate a crash that can either injure or kill the car’s driver and/or its occupants.

Regardless of the category of traffic accident, be it a car, truck or motorcycle crash, investigators must always consider the entire range of possible causes in order to weed out the unlikely ones and home in on the more probable. While it’s possible to say that most of the motoring public is used to seeing multi-vehicle collisions, such as a car being hit by a commercial delivery truck or a motor scooter being struck by an SUV at a four-way intersection, single-car crashes are nonetheless fairly frequent occurrences.

Taking into account the human factor in a roadway wreck, a sudden medical emergency affecting the driver of a vehicle — like a heart attack or stroke — can cause the man or woman to pass out or otherwise lose control of his or her vehicle. On the highway this can certainly be a deadly occurrence, especially at interstate speeds. Yet, even on secondary roads where the posted speed may only be 35 or 45mph, losing control and leaving the roadway can also result in a potentially fatal crash.

Baltimore Personal Injury News: Fatal Car Crashes Take Two Lives in Separate Maryland Traffic Accidents

September 20, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In the area of personal injury there is often a question as to whether or not a seemingly inadvertent car or truck accident it exactly that, an accident. Many people are injured across the country in situations that could have been avoided or that were caused by the act of another individual. Whether malicious or not, negligence is cause of many a serious bodily injury and sometimes the death of one or more people. Sad to say, many people have died from another person’s careless or reckless actions; these cases sometimes call for a wrongful death lawsuit.

Although the victim may not be around to speak for himself, the family of the deceased individual can sometimes bring a wrongful death suit against the negligent party, or parties, in order to hold them accountable financially for the death of their loved one. In these days of uncertain and stressful economic conditions, many families are hanging on with both parents working. Should one of those individuals become injured or be killed as a result of an automobile accident, the impact to the family’s income could be very damaging financially.

Instances where a husband or wife dies following a car, truck or motorcycle collision, the family may not have sufficient means with which to carry on without falling behind on their house payments, car loan, and even medical bills from treatment of the deceased victim. Under such circumstances, family members may still be able to hold a negligent party responsible for the untimely death of that spouse, parent or child.

Baltimore Personal Injury Update: Two Maryland Residents Die in Separate Fatal Accidents

September 13, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As careful as we all try to be, accidents do happen. Whether it’s a slip-and-fall at a local restaurant or a highway collision in Annapolis, unexpected events can always be a shock; not just emotionally, but financially as well. In the case of automobile and commercial truck accidents, these can be devastating both physically and in terms of a family’s finances and savings. If the victim is a primary breadwinner, the results for a growing family can be catastrophic to say the least.

As Maryland personal injury attorneys, we know how bodily injuries sustained in a car, truck or motorcycle crash can require extensive medical attention. But an individual who has been put in the hospital by the negligent actions of another driver does have recourse. In instances where a person has been hurt in a roadway collision, the victim or his family can file a personal injury claim against the responsible party. This kind of lawsuit can be brought against another driver or negligent party whether the actions that caused the injury were simply the result of careless driving or negligent operation of a motor vehicle, such as aggressive driving.

Whatever the situation, as auto and truck accident lawyers, we know that money alone cannot possibly make a family whole, especially after a tragic car crash resulting in a fatality. Wrongful death lawsuits are also an option, especially when the victim was the sole income earner for his or her spouse and children. Anyone who is injured as a result of a negligent individual or even by a defective product should speak to a qualified legal expert in the area of injury law.

Maryland High School Couple Dies in High-Speed Single-Car Traffic Accident on Prom Night

September 10, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Traffic accidents, like many unexpected events, can bring terrible and irreversible consequences to the victims involved in the roadway collision. For many people who are reading this right now, there is a rather good chance that you or someone you know will be caught up in some kind of highway wreck during your lifetime. Whether that accident includes serious bodily injuries, a fatality or maybe just bumps or bruises will depend on the circumstances surrounding the crash, but could have just as much to do with fate as anything else.

The unknown is always a difficult area to plan for, not to mention that predicting the future has yet to be perfected to any meaningful degree. This is essentially why insurance companies exist and why drivers and other owners of motor vehicles purchase insurance policies. As Maryland automobile accident attorneys and personal injury lawyers, my firm is dedicated to helping the victims of car, truck and motorcycle accidents recover what they can following a serious or even fatal car crash. With the cost of medical care and long-term physical therapy and rehabilitation, it’s easy for hospital and other related costs to mount up after a traffic collision.

Personal injury accidents can result in extensive bodily injury, which many people can eventually recover from physically and emotionally, but some do not. In the case of a fatal passenger car or commercial trucking wreck, the families of the victims must pick up the pieces emotionally as well as financially. And while the death of a parent can place a family in dire financial straits, the loss of a child or teenager to a senseless car crash is something that few family members ever get over.

Maryland Police Say Driver of County School Vehicle Responsible for Fatal Harford County Traffic Accident

September 8, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Hundreds of people all around the U.S. die in fatal head-on traffic accidents involving a range of vehicles, from passenger cars, SUVs and minivans to semi tractor-trailers, commercial delivery trucks and even motorcycles. The mere physics of a head-on roadway collision can spell danger to most any occupant who is unlucky enough to be riding in one of the vehicles involved in such accidents. As Maryland personal injury attorneys, I and my legal staff understand the stakes of such collisions.

When vehicles of equal mass, or weight, collide with each other, it is a fair bet that the drivers and passengers of both vehicles will experience similar effects of that crash. Modern passenger cars are better designed to absorb a significant amount of impact energy from a head-on traffic crash than those of even a decade ago. But depending on each vehicle’s speed at the time of the wreck, there may be very little margin for survival. Still, fate can sometimes intervene and surprise even the most pessimistic observer.

While many head-ons are fatal — killing at least one of the vehicles’ drivers and/or passengers — other collisions can result in multiple injuries of varying degree. Depending on a variety of factors, occupants in the vehicles involved in a head-on traffic collision may receive only minor injuries all the way up to head, neck and spinal cord injuries. Surviving these kinds of injuries can, for some victims, be a miracle in and of itself, but recovering from a massive head injury (also known as traumatic brain injury) can be a long uphill struggle with many individuals fighting a continuous battle for months or years.

Driver Arrested for Fatal 2011 Hit-and-Run Pedestrian Traffic Accident that Killed La Plata Man

August 29, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

One of the most traumatic assaults on the human body can come when one is, perhaps, blissfully unaware of the impending dangers all around. In urban areas, such as Baltimore, Rockville, Gaithersburg or Washington, D.C., we can see all kinds of personal injury scenarios just waiting to be realized. What many people do not understand is that the elements of a serious or fatal injury accident can come together at the most unexpected times; like walking in the city.

As Maryland automobile and trucking-accident lawyers, I and my staff are constantly aware of the hundreds of innocent victims who become caught up in life-threatening situations every year in this state. Whether looking at a slip-and-fall mishap or a high-speed car crash, every type of incident that leads to bodily harm or potentially fatal injuries can greatly affect a family and loved ones of a victim. Especially in cases where a person has done nothing more than go about their life or daily routine, but who is then seriously hurt through the negligence of another individual, this is where a personal injury lawyer can help.

As we said, even walking in the city or other urban center can expose a person to life-threatening hazards, including being hit by a taxi cab, city bus or passenger car. Pedestrians are extremely vulnerable, as evidenced by the fact that people have been injured or killed after being hit by a bicycle messenger, much less a family sedan or commercial delivery truck. And since the human body has no real protection against an impact with a large object, closed-head trauma and critical internal injuries can likely result and put that individuals life in jeopardy.

Montgomery County Man Goes Away for Barely 5 Years Following Fatal PCP-related Traffic Collision

August 24, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Kill someone on the road these days and you may not be facing hard time, or so it would seem following the sentencing of a Burtonsville, MD, man who was charged with the death of one person in connection with a 2011 car accident. The charge in question was involuntary manslaughter, according to reports, which happened when the driver reportedly lost control of his vehicle before it struck a guard rail, left the roadway and smashed into a stand of trees back in June 2011.

As Maryland personal injury attorneys, I and my staff of experienced automobile and trucking-accident legal professionals are all too aware of the potential injuries, pain and suffering that victims and their families experience following a severe car, truck or motorcycle wreck. These can range from the mildest of injuries, such as bruises, cuts and abrasions, to neck and head injuries, as well as wrongful death at the hands of a negligent driver. It goes without saying, as usual, that medical costs these days can be quite high, especially for serious injuries that require extensive or costly medical procedures.

And one needn’t be hurt or killed by someone they do not know. Many victims have been riding in the vehicle driven by a negligent driver; someone they know or trusted with their life. Hurting, injuring or killing a stranger is tragic enough, but to cause harm to a relative or close friend is, frankly, unforgivable in many people’s eyes. We bring this up because of the case that was recently closed on a man who reportedly was instrumental in the death of one individuals and the injuring of two others traveling in his vehicle.