Pedestrian Accidents

Victims of Maryland Automobile Accidents Need Not Be in a Vehicle to Suffer Injuries

February 17, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As personal injury attorneys serving the residents of Baltimore, Annapolis, the District of Columbia, as well as other areas of our state, we have met numerous people over the years who have been seriously injured as a result of a car, truck or motorcycle collision on Maryland roadways. To say that automobile accidents happen often is an understatement, but the fact is that an injury accident can happen almost anywhere.

We recall that old auto insurance admonition, which still rings true today: “Most traffic accidents happen within 25 miles of home.” Since most people live and work generally within that radius, it’s a fair bet that if and when a car or trucking-related wreck does befall a person, there is a rather strong chance that it could occur within the range of one’s home.

When one considers the results of a traffic accident, it’s also good to think about the causes, which in many cases may have been preventable. Sadly, with human nature being what it is, eliminating all roadway collisions is likely more a pipe dream than anything else. But as Baltimore injury attorneys, we also know that a traffic wreck can happen to just one vehicle, and not always due to driver error or a mechanical problem with the vehicle itself.

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.

Pedestrian Accident in Anne Arundel Leaves Woman in Critical Condition after Being Hit by Truck

February 9, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It seems that almost every day we read about someone being hit by car or run over by a commercial delivery truck. Whether it’s here in the Baltimore area, over in Bowie or Columbia, or down in the District, traffic accidents involving bicycles or persons on foot happen with alarming frequency. And not surprisingly, it would seem, since on average a pedestrian is injured every eight minutes across the U.S.

And, as Maryland injury lawyers, we know that the majority of pedestrian and bicycle accidents happen in urban areas where car and people tend to mix, sometimes with tragic results. The National Safety Council has stated that in the U.S. more than 80 percent of all non-fatal pedestrian injury accidents happen in urban areas. As such, large metro areas like Baltimore City and the District of Columbia see more than their fair share of pedestrian-related injuries and deaths, while rural locations are less likely to have such a high incidence of collisions, though the fatality rate is actually greater due to higher speeds on rural roads.

Here in Maryland, the average number of traffic fatalities involving pedestrians is about 100 deaths a year. The overwhelming majority of these are people on foot, although a small fraction of that number is represented by bicycle riders. Obviously, reducing the incidence of pedestrian-automobile collisions would in turn reduce the pedestrian death rate, as well as the number of families who have to bury loved ones each year as a result of a car or trucking related collision.

Maryland Auto and Truck Injury Accident Update: There’s Extreme Danger Involved in Any Roadside Stop

January 15, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It is safe to say that most people understand the gravity of being involved in a car-pedestrian traffic collision, yet many people appear to expose themselves unnecessarily to the dangers associated with walking to close to the shoulder of an active roadway or crossing at busy intersection without carefully assessing the traffic situation. Compounding these everyday dangers is the fact that many pedestrians are also involved in using highly distracting smartphones and other electronic devices when walking on-foot near heavy vehicular traffic.

As Maryland personal injury attorneys, I and my colleagues understand the potential for serious injuries that can come with being caught up in a car, truck or motorcycle accident; that of bodily injuries ranging from minor cuts and bruises to critical, life-threatening injuries such as closed-head trauma, spinal cord damage, injury to internal organs and severe cardiopulmonary events. Any one of the latter problems would be cause for life-saving efforts by an emergency room medical team, all of which could have be avoided with a little extra caution on everyone’s part.

These kinds of fatal and near-fatal accidents should never be invited due to a simple loss of focus on a pedestrian’s part; however, nobody can control the actions of another person, such a car or commercial truck driver who crashes into another vehicle or bystander. Seeing that just standing too close to a busy city intersection is dangerous, consider the folly of stopping on the shoulder of a high-speed interstate with car and trucks passing just feet away at speeds upward of 55 to 65mph, maybe more.

Baltimore Injury Update: Consider the Dangers that Pedestrians Face Every Day from Errant Motor Vehicles

January 9, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Few traffic-related accidents are as potentially life-threatening as those involving a pedestrian and a motor vehicle. Whether the scenario puts a Baltimore youngster riding a bicycle directly in the path of a passenger car or mail delivery vehicle, or if it takes the shape of a business man crossing a busy Washington, D.C., intersection and being clipped by a taxi cab or courier van, the results can be devastating.

For lack of a better description, car-versus-pedestrian collisions can impart serious injuries to a human body, some of which may be fatal. It’s doesn’t take a physics major to know that a 150-pound flesh-and-blood person is no match for two-tons of rolling steel. Even those “slow-motion” collisions between cars and people in local parking lots can be extremely deadly. As Maryland personal injury lawyers, our office is prepared to help those individuals who have been hurt or seriously injured as a pedestrian in a car accident or commercial vehicle crash.

Here in Maryland, 102 of the nearly 500 traffic-related fatalities in 2011 involved a person on foot, and this figure does not even count the hundreds of other victims who survived, but may have suffered, or continue to suffer, severe medical complications as a result.

Maryland Woman Critically Hurt in Pedestrian Hit-and-Run Traffic Accident, Say Baltimore Police

November 8, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Anyone who walks in or near traffic must understand that they run a risk, no matter how small, of being struck by a passenger car, clipped by city bus, or hit by a commercial delivery truck. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), more than 4,000 pedestrians were killed across the county in 2009 in traffic incidents involving car-, truck- and motorcycle-related collisions. And while several thousand persons on foot are typically killed each year, almost 20 times that number are injured, either severely or with only minor bodily injuries.

From the perspective of a Maryland personal injury law firm like ours, our experience tells us that lion’s share of pedestrian accidents result from driver distraction. This can be caused by a number of activities, including talking or texting on a cellphone or smartphone, changing the radio station or adjusting a navigation system; even eating or putting on makeup have been known to be direct causes of pedestrian traffic collisions.

Because most everyone assumes the role of pedestrian at least once a week, if not once a day, it’s important to remind anyone who walks near traffic to be especially careful when crossing at intersections. Dangerous intersections, something that is quite common here in Baltimore as well as in other busy metropolitan areas such as Washington, D.C., can include the following attributes that make them more dangerous for pedestrians than other roadway crossings:
— Improperly design, which presents a danger to both cars and pedestrians
— Lack of necessary traffic signals/signs
— Poorly timed traffic lights
— No vehicle merging lane

Fatal Car Accident Claims One Life after Woman Dies when Automobile Drives into Restaurant

October 14, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It’s easy to assume that car accidents only injure those in other vehicles or kill pedestrians trying to cross busy streets, but motor vehicles of all sizes and descriptions injure men, women and children every year who are neither car or truck occupants, nor individuals standing by curbside waiting for a traffic light. The fact is, automobile and commercial truck crashes can take the lives of almost anyone given the right circumstances.

As personal injury attorneys serving victims injured in car, truck and motorcycle accidents throughout the state of Maryland, we can feel the anger and frustration of individuals who are hurt as a result of another driver’s negligence. For those who are less fortunate, people who for no fault of their own have been killed in a senseless traffic wreck, we offer our help to the victims’ families in an effort to bring at least a modicum of justice to the grieving survivors.

Whether one is injured in Annapolis, Baltimore or Washington, D.C., our job is to find fault and help to correct any injustice to these victims of car and trucking-related collisions. One thing that we know, after helping numerous clients to recover damages from responsible parties, is that a motor vehicle can be a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands. Although nobody expects to be hurt or killed by a car in their home, this too has happened, enough to say it is a potential event depending on the particular situation.

Maryland Personal Injury Update: Personal Electronics Contributing to Pedestrian Deaths

August 31, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

We would start an entry like this most likely with the admonition, “Parents, please keep a close eye on your children….” However, the topic today can hardly be targeted at just one age group. As personal injury attorneys, the issue we’d like to address is the dangerous environment that personal electronics is creating for not just preteens and teenagers all across the country, but also younger children, older adults and nearly everyone in between. The problem is distraction, not just on the road, but in the store, on the train platform, while walking on the sidewalk, and while crossing a busy intersection.

The fact is, too many people are allowing themselves to be totally engrossed in the smartphone-iPad-Kindle world of personal information devices. Having been children in an earlier life, and even now as adults, we can understand the magnetic draw that these devices have on almost anyone who picks them up. Never in our history have humans had at their disposal a veritable cornucopia of information, entertainment and communication options all at the touch of a smartphone or tablet screen.

But is being entertained; is searching for a diversion from real life so important that it can literally lead to one’s own death? Here in the U.S., we celebrate the freedoms that many throughout the world have yet to enjoy. But the freedom to do something, such as listen to one’s favorite song catalogue while biking to work doesn’t obviate the need to be attentive to one’s surroundings. Of late, the news media would seem obsessed over the seeming negligence of texting while driving. But these same people who text and drive also jog and chat, as well as walk and read.

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.

Maryland Police Officer Hurt in Traffic Accident on Interstate Overpass Sues Motorist Over Injuries

July 18, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It shouldn’t come as any real surprise to hear that police officers and first responders and other emergency personnel face a great deal of risk when carrying out their offical duties along our state’s roadways. Whether curbside in urban areas like Annapolis, Bowie or Washington, D.C., or on the roadside along a stretch of the Beltway, approaching vehicles of all types can pose a serious hazard to patrolmen, firefighters and tow truck drivers. As Maryland personal injury attorneys, I and my colleagues represent clients from every walk of life who have been injured in a car, truck or motorcycle accident.

One of the more stark differences between the occupants of passenger cars and police officers doing their job, is that a patrolman places himself in danger on an almost constant basis. Drivers and passengers riding in sedans, SUVs, pickup trucks, and even city buses, don’t usually face the same potential for injury as public safety officers, though they can be hurt just as seriously in a traffic wreck.

A while back, one of Baltimore’s finest was badly injured when she was apparently pushed over the edge of an overpass during a car crash between a moving vehicle and another stationary one she was standing near. At the time of the accident that took place, along a portion of Interstate 83, Officer Teresa Rigby was helping a stranded motorist last year in June. Based on news reports at the time, the officer was out of her patrol car when she was thrown over the edge of the roadway wall, causing her to fall 20 feet to the pavement below.