Articles Posted in Single-vehicle Accidents

A young man from Baltimore County, MD, was tragically killed after the vehicle that he was driving left the road near the junction of Interstate 83 and the Baltimore Beltway. The single-car accident occurred on a southbound I-83 offramp near Lutherville, Maryland. According to police, 17-year-old Kwest T. Logan, a resident of Cockeysville, was headed to the westbound Baltimore Beltway when his vehicle veered off the roadway and crashed some distance from the interstate.

As a Maryland car accident attorney, I know that a crash such as the one described here could have happened as a result of a number of causes. Driver error is always a possibility, however defective steering parts, a blow-out from old or improperly maintained tires, or warn out brakes could be the cause. In the end, defective equipment can many times be due to the negligence of another person or company.

In this case, according to the news report, Logan’s black 1997 Nissan Maxima for some reason left the roadway and hit a tree about 75 feet from the offramp, most likely during the evening hours of Sunday, September 27. It wasn’t until the next morning that a passing motorist called police after noticing light reflecting off the car while driving in slow-moving traffic during morning rush hour.

A hospitalized St. Mary’s County man died from injuries sustained one week earlier as a result of a fatal single-vehicle crash on Route 6 near the town of La Plata, MD. Adrian Paul Proffer, a resident of Hollywood, Maryland, was the second person to die from the September 8 crash — a third person survived the wreck, but not without receiving life-threatening injuries herself.

Although police believe speed was a contributing factor, because this was a single-car accident defective equipment is also a possibility. As Maryland automobile accident lawyers our office handles personal injury cases caused by poorly designed or improperly maintained vehicle equipment.

This is a tremendous tragedy for all of the families involved. According to news reports, Proffer was scheduled to babysit his niece that morning and was late returning home from a night out. His aunt, Dottie Proffer, believes the driver was rushing him home for that reason when the deadly accident occurred.

As automobile accident lawyers, Lebowitz-Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers represents the victims of injury accidents as well as the families of those killed in fatal auto and truck crashes. While the cause of most single-car accidents is driver error, many times the reason can be traced to the failure of a vehicle part or component, such as tires, steering gear or suspension components. Regardless of the cause, there is a strong argument for having a qualified auto accident attorney by your side when pursuing a lawsuit against a company or an individual for medical costs and other damages as a result of a car accident.

A recent news story is typical of the kind of accident that raises the question of faulty equipment versus driver error. The death of a 19-year-old Keedysville youth killed near Downsville as a result of his car leaving the roadway on state route 632 is a typical scenario.

According to Maryland State Police, at approximately 1:25 a.m., Matthew Goetzinger was driving a 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer on the southbound lane of Maryland Route 632 with another passenger in the vehicle. The teenager was allegedly traveling at a high rate of speed when he lost control of his vehicle about a quarter-mile north of the Maryland 63 crossroad.

Speaking for myself, as a Maryland auto accident attorney, one of the most difficult things I’ve had to do in this job is try to comfort family members who have lost a loved on in a car or truck accident. Any accidental death is traumatic for those close to the victim, but automobile crashes are violent events and it’s so hard for the survivors to deal with the untimely death of a spouse, parent, child or sibling.

In Boston, Annapolis, Washington, D.C., or anywhere across this great state, our car accident lawyers come up against the harsh reality wrought by others’ mistakes. Recently, three members from the same family were involved in a horrendous single-vehicle crash that left two dead and a third in serious condition at a local hospital.

According to reports, a 57-year-old woman was driving her bother and her son eastbound on Maryland Route 4 near Lothian, MD, during the early evening hours of August 3. Police reports indicate that the vehicle was near Lower Pindell Road when it inexplicably left the roadway, struck a sign post, then rolled down an embankment and overturned into a stand of trees.

Practicing in the Baltimore area, our Maryland auto accident lawyers see numerous victims of car, truck and SUV crashes caused by faulty equipment or driver error. While every fatal automobile accident is tragic, it is all the more heartbreaking when the victim is well know in the community. Recently, the chief of pediatrics at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury was killed when his Mercedes unexpectedly left the roadway and hit a disabled truck and trailer on the shoulder of Route 50.

The accident occurred last Wednesday around 2:25 in the afternoon, when 50-year-old Dr. José Alvarado was driving east along Maryland’s Route 50 close to Sixty Foot Road near Pittsville, MD. Suddenly, and apparently without any warning, the man’s convertible went out of control and left the road. It hit a 21-foot long trailer that was hitched to a disabled truck on the roadside. The force of the crash was such that the trailer lost two of its axles in the collision.

According to reports, the Mercedes was terribly mangled in the crash that left Alvarado in critical condition. Emergency crews treated and transported him to the Shock-Trauma Center at University of Maryland Hospital. He died later that night.

Police had not yet determined a cause for the accident, however since the incident occurred in the daylight hours and did not, according to reports, involve any other moving vehicles on the road, it is possible that a blown tire or defective vehicle component may have resulted in the vehicle going out of control.

Highway accidents involving stationary vehicles, such as the truck and trailer combination with which Alvarado’s vehicle collided, can be very deadly. Couple that with the fact that the doctor was driving a convertible, which has much less protection for the driver and passengers, and you have a large opportunity for a tragic outcome. Head injuries and traumatic brain injures are also possible with open-topped vehicles, versus sedans and other closed-type models.

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