Single-vehicle Accidents

Potomac Man Dies Following Single-vehicle Crash in Bethesda, MD

July 29, 2009 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Law enforcement officials and accident investigators had been combing the site where a 22-year-old Potomac resident received fatal injuries following a recent single-car accident on Bradley Boulevard in Bethesda, Maryland. The automobile crash occurred just after 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning, according to police, when Pedro Pedro Ivo Sobral Canuto apparently lost control of the car he was driving. The 1999 Audi crossed the centerline, left the roadway and hit a tree on the driver’s side, which caused severe injuries to the driver.

As a Maryland auto accident and personal injury attorney, I have worked on cases involving fatal and non-fatal single-vehicle accidents. Barring driver error, many of these types of accidents are the result of defective equipment.

In this instance, a person nearby the crash scene said that the sound of squealing brakes could be heard moments before the impact. According to reports, the driver was wearing his seatbelt. When rescue personnel arrived, they were able to extricate Mr. Canuto, who was subsequently transported to Suburban Hospital with critical and life-threatening injuries. Sadly, the man died around noon the next day.

Vehicle defects can be very dangerous, especially when they are related to a car or truck’s steering equipment or braking system. In this case, police still don’t know the cause, however, it sounds as if the braking system may have been involved. This was a ten-year-old vehicle and older vehicles can have excessive wear in certain components including the braking system.

Depending on the speed and road conditions, if the vehicle’s brakes failed to operate correctly, it may have caused the car to go out of control and leave the roadway. But this is simply speculation, and until a definitive report comes from police accident investigators, no one can know for certain what caused this fatal crash.

It is not uncommon for poorly designed or improperly maintained vehicle systems to be the root cause of a crash that results in serious injury or death of the driver, passengers or bystanders. If someone you know has been involved in a vehicle accident due to defective equipment, there may be grounds to recover medical costs and other damages.

Injured Maryland Man Loses Hand in Charles County DUI Car Accident

July 22, 2009 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

There are some things money just can’t buy. A new hand is one that comes to mind. A recent news story makes it clear that auto accidents don’t just cause injuries that might possibly heal over time; they can also irreversibly maim and disfigure some victims. An apparent DUI-related car crash in Nanjemoy, Maryland, earlier this year is one such injury accident that can never quite be made right for the victim.

In the early evening of February 27, Wade E. Morgan and a passenger were driving along Port Tobacco Road near Tayloes Neck Road when the 38-year-old driver apparently lost control of the vehicle, which crashed off the side of the road. During the accident, the passenger was reportedly thrown from the vehicle and in the process his hand was severed. The driver, who failed a sobriety test shortly after police stopped him, claimed that he couldn’t find his friend, which is why he left the scene of the accident. This act alone could have resulted in the death of the passenger, considering his medical circumstances.

As Maryland automobile accident and personal injury attorneys, the lawyers at Lebowitz-Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers, have seen first-hand the aftermath of some pretty horrific accidents. We have handled many cases were the victim of a car crash has lost a limb. Without a doubt, the lost of a hand is one of the more devastating personal loses an individual can sustain. When it happens as the result of another person’s negligence, it is something that can never be made completely right.

Luckily for the victim, rescue crews were able to save him, though emergency personnel and police were never able to locate the lost appendage. Meanwhile, the man’s so-called friend was charged with numerous traffic and drug-related offenses, including leaving the scene of an accident involving serious physical injury, driving or attempting to drive while impaired by a controlled dangerous substance, driving or attempting to drive while impaired by drugs or alcohol and three counts of drug possession.

Police allegedly found six OxyContin tablets in Morgan’s pocket, PCP mixed into a bottle of parsley and some prescription drugs. According to reports, police also found a tinfoil smoking device containing some parsley and PCP inside the suspect’s car. Morgan, who is currently free on $50,000 bail, is scheduled to to go trial on October 5, 2009.

Maryland Woman Killed in Fatal Single-vehicle Crash on Suitland Parkway

June 21, 2009 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A Capitol Heights woman was killed in a recent car crash when the vehicle in which she was riding left the road, rolled and hit a stand of trees. The car accident occurred in the late evening of June 7 on a stretch of Suitland Parkway near Forrestville, MD.

The front seat passenger, identified as Keyanna Bowser, 19, was pronounced dead at the scene. The two male back-seat passengers, who received slight injuries, were helped from the vehicle by Prince George’s County fire crews and transported to Prince George’s Hospital Center. The impact was so powerful it took rescue personnel two hours to extricate the female driver, who received much more severe injuries.

After leaving the parkway between Suitland Road and Forestville Road, the vehicle ended up on its side between some trees. This made the driver’s rescue extremely time consuming. According to reports, the driver’s legs were pinned underneath the vehicle’s dashboard. Once removed from the vehicle, she was airlifted to Washington Hospital Center for treatment.

Rollover accidents can cause very serious injures due to the vehicle’s roof structure being crushed and intruding into the passenger compartment. This particular crash may be similar, and if so, head, brain and spinal injuries are also very common. For the most part, the two rear-seat passengers were lucky, since the front seat passenger died at the scene and the driver had numerous serious injuries herself.

News reports indicate that the accident was still under investigation. Nevertheless, the causes for a crash of this type can range from driver error or inattention to defective steering equipment or poorly maintained tires. No matter the cause, we always recommend that victims contact an automobile accident attorney to find out what their rights are in cases like this.

Husband and Wife Injured in Columbia, MD, Motorcycle Accident

June 18, 2009 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Police and emergency medical personnel from Howard County, Maryland, responded to the scene of a motorcycle injury accident recently on the southbound side of Maryland Route 29 near Seneca Drive. According to police reports, a married couple riding double on a BMW R75/6 bike collided with a guardrail on the afternoon of June 8 near Columbia. They were both taken to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore for treatment.

Howard County police reported that Timothy Danaher, 55, was operating the couple’s BMW motorcycle while his wife, Diana Danaher, 55, rode as a passenger. Reports indicate that the bike veered to the left for an as yet unknown reason, resulting in the vehicle striking a roadside guardrail. Both people were thrown from the motorcycle. At the hospital, the wife was listed as in fair condition, although the husband’s condition was listed as critical.

Motorcycle accidents can result in some of the most serious injuries for the operator and passenger. As Maryland automobile and motorcycle accident lawyers, we have vast experience in this type of injury accident case. Although the Howard County police department’s traffic enforcement section was still investigating the crash, from the sound of it, this accident may have happened due to a defective part or perhaps improper maintenance. Regardless of the cause, the husband’s injuries could be severe, and may include traumatic brain injury or damage to the spinal cord.

Driver Injured when Pickup Slams into Hebron, Maryland, Convenience Store

June 13, 2009 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In a freak vehicle accident last week, an out-of-control pickup truck crashed into a Hebron, MD, convenience store narrowly missing employees and patrons inside. The vehicle, driven by a Nanticoke resident and containing the man’s two young children, hit the building with such force that it broke through an eight-inch-thick cinderblock wall causing hundreds of dollars of damage. The driver was the only person to sustain injuries.

According to Maryland State Police, the incident occurred on Wednesday, June 4, when Leonard George Hess lost control of his Chevrolet cabin pickup truck, which apparently traveled about an eighth of a mile across a field of flowers and a water retention pond, finally coming to a stop when it broke through the side of the Shore Stop convenience store located on westbound Route 50 at Memory Garden Lane.

According to reports, the driver was transported to the Emergency Department at Peninsula Regional Medical Center. As Maryland Automobile Accident Attorneys, we have seen many cases of runaway vehicles, which have been known to inflict numerous personal injuries to the vehicle’s occupants and bystanders alike.

In this case, it is amazing that nobody was seriously hurt, especially the children also riding in the vehicle. Reports indicate that the driver had been to the doctor that morning and may have fallen sleep after taking some new medication.

Although there was significant property damage to the side of the building where the vehicle entered, as well as merchandise inside the store that was destroyed by the impact, a Wicomico County building inspector checked the building for structural integrity and approved it for re-entry a couple hours following the crash.

Single-car Injury Accident on Maryland’s Route 4 Sends Three to Hospital

April 23, 2009 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Three Maryland residents were injured in a recent automobile accident on Route 4 after the SUV they were traveling in was involved in a single-vehicle crash. All but one of the four occupants were hurt when the vehicle went out of control and then rolled at least twice, according to police.

Although multiple-car accidents can result in very serious injuries, especially in front-end collisions, a single-vehicle accident can be just as dangerous, especially in rollover situations. In this case, two of the four people were ejected from the truck as it rolled over several times. It was unknown at the time if the accident was caused by a defective component or if it was driver error.

The accident occurred at about 6 p.m. on April 17, when Nikia C. Wallace, 22, was driving her Chevy Blazer southbound on Route 4 near White Sands Drive. The Hyattsville resident was transporting three other passengers when she apparently lost control of the vehicle. No other vehicles were involved in the incident, although traffic in the southbound lanes was backed up for more than an hour as police and emergency crews helped the victims.

One of them, Sharday N. Redmond, 22, was flown by medevac helicopter to the shock trauma center at Prince George’s Hospital Center more than 40 miles away. The driver and another passenger, Charlton L. Jackson, 22, were transported to Calvert Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.