Single-vehicle Accidents

Mailman in Critical Condition after Single-Vehicle Accident in Prince George’s County

April 23, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month, the driver of a mail truck was taken to the hospital with serious, life-threatening injuries after he was involved in a serious single-vehicle accident on Annapolis Road. According to a local news report, the male driver was between 25 and 30 years old, although his name was not released at the time of the article’s publication.

Evidently, the mailman was driving westbound on Annapolis Road near the intersection of Highbridge Road. As the mailman approached the intersection, another driver was in the process of making a left-hand turn in front of the mailman. Believing that he was going to crash into the turning vehicle, the mailman swerved to avoid the collision.

As he swerved out of the car’s way, he lost control of the mail truck, which flipped over and then crossed into the median. The man was taken into the hospital with life-threatening injuries and is still in critical condition. Police are still investigating the accident, attempting to glean as much information from the scene of the accident as possible. They have also asked any potential witnesses to come forward with any pertinent information.

Maryland Driver Charged for Murder After Passenger Dies in a Drunk Driving Accident

April 9, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month, a Maryland man was arrested and charged with murder for his role in the drunk driving death of a passenger after he was involved in a DUI accident. According to a recent Washington Post article, the driver admitted to police that he had consumed at least two beers and a shot of cognac before getting behind the wheel that fateful night.

Evidently, the accident occurred on a road with a speed limit of just 25 miles per hour, but police claim that the driver was traveling well in excess of that speed when he slammed into a parked tractor-trailer. After crashing into the parked truck, the driver got out of his vehicle and pulled out his unconscious passenger by her arms. He began to shake her until another passenger in his car told him to stop. At this point, he dropped her, and she hit her head on the pavement.

The woman was taken to the hospital, where she died about a half-hour later. Prosecutors charged the driver with second-degree murder, claiming that the driver acted “with the intent to kill another . . . and with a conscious disregard of an extreme risk of death or serious bodily injury to another.”

Driver Involved in Single-Car Accident Flees Scene, Leaving Passengers for Dead

September 24, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this week in Camp Springs, a single-car accident resulted in the death of one woman after the car she was riding in took the ramp too quickly and ran off the road. According to a report by WUSA9, the driver of the vehicle fled the scene of the accident after crashing the car, but he was soon after apprehended by police in the woods nearby.

Evidently, the accident occurred just before three in the morning on the ramp from southbound Route 5 to Allentown Road, in Camp Springs. The driver of a Dodge Charger was traveling too fast and lost control as he entered the on-ramp. He eventually crashed into a light support pole, which caused the car to catch on fire.

The driver of the car got out immediately and started to run through the nearby woods, presumably to evade the police. However, they caught up with him a few minutes later not too far from the scene of the accident.

Single-Vehicle Accident Takes the Life of One Fifteen-Year-Old and Injures Two Others

September 3, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this week in Montgomery County, a fatal single-vehicle accident claimed the life of one teen and injured two others. According to a report by CBS DC, the accident occurred in Olney, near Hines Road and Macduff Avenue.

While police are still piecing together the facts from the accident, they believe that around one in the morning a Chrysler 200 convertible was heading east on Hines Road when it suddenly left the roadway and struck a tree before reaching Macduff Avenue. After crashing through the tree, the car continued across Macduff Avenue, crashing into a street light pole and a telephone box before rolling over and finally coming to a rest.

The car was being driven by a 17-year-old and had two other teens as passengers. The teen in the back seat of the Chrysler was ejected during the accident and was taken into the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Unfortunately, shortly after being admitted to the hospital, the young boy succumbed to his injuries.

McDonald’s Restaurant Permanently Closes After Driver Crashes Through the Drive Through

August 20, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier last month in Landover Hills, an apparent car-jacking ended in the alleged thief crashing the stolen vehicle into the drive-thru of a McDonald’s restaurant. According to a report by ABC 7, a young man approached the driver of an SUV asking for a ride. When he was told no, the young man implied that he had a weapon, and the SUV’s driver got out of the car and fled.

The young man then got inside the car and drove away. A few blocks away he ran into two cars, one of which began to follow the SUV. Not long after, the SUV crashed head-on into the drive-thru of a McDonald’s restaurant.

After the accident, the driver, apparently flustered, got out of the car and tried to flee the scene. However, police caught up with him, and he admitted to stealing the car and driving it into the restaurant.

Car Crashes into Restaurant, Sending Six to the Hospital

July 23, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in Potomac, Maryland, a car crashed into a local restaurant for the second time this year. According to a report by a local news source, just after lunch on a Saturday an elderly woman who had just dined at the restaurant got into her car and drove through the glass front of the restaurant. Evidently, the woman thought that she had put the car in reverse, but it was actually in drive.

Witnesses to the accident claim that it sounded like an earthquake inside the restaurant as the woman’s Honda drove over the curb, through a small fence, and into the dining area. One person was taken to the hospital with serious injuries, and five others were treated for minor injuries. All are expected to recover.

Oddly enough, this is not the first time that a car has crashed through the glass wall of the restaurant. Nor is it the second. It is the third time in the past 15 years that someone has driven into the restaurant. The owners of the restaurant are talking about taking additional safety precautions to avoid this type of accident in the future.

Police Identify Three Young Men Killed in Baltimore County Car Accident

May 15, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this week, police identified the three passengers who were killed in a fatal car accident that occurred last Sunday morning. According to a report by the Baltimore Sun, the accident occurred on the southbound ramp from Interstate 83 to Interstate 695 in Baltimore County. Evidently, although the accident occurred on a Sunday morning, the wreckage from the car accident was not discovered until Tuesday, since the car was obscured by the trees and brush on the side of the highway.

Little is known about the accident, except that it occurred shortly after 1:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. Several days after the accident, police identified the three young men involved: a 23-year-old, a 24-year-old, and a 25-year-old. All were students on their way back home from Fairfax, Virginia.

Police are not sure how the accident occurred. However, they do believe that speed may have been a factor, given that the car was some 300 feet off the side of the road in the nearby woods. The accident and the subsequent investigation shut down the I-83 ramp for hours as police tried to figure out exactly what happened.

Pylesville Single-Car Accident Leaves Passenger Dead

May 1, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this week in Pylesville, a Nissan driven by a 21 year-old male left the road and slammed into a tree. According to a report by the Baltimore Sun, the driver was heading south on Clermont Mill around the 4600 block when his car inexplicably left he road and collided with a tree.

When police arrived at the scene of the accident, the driver was standing outside the vehicle. The passenger was trapped inside the Nissan and needed to be extricated by emergency personnel. After the passenger was removed, he was taken to York Hospital. Unfortunately, the passenger later died of the injuries he sustained as a result of the accident. The driver of the car was taken to Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air and is expected to fully recover from his injuries.

Police are still investigating the cause of the fatal car accident, but do not believe that drugs or alcohol were involved. Currently, the focus of the investigation is on “weather, road conditions, and speed of the vehicle.” No charges have been filed yet.

Fatal Crash In Hagerstown Caused By Improper Passing

February 28, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in Hagerstown, a man and a woman were killed when the driver lost control of his 2002 BMW, sending it into a utility pole. According to a report by the Your4State.com, the accident occurred shortly after 2 a.m. on Cearfoss Pike, just west of Garden View Drive.

According to the police report, the driver of the BMW was attempting to pass a slower-moving vehicle on Cearfoss Pike and lost control of the vehicle. As he began to pass the vehicle, he was unable to keep the vehicle on the road. As the car left the roadway, it slammed into a utility pole, a nearby utility box, and finally into a large boulder. When the vehicle eventually came to a stop it was upside down.

Both passengers were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. At the time of the article’s publication, police were still investigating the cause of the accident.

Fatal Single Vehicle Accident in Montgomery County

September 20, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Montgomery County police reported another single vehicle car accident happened earlier this month, but in this case proved to be fatal for the driver from Mount Airy. The man was killed in a crash on Laytonsville Road, near Hawkins Creamery Road, south of Damascus.

Police, who were called to the scene at around 8:30 a.m., said in a statement that the man’s Hyundai Sonata apparently drifted from the road for unknown reasons before it struck a large tree, and then rolled over before finally coming to rest on a fence. Although the man was flown to the Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, police said he later died from his injuries.

Police do not know what caused the vehicle to leave the roadway. There were reportedly no passengers in the car at the time of the collision. It took rescuers a half of an hour to free the man from his car. An investigation into the collision remains ongoing.