Traffic Safety

Anne Arundel Traffic Accident News: County and Law Enforcement to Address Fatal Pedestrian, Bike Collisions

September 30, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Here in Baltimore, as in many other cities and towns across the state, car-pedestrian and car-bicycle accidents occur on an alarmingly frequent basis. While every traffic accident can pose serious medical issues for those involved, pedestrian crashes are particularly difficult to walk away from. As Maryland automobile and trucking accident lawyers, we know the extent to which a victim of such a collision may be injured, prevention is the best approach.

However, with densely populated areas like Annapolis, Frederick and Gaithersburg, avoiding injuries or deaths due to car, truck and motorcycle accidents is a tall order. Although car-to-car and truck-to-car accidents are more frequent than car-to-pedestrian or truck-to-bicycle collisions, the latter can be many times more dangerous for the berson on foot or riding their bike.

According to reports, authorities in Anne Arundel County have been attempting to raise awareness in the area of pedestrian and biking safety; particularly in the eastern portion of Anne Arundel, which sees more than its share of fatal pedestrian crashes.

The latest statistics show that eight persons on foot and one cyclist were killed in motor vehicle crashes this year to date across the county; four of those deaths occurred in the earner half of the county, which is where police have been targeting pedestrian and bicycle safety following these fatal accidents.

Based on news items, police in towns such as Brooklyn Park, MD, were given the assignment to stop motor vehicle drivers, as well as walkers, jogger and bikers whenever an officer observed someone violating the rules of the road. This included not only motorists who may have been ignoring bike lanes, but also pedestrians who are seen jaywalking in the street. Issuing of warnings has generally been the order of the day; however officers have not been shy about writing tickets for more egregious offenses.

Baltimore Auto Accident News: Could Text-to-Voice Cellphone Services Reduce Car Crashes in Maryland?

September 29, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Nearly anyone who operates a motor vehicle on our interstates or in urban centers will agree that traffic safety is a primary concern. Whether you live, work or travel in and around Frederick, Hagerstown, Cumberland or Washington, D.C., you have likely seen examples of bad driving habits, poor traffic safety, or dangerous vehicle operation; some have maybe even been involved in a collision with another passenger car, SUV, motorcycle or commercial truck.

As Maryland personal injury lawyers, our job first and foremost is to represent the victims of auto accidents and motorcycle wrecks, as well as their families. One area that has gained attention over recent years is the problem of distracted driving exacerbated by cellphone and now smartphone usage. Texting in particular has become a very dangerous pastime for a percentage of the driving public; endangering the lives of most everyone on the road.

A driver can be distracted by a variety of things on the road, but holding a smartphone while trying to text or reading a message off a small screen is one of the more dangerous driving activities. Traffic accident statistics are peppered with cellphone use as one of the contributing factors to accidents involving passenger cars, commercial delivery trucks and 18-wheel tractor-trailer rigs.

Depending on the conditions at the time of the crash, injuries can be serious to life-threatening, not to mention instantly fatal. Occupants of smaller vehicles are particularly at risk, due in part to the huge difference in mass between larger trucks and standard-size automobile. Fatal traffic accidents are known to be caused by distractions involving cellphones and other PDA devices.

Maryland Traffic Accident News: Baltimore and D.C. Motorists Ranked at Bottom of Allstate “Best Drivers” List

September 21, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

If this seems familiar, unfortunately it is; Baltimore, MD, has been ranked as one of the cities with the worst drivers. Placing near the very bottom of the Allstate Insurance annual “Best Drivers Report,” residents who drive here are more likely to have an accident than almost any of nearly 200 metropolitan areas across the U.S.

As Maryland personal injury attorneys, we are not surprised by the findings, since our own experience from the standpoint of auto, truck and motorcycle accident law, as well as being motorists ourselves. Apparently not many Marylanders disagree with the results either, based on the comments coming from the public following the publishing of Allstate’s survey results.

According to news reports, the Allstate report lists 193 cities all across the United States and all but one of those ranked better than Baltimore. And, not only is Baltimore apparently a haven for bad drivers, Washington, D.C., is not much better. But then again, more than one person has likely pointed out that driving in the District is a risky venture, at least from the standpoint of being caught up in a traffic accident.

This report only confirms what many resident of this state already know, which is to always use extreme caution when operating a motor vehicle along any of Maryland’s numerous publics road. As we know ourselves, single- and multiple-vehicle collisions involving car and commercial trucks are not uncommon in places like Rockville, Annapolis, Columbia, and Bowie, MD.

According to the report, Baltimore finished almost dead last, just ahead of Washington, D.C., the worst city for avoiding a roadway wreck. Even Newark came out ahead of Baltimore and the District.

Baltimore Traffic Accident News: Experts Look for Reduced Travel, Fewer Crashes Memorial Day Weekend

May 30, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

More than 700,000 Maryland residents are expected to be venturing out this weekend, but this number is a reduction from previous years according to the experts at the American Automobile Association (AAA). With gasoline prices higher than last year this time, the AAA believes that more people are spending their holiday at nearby attractions rather than traveling far afield.

As Maryland personal injury attorneys, I and my colleagues hope that the reduced number of Marylanders on the roadways may help to decrease the potential car, truck and motorcycle wrecks that normally occur at this time of the year. As this weekend is the annual kickoff to the summer season, more and more families are hoping to enjoy the warmer weather. Unfortunately, this swell of summertime driving can also mean extra traffic collisions, injures and more than a few automobile and trucking-related deaths.

Based on news reports, AAA Mid-Atlantic estimates that the number of cars, minivans and SUVs on the road this summer will only be down by less than one percent from the year before, despite the higher level of gasoline prices across the country.

Maryland Personal Injury News: AAA Joins Victims’ Families in Pushing for Stricter Vehicular Homicide Legislation

May 24, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Traffic accidents that take innocent lives are some of the most regrettable events anyone has to face. Recently, the Maryland legislature assed House Bill 363 that essential says drivers who are found guilty of being grossly negligent in fatal car crashes will be facing a new prison term option from courts across the state.

According to news reports, the general assembly approved the bill that calls for “grossly negligent” drivers who are determined to have caused a fatal traffic accident will be looking at mandatory jail time. Previously, even reckless drivers’ actions were found to have resulted in a deadly automobile or motorcycle crash were not always help to account for another person’s death.

Under Maryland’s current statutes, a motorist could be facing jail following a fatal car-bike crash, but only if it can be proven that the defendant was grossly negligent. Many experts have suggested that some of the state’s prosecuting attorneys feel gross negligence is an extremely high standard to reach in court. The approach, according to earlier reports, was to get lower the standard to something closer to “substantial deviation from the standard of care.”

Naturally, demonstrating “substantial negligence” is typically more difficult than “ordinary negligence,” however it is easier than meeting the standard for “gross negligence.” It has been suggested that the standard of substantial negligence would apply to more instances of, say, vehicular homicides in which the defendant was found to be going twice the speed limit on a winding country road, or passing a slower vehicle on a blind curve.

Nevertheless, the new jail-time penalties likely to be used by state and local prosecutors’ offices may begin to make a dent in what seems to have become the painful and all too common occurrence of deadly car-bicycle accidents. The goal, as suggested by many observers, is to thwart the sometimes reckless behavior of motorists and even to reduce or eliminate fatal biking accidents, not unlike the way that DWI and DUI laws have helped to reduce the number alcohol-related traffic accidents, injuries and fatalities.

As Maryland auto and motorcycle accident attorneys and Washington, D.C., injury lawyers, my office has seen the results of road accidents involving passenger cars, commercial trucks and bicycle riders enough to know that new laws designed to protect cyclists and pedestrians are a step in the right direction.

Maryland Children in Danger of Injury as More Drivers Reportedly Ignore School Bus Traffic signals

May 22, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

To most conscientious drivers in cities like Washington, D.C., Annapolis, Gaithersburg and Rockville, a school bus with its flashers on or stop signal extended is reason enough to stop and yield to the young children carried around our state on a daily basis. But surprising as it may seem, many motorists do not place the same importance on these standard safety devices, even though the welfare of our children traveling to and from school should be an imperative.

As Baltimore auto accident attorneys and Maryland personal injury lawyers, we know how badly a child can be hurt during a violent car or truck collision. As passengers, children can be injured or killed in motor vehicle wrecks, but as pedestrians young people have an even greater chance of being seriously injured, or even die from their injuries. One of the most dangerous times for kids, regarding highway and urban car-pedestrians collisions, is when children are walking to and from school.

Almost as dangerous is when kids are getting on and off a school bus. Although drivers are taught to obey school bus warning lights and be vigilant for students crossing the street at a bus stop, there still are accidents, many of them deadly or life-altering. Not long ago we ran across and article that suggests our school-age children are not as safe as every parent hopes.

According to the news item, many automobile drivers either miss or outright ignore the extended “stop” sign on Maryland school buses. In fact, a survey conducted in Anne Arundel County showed that cars, pickups and minivans did not stop for the extended “Stop” arm on a local school bus a total of 845 in one day.

According to the news article, the Maryland State Department of Education sponsored a statewide survey to collect information on the number of drivers who violated the stop arms of school buses. In just one day, based on responses from bus drivers, more than 7,000 violations occurred in Anne Arundel County alone. It’s no secret that when a school bus stops to pick up or drop off youngsters the bus driver activates the vehicle’s red flashing lights and then swings the “Stop” sign out to alert drivers to come to a complete stop.

Baltimore Traffic Safety News: Families of Injured Maryland Highway Workers Push for Increased Driver Awareness

May 16, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It should come as no surprise that state highway workers are injured or killed in traffic-related accidents quite frequently. This is not to say that these individuals are any different than other pedestrians crossing urban roadways or biking on public roads; but as drivers ourselves, we know that construction zones should be treated as hazardous areas — if not for the safety of your own passengers, but for those hard-working men and women who make our highways safe and efficient for all Marylanders.

As Baltimore auto accident lawyers, we see numerous victims of car, motorcycle and trucking accidents every year. Pedestrian accidents are some of the most serious, since people have no real protection against a two-ton passenger vehicle, much less a 30-ton semi tractor-trailer. Broken femurs, tibias, fractured collar bones, injured spinal columns and closed-head trauma are just a few of the potential injuries that a person can receive when struck by a motor vehicle.

Since road workers spend the majority of their working day in close proximity to cars and trucks traveling at rather high speeds, it’s amazing that more of these people are not hurt or killed on an annual basis. Still, with all the safety reminders on our highways, it’s sad that more motorists don’t heed the warnings and really give these folks “a brake.”

A little while ago, the families of injured Maryland road workers began to press the state to make things a little bit safer for those workers still on the job. According to news reports at the time, the latest Maryland highway injury occurred on March 22. A worker for the Jessup, MD, office of the State Highway Administration (SHA) was severely injured as he tried to help clear a traffic wreck along a stretch of Rte 1 near Whiskey Bottom Ln.

Based on reports, Robert Garcia was struck by a vehicle as he was holding up a stop signal in a highway work area. The force of the impact caused Garcia to be thrown into the air. Emergency personnel arriving on the scene apparently treated the injured SHA employee and then transported him to Howard County General Hospital. He was subsequently moved to Johns Hopkins Hospital with severe injuries.

Maryland Auto Accident News: Efforts in Washington, D.C., May Improve Traffic Safety of Pedestrians, Cyclists

April 27, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

We’ve stated in this space before that Maryland’s pedestrians and bicyclists are typically put in dangerous circumstances when crossing roadways in major metropolitan areas such as Frederick, the District, Bowie and Hagerstown. Given the densely populated nature of our state and surrounding cities and towns, it should come as no surprise that persons on foot or cycling tend to be hit by cars and delivery trucks more often than people in other states.

As Baltimore personal injury attorneys and auto accident lawyers, we frequently read of innocent victims being killed or maimed by vehicular traffic across our state. Similarly, pedestrians in the Washington, D.C., areas are no strangers to traffic collisions, many of which can cause serious injuries including broken arms and legs, cuts and deep lacerations, internal bleeding and closed head trauma.

What’s heartening is that more and more people are waking up to the inherent dangers that confront citizens on a daily basis. According to a news article, a campaign was initiated not long ago that seeks to protect pedestrians and cyclists from automobile and trucking-related accidents in D.C. We can certainly hope that such an effort will also net positive results here in Baltimore and elsewhere across the state.

The statistics are staggering. As reported, on average three people every day are hit by a car or commercial truck in our nation’s capital. Also alarming is that more than 80 pedestrians and bicycle riders were killed in car-pedestrian traffic collisions on D.C., Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland roads during 2010. A sobering thought the next time you find yourself crossing the street in this part of the country.

The campaign now afoot to help protect pedestrians and bicycle riders is apparently in reaction to the distressing rise in pedestrian accidents. According to news articles, the total number of bicyclists and walkers who where hit by motor vehicles in 2010 was up by a shocking 25 percent over 2009 figures.

Baltimore Personal Injury News: Maryland’s Pedestrians Not as Safe from Car Accidents Compared to Other States

April 9, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Car accidents take the lives of pedestrians and bicyclists all too frequently on Maryland roadways. Compared to accidents between passenger cars and commercial vehicles, a person on foot has little defense against a two-ton motor vehicle. Pedestrian accidents, a common occurrence in cities like Frederick, Rockville and Hagerstown, can result in broken bones, internal injuries and head trauma.

As Maryland injury lawyers, I and my colleagues have seen the heartbreaking results of a serious pedestrian-car crash. Sadly, Maryland cities may be some of the more dangerous metropolitan areas for persons on foot. As alluded to previously, occupants of passenger cars have much more protection available to them, which can make a big difference in cases of collisions with larger motor vehicles.

When it comes to pedestrian safety, one Maryland columnist feels that Vegas is a better bet than most any city in this state. Based on an article in the Baltimore Sun, a visitor to “Sin City” saw that drivers out west may make more of an effort to give folks in crosswalks the right of way. On the flip side, jaywalkers are not tolerated in the gambling capital of the U.S. In fact, it’s rare to see a local resident crossing against a light, which may indicate how aggressively the local police enforce pedestrian traffic laws.

Maryland Traffic Safety and Automobile Accident News: Speed Cameras Not Effective in Reducing Car Crashes

April 7, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

If you think that you and your family are safer on Baltimore, Annapolis and Washington, D.C, streets — thanks in part to those “eyes in the sky,” otherwise known as speed cameras — you may be riding on false hope. Traffic safety takes many different guises and what our state and others legislate in the way of safety doesn’t always pan out. For anyone who has been involved in a serious car, motorcycle or trucking accident, the time for increased road safety is woefully late in coming.

As Maryland personal injury lawyers, I and my staff daily see the headlines and nightly news stories of drivers and passengers injured by the negligence of other motorists. From minor cuts and bruises to life-threatening head, neck and spinal trauma, a traffic collision can be devastating not only in terms of physical pain and life-long disability, but it also can destroy a family’s finances and its economic future.

Especially in these difficult times, the cost of medical care following a tragic car or motorcycle wreck can strip a family of its monetary safety net. Any rehabilitation after discharge from the hospital can also whittle away at a young family’s savings, causing the physical injures to be compounded by emotional ones.

All around the country, towns and cities have been placing speed cameras at intersections to catch motorists who flout the law. Unfortunately, while some may feel that these cameras reduce auto accidents by placing drivers in the spotlight, their effectiveness has been called into question. According to a recent news article, these remote video cameras have resulted in less speeding, but not reduced the number of automobile and truck accidents.

Here in Baltimore County, authorities placed 15 speed cameras around the area in 2009; locating them in school zones in an attempt to cut speeding and reduce accidents at the same time. However, a study released not long ago found that the in the first five months that the units were in operation, there was a dramatic drop in speeding tickets issued to drivers via these cameras — for anyone who wonders, the cameras were programmed to detect and identify drivers who exceeded the speed limit by 12mph.