Maryland Car Accident Attorney Blog
Disparity in vehicle size can be a contributing factor when it comes to traffic accidents involving automobiles and other motor vehicles. Certainly most every driver has felt, at one time or another, a visceral twinge of fear or anxiety as they pass an 18-wheeler or other large commercial truck on the highway. The close quarters of some highways and surface streets can elevate that reaction among drivers and passengers of smaller, more vulnerable vehicles.
As Maryland automobile injury attorneys and drivers ourselves, I and my legal staff can relate to those feelings of danger when a semi tractor-trailer comes a little to close. But even smaller trucks, such as delivery vehicles and medium-duty work trucks can pose similar dangers without evoking the dread that larger motor vehicles do.
Because vehicle size usually correlates closely to vehicle mass, or weight, it’s not a stretch to say that some drivers worry every time they come near a big truck. But those medium-duty work trucks, though smaller than other large commercial vehicles, can also cause a great deal of damage in a traffic collision given the right circumstances; more than just a vehicle’s weight, the cargo that a truck may be hauling can pose significant danger in a roadway collision.
It’s not a stretch to imagine that a fully-loaded work truck can weight three to four times that of a small economy car. Given that amount of weight disparity, in a crash the passenger vehicle might end up sustaining serious damage; and the same goes for any occupants riding inside the car as well.
Leg, hip and ankle fractures are possible results of a side-impact collision between a commercial vehicle and a small passenger car. Whiplash, neck and spinal damage are also possible complications from a traffic wreck between a commercial vehicle and a passenger sedan or minivan.
About a week ago, the driver of a Honda sedan apparently was killed in a collision along a stretch of Crain Highway in Glen Burnie, MD. According to news reports, the accident took place around 11am on a Tuesday morning. Based on information provided by local fire officials, the crash involved a work truck carrying ladders and other construction-related equipment.
Emergency responders got a call regarding a roadway accident at just about quarter past 11 in the morning advising authorities that a Chevrolet pickup had struck a small sedan. Upon arrival, firefighters found the both vehicles sitting in the grassy front yard of a nearby commercial building. News articles stated that a 50-year-old man was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore with serious injuries.
From the description of the vehicles, it seems that the Honda was hit by the pickup truck somewhere along the drivers-side door. At the time of the article, police had not yet completed their investigation, however the single fatality appeared to be the driver of the Honda sedan.
1 killed in Crain Highway accident, HometownAnnapolis.com, November 23, 2011