Maryland Car Accident Attorney Blog

Maryland Automobile Safety Update: Traffic Accidents Offer Their Own Argument for Seatbelt Use

February 28, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As we write this, there are millions of drivers on the road all across the country traveling on city streets, rural highways, unpaved back roads, and high-speed interstates. Within the next few hours, dozens will be hurt or killed in traffic accidents they did not cause. While it’s a fair bet that most of those involved in a car or commercial trucking crash will have been wearing a safety belt, some may not. Whatever the reason — be it fear of injury during a roadway collision, lack of perceived comfort, or just plain obstinacy — it’s likely that those who chose not to wear their seatbelt may be injured to a greater degree than those who did. And, sadly, some may die as a result of their decision.

As Baltimore personal injury attorneys, I and my staff of legal professionals have talked to many different clients over the years, many who have been hurt in a car, truck or motorcycle wreck. For those who have been badly hurt, through no fault of their own, the cost of medical treatment, convalescing without being able to make an income, and extended rehabilitation expenses can all add up to put a pinch on many of these individuals and their families. For those people who were not using a safety belt at the time of a crash, the costs could be higher — physically and financially.

We mention this because reducing the severity of physical injuries is something that seat belts have been doing for quite some time now. Most every traffic safety expert will advise that wearing a seat belt is preferable to not wearing one. This is not to say that seatbelts themselves have been known to cause injuries themselves, but the statistics indicate that these most rudimentary of automotive safety devices are more beneficial than not.

National Safety Council Reports Highway Fatalities Rose in 2012 Above Previous Year’s Death Toll

February 26, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It would be morbid to say that an improving economy may have caused more than 1,500 additional traffic deaths last year than in 2011, but you can be sure that someone will suggest it. As Maryland personal injury lawyers, I and my colleagues have a much more grounded view of things when it comes to injuries and fatalities on our nation’s roadways; there’s never a good reason for people to be killed in senseless and often preventable traffic collisions.

Whether you’re talking about passenger cars crashes, trucking-related wrecks or motorcycle accidents, there are often one or more individuals who will be sent to the hospital with serious or even life-threatening injuries. From broken bones and serious burns, to lacerations, internal injuries and closed-head trauma, few people come away totally unhurt following a bad automobile or commercial truck collision.

Areas like Baltimore, the District, and other densely populated metropolitan centers get their share of roadway accidents. Having met with dozens of accident victims, we understand the physical pain and difficult recovery and rehab periods that many people experience following a car crash. And even if they survive the initial collision, the financial burden that can follow may be just as devastating, especially for families that are already struggling with money issues. Throw in a loss of income when a single parent is hurt or laid up in a hospital bed and the families troubles are only just beginning.

Life and Death on Maryland Roadways: Unpredictability of Traffic Accidents Makes Every Roadway Crash Different

February 25, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Something that we as Maryland personal injury attorneys have learned over the years is that life is nothing if not unpredictable. This should, of course, come as no surprise to most people; for one thing the auto, life and health insurance companies have made a relatively good business out of insuring people against the unknown events in their lives. Whether the future holds an unforeseen medical condition, a house fire or basement flood, or an untimely death, an insurance policy should help to cover a persona and her family against certain losses associate with that event.

In the case of car, truck and motorcycle accidents, auto insurance is designed to help the victim with the cost of medical care, vehicle repair or replacement and other property damage claims. It is when an insurance company is reluctant to provide the full amount of recovery expenses that an individual or a family may find themselves in a real bind. With doctor and hospital bills coming in the mail and reduced or non-existent income due to one’s inability to work after a severe crash, it’s not uncommon to feel that the system has failed a person.

This is when the randomness of life really starts to hit home. But it all starts on the road with the unpredictability of a traffic collision. In some cases, the victim can be a driver coming home from work, or a family taking a much needed vacation on the road. Sometimes, just crossing the street can be a risky endeavor. In fact, we would suggest that even getting out of one’s vehicle near a heavily trafficked roadway is an invitation to danger.

Baltimore Auto Injury News: Several Marylanders Hurt in Three Separate Harford County Traffic Accidents

February 23, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

When a traffic accident happens, the occupants of each of the vehicles involved have a good chance of being hurt to some extent. Motor vehicle collisions can be some of the most violent and deadly accidents that an individual may experience in his or her lifetime. Passengers and driver alike can sustain bone fractures, burns, internal injuries and closed-head trauma. Of these, broken bones are usually the most common among victims of automobile and trucking-related wrecks.

The sheer force of a medium- to high-speed roadway collision can result in severe breaks, and even multiple breaks in the same bone. Whether a break is of the so-called simple type or of the compound variety, those fractures sustained in car crashes tend toward being more serious and, as such, they usually require surgery to treat fully. For many victims, it is not uncommon to have screws, plates, or other fastening hardware employed to bring the bone back into alignment and to return it as closely as possible to full strength.

As Maryland personal injury attorneys, we have seen our share of victims who have survived an auto, truck or motorcycle accident yet who required extensive medical treatment in order to return to a normal life. As with many car wrecks, multiple fractures come part and parcel with all the other injuries. Fractures that require surgical attention can cause medical costs to increase significantly, to the point that some individuals find it difficult to meet their medical bills, much less their fix household expenses while laid up in the hospital or rehab facility.

One Pedestrian Killed, Two Others Injured in Three Separate Traffic-related accidents in Arundel County

February 21, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

We hear of pedestrian accidents almost every week here in the Baltimore area, though we know that they happen all of the time across the nation; 70,000 or more occur every year according to the statistics compiled a while ago in 2009. It’s no secret that in densely packed urban areas — like Baltimore and the District of Columbia — people on foot who mix with vehicle traffic have a high likelihood of being hit by a car, truck or bus. Being Maryland injury lawyers, we have the skills and training to represent victims of car-pedestrian crashes, as well as commercial trucking accidents involving bicycles.

Driver distraction — whether caused by talking on a cell phone, texting on a smartphone or even eating or drinking a beverage while driving down the road — can lead to some serious injuries on the pedestrian’s part; the driver in those instances rarely receives significant injuries. When a driver is not paying attention, for whatever reason, may fail to notice a pedestrian attempting to cross the street, walking along the shoulder of the road, or pedaling his or her bicycle in the far right-hand lane.

It is incumbent on us to mention that intersections, even those with clearly marked pedestrian crosswalks, can themselves be the scene of a severe or fatal collision between a car or commercial vehicle and a person on foot. Even motorcycle accidents involving pedestrians have been recorded. These can be just as deadly as ones involving more massive passenger vehicles, delivery trucks and 18-wheelers.

Englewood, MD, Driver Survives Life-threatening Ordeal after Driving off Steep Embankment in Harford County

February 19, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

When people think of traffic accidents, such as collisions between commercial trucks and passenger cars, sport utility vehicles and motorcycles, or taxi cabs and city buses, it’s easy to envision crumpled wrecks with leaking fluids, some of them one of the flammable. In fact, fires resulting from car, truck or motorcycle accidents are not as infrequent as one might expect; but they are can be even more deadly than the roadway collision that caused the blaze in the first place.

As Maryland injury attorneys, I and my legal staff know very well how a driver and occupants of a motor vehicle can be seriously burned following a bad traffic accident. Gasoline and diesel fuel leaking from a ruptured fuel tank can feed a fire that may quickly engulf a vehicle and its occupants. Burn injuries are some of the worst types of personal injury scenarios, requiring hospitalization and long recuperation times. Many burn victims never make it out of the hospital, as a significant percentage succumb to their injuries despite doctors’ efforts.

Those who do survive severe burns be scarred or disfigurement for life. Other side effects of a bad burn injury may include loss of one or more limbs, nerve damage, and emotional problems such as depression. Burn victims can experience extreme and almost unbearable pain because of many exposed nerves across large expanses of the person’s body. The recovery time for many types of extensive burn injuries can be measured not in days or weeks, but in months or years — sadly, many burn victims end up with some level of permanent disability due to their injuries.

Victims of Maryland Automobile Accidents Need Not Be in a Vehicle to Suffer Injuries

February 17, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As personal injury attorneys serving the residents of Baltimore, Annapolis, the District of Columbia, as well as other areas of our state, we have met numerous people over the years who have been seriously injured as a result of a car, truck or motorcycle collision on Maryland roadways. To say that automobile accidents happen often is an understatement, but the fact is that an injury accident can happen almost anywhere.

We recall that old auto insurance admonition, which still rings true today: “Most traffic accidents happen within 25 miles of home.” Since most people live and work generally within that radius, it’s a fair bet that if and when a car or trucking-related wreck does befall a person, there is a rather strong chance that it could occur within the range of one’s home.

When one considers the results of a traffic accident, it’s also good to think about the causes, which in many cases may have been preventable. Sadly, with human nature being what it is, eliminating all roadway collisions is likely more a pipe dream than anything else. But as Baltimore injury attorneys, we also know that a traffic wreck can happen to just one vehicle, and not always due to driver error or a mechanical problem with the vehicle itself.

Baltimore Injury Accident News: Maryland Woman Dies in Fatal Multi-car Collision in Carroll County

February 15, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Many fatalities resulting from passenger car and commercial trucking-related accidents come about due to a closed-head injury suffered by the victim or victims. Also known as a traumatic brain injury, the cause can be attributed to the victim’s head striking a solid object, such as the vehicle’s steering wheel, dashboard, A-pillar, or other non-moveable fixture within the car or truck.

Of course, in the case of motorcycle accidents, the road itself or another vehicle can become a blunt-force “weapon” when the rider falls from the bike or is throw by the impact. Helmets are useful and certainly nothing to be taken for granted, but even the best helmet cannot fully guarantee that a biker will walk away from a really bad traffic accident.

As Maryland injury lawyers, I and my colleagues understand the effects of closed-head trauma. We know that a hard enough blow to the head can easily disrupt the brain’s critical functions to the point of partial or complete paralysis, or even death. Commonly associated with passenger car collisions, commercial truck crashes and motorcycle accidents, cases of closed-head trauma have also been tied to sports-related injuries, such as concussions, which have been increasingly highlighted in the news over the past few years.

Back-to-Back Fatal Pedestrian Accidents in Annapolis Remind of Ever-Present Traffic-Related Dangers

February 12, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

On average Maryland sees a little over 100 fatal pedestrian and bicycle accidents each year. This compares with the national traffic-related death rate of 4,300 (based on data from 2010). As Baltimore personal injury attorneys, we have seen estimates for the nationwide cost of these accidents to society in the billions of dollars. Just here in our state, some experts suggest that over a 10-year period, from 2000 to 2009, the economic impact to our state for those pedestrians who were killed (1,057 in total) has been more than $4 billion.

Obviously, reducing pedestrian-automobile traffic fatalities would result in a great savings to everyone, not the least of which would be the families who would be spared the grief and emotional torment of losing a soon, daughter, husband or wife to a senseless roadway accident. For reference, the website Transportation for America ranks Maryland the 15th most dangerous state for pedestrians, giving us a 76.4 on its index of overall Pedestrian Danger.

It’s doesn’t take a statistician to understand how pedestrian and bicycle-related traffic collisions happen. For most people, it’s a basic fact that these kinds of accidents occur most frequently in metropolitan areas where people on foot are in close proximity to other vehicle traffic. Certainly, more densely populated urban areas will see a greater number of pedestrian accidents — involving car and commercial vehicle collisions — than that of more rural areas.

Pedestrian Accident in Anne Arundel Leaves Woman in Critical Condition after Being Hit by Truck

February 9, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It seems that almost every day we read about someone being hit by car or run over by a commercial delivery truck. Whether it’s here in the Baltimore area, over in Bowie or Columbia, or down in the District, traffic accidents involving bicycles or persons on foot happen with alarming frequency. And not surprisingly, it would seem, since on average a pedestrian is injured every eight minutes across the U.S.

And, as Maryland injury lawyers, we know that the majority of pedestrian and bicycle accidents happen in urban areas where car and people tend to mix, sometimes with tragic results. The National Safety Council has stated that in the U.S. more than 80 percent of all non-fatal pedestrian injury accidents happen in urban areas. As such, large metro areas like Baltimore City and the District of Columbia see more than their fair share of pedestrian-related injuries and deaths, while rural locations are less likely to have such a high incidence of collisions, though the fatality rate is actually greater due to higher speeds on rural roads.

Here in Maryland, the average number of traffic fatalities involving pedestrians is about 100 deaths a year. The overwhelming majority of these are people on foot, although a small fraction of that number is represented by bicycle riders. Obviously, reducing the incidence of pedestrian-automobile collisions would in turn reduce the pedestrian death rate, as well as the number of families who have to bury loved ones each year as a result of a car or trucking related collision.