Maryland Car Accident Attorney Blog

Baltimore Traffic Safety Update: Maryland Drivers Rank 9th in Nation for Reported Seatbelt Use

March 5, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

If you’re a Maryland driver, chances are you can count yourself among the tens of thousands of motorists who wear their safety belts regularly to reduce injury in the event of a traffic accident when traveling in their car, light truck, SUV or minivan. As Baltimore auto accident lawyers and personal injury attorneys, we are heartened to hear this and reminded that seat belts are one of the most important pieces of safety equipment found in motor vehicles.

Of course, air bags and other crash avoidance and mitigation technologies play large roles themselves in helping the occupants of cars and trucks better survive a serious passenger car or trucking traffic accident. Ask almost anyone who has lived through a multiple-vehicle collision or single car crash and you will probably find that he or she was wearing their seat belt at the time.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Maryland is one of the top-ten states in seatbelt usage. We rank ninth in the nation, says the CDC, when motorists were polled on whether or not they always use their safety belts. In fact, 89.6 percent of Maryland’s residents said they always use their seatbelt. This is a mere four percentage points away from first-ranked Oregon. And, residents in Washington, D.C., even scored higher at 93.7 percent, based on the CDC survey.

Maryland Car Accident News: Baltimore Trucker Survives Head-on Crash when Minivan Crosses Centerline on Rte 9

March 3, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

While passenger car drivers can certainly be seriously hurt or even killed as a result of a highway collision with a large commercial truck or bus, the drivers and occupants of those heavier motor vehicles can also be subject to severe or fatal injury. As Baltimore auto accident attorneys and Maryland personal injury lawyers, our job is to represent the victims of accidents who have experienced pain and suffering due to another individual’s negligent actions.

In cases where a traffic accident results in death, there may be sufficient evidence to support a wrongful death lawsuit against the other driver. Certainly, when a motorist causes an injury accident, there are instances where the victims may wish to recover some of all of the costs associated with the medical treatment and rehabilitation following such an accident.

Earlier last month, a Georgetown man crashed his vehicle head-on into an 18-wheel tractor-trailer rig along a stretch of Rte 9 on a Tuesday morning. According to news reports, 50-year-old Richard Baker was traveling west on Rte 9 when for some reason the man’s minivan crossed over the centerline, running head-on into a semi driven by a Baltimore trucker.

Baltimore Car Accident News: Driver Dies in Fatal Beltsville, Maryland, Automobile Traffic Wreck

February 28, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Faulty brakes, poorly designed suspension systems and incorrectly maintained running gear are just a few of the potential causes of fatal car or truck crashes. And, the odds of having a deadly single-vehicle traffic accident typically increases as the car, truck or motorcycle speed rises. While many one-car wrecks can be the result of driver error, police crash investigators typically consider the possibility of defective vehicle equipment when reconstructing a motor vehicle accident.

As Maryland personal injury attorneys and Baltimore auto accident lawyers, each of our staff works to represent the victims of car collisions and the families of individual killed as a result of another person’s negligence. Whether an accident occurs in the District, Hagerstown, Frederick, Salisbury, or any of the dozens of towns and cities across the state, the human toll of a commercial truck wreck or passenger car collision can be just as devastating.

A story not long ago described a crash that involved only one car, but claimed the life of the driver. Although police were still investigating the incident at the time of the news story, authorities had already ruled out drugs or alcohol as factors in the crash. Defective equipment, such as a broken steering linkage or blown-out tire could have contributed to such an accident, but there was nothing stated in the article to indicate that this was the case.

Early Evening Pedestrian Traffic Accident Leaves Grandmother and Grandchild Injured in Rockville, Maryland

February 27, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Most every family with small children has experienced the fear of seeing their child injured by an automobile. As kids grow up, and depending on the proximity of the public roads in the neighborhood, the chances of a youngster running or riding their bike into the street increases as those children become more mobile and curious.

As parents and grandparents, our job becomes even more serious when we leave the confines of our homes to take the kids on walks and other family outings. The danger of a pedestrian accident involving a small child is ever present once we step outside. As Baltimore auto accident attorneys and Maryland personal injury lawyers, we hear about traffic collisions that involve grownups and youngsters alike.

A while back, a news article talked about a grandmother and her young grandson were hurt in a pedestrian-car accident while crossing a street near home. This type of traffic accident can easily result in death, and so this story has somewhat of a happy ending. But many survivors of pedestrian or bicycle traffic accidents can be months or years away from a full recovery.

Baltimore Auto Injury News: Three Hurt when Train Hits Minivan in Wicomico, Maryland

February 24, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Negligence comes in many guises. Most people usually think of a faceless driver who causes a car, pedestrian or motorcycle accident and hurts another individual. But sometimes a negligent act can come someone other than a stranger. As personal injury lawyers and auto accident attorneys for Maryland and the Washington, D.C. area, I and my colleagues work to help victims of traffic wrecks and other types of serious injury accidents.

A negligent driver can be one who drinks and drives, or while speeding hits another car or commercial vehicle and kills or injures the occupants of the second vehicle; similarly, negligence can take the form of a driver who is responsible for the safety of his passengers and fails to exercise proper precautions and in doing so causes an auto accident that injures the occupants of his or her own vehicle.

Not long ago, a minivan was hit by a Norfolk and Southern freight train at a Fruitland railroad crossing in Wicomico County. According to a news article, three of the van’s passengers were seriously hurt when the collision occurred at the Rte 13 and Cedar Ln crossing just prior to 7pm. The motor vehicle was caught and dragged nearly 500 yards down the tracks before coming to rest.

Baltimore Automobile Accident News: Kent Island Father and Young Son Die in Rte 50 Car Crash

February 22, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Tragedies still abound in our modern world and despite our desire to be in control of our destiny from one day to the next there are situations that arise — traffic crashes, for example — that seem beyond our ability to avoid certain fateful events. As Maryland auto accident lawyers and personal injury attorneys, we empathize with those whose lives are interrupted, sometimes violently as a result of another person’s negligence or thoughtless actions.

Highway collisions and rural road mishaps between automobiles or commercial vehicles can turn a normal day into a milestone of pain and suffering. Fatal car, truck and motorcycle wrecks do not discriminate between young or old, rich or poor. These events are random, yet not unusual. But one common thread is the havoc these accidents can wreck on an individual’s life and that of his or her family.

Not long ago, a 52-year-old father and his six-year-old boy were killed in a crash along a darkened stretch of Rte 50 in Bowie, MD, when their 2002 Hyundai smashed into an abandoned vehicle apparently sitting in the roadway. According to news reports, Joseph Hein and his young son, Mikey, were headed eastbound on a Friday evening around 9:30pm when the accident occurred. Based on police reports, as the Hyundai was approaching Rte 301, it ran into a 2004 Cadillac SRX that had no headlamps or taillamps operating.

Baltimore Car Injury News: Reckless Driving Suspected Injury Accident in Anne Arundel County

February 20, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A head-on collision and subsequent multi-car crash along Marley Neck Boulevard in Glen Burnie sent four individuals to the hospital in what police believe was a case of reckless driving. As a Maryland personal injury attorney, even I am shocked at the number of highway accidents and traffic deaths attributed to reckless or aggressive driving. Not only are the actions of the motorists who cause such crashes appalling, but these kinds of incidents should never happen in the first place.

In situations where a person has been killed due to thoughtlessness or outright negligence on the part of another driver, my heart goes out to the family of the victim. Any time someone dies due to careless or reckless operation of a passenger car, commercial truck or motorcycle, motor vehicle, there is a possibility of a wrongful death lawsuit. In such cases, consideration must be made for the emotional suffering of the victim’s family, as well as financially, especially when the victim may have been the sole breadwinner for a young family.

In a recent news article, we saw that a 21-year-old motorist was apparently driving recklessly prior to a terrible car collision in Anne Arundel County. According to police reports, Patrick Ryan Galliher was driving a Mercury Cougar in what police described as a reckless manner when his vehicle crossed the centerline and hit a Toyota Corolla head-on.

Prior to the wreck, which occurred on a Saturday afternoon, Galliher’s vehicle had been observed passing other vehicles in the moments leading up to the head-on crash with the car of Saulius Kasiulionis, 36. In a chain reaction, the Corolla was struck by a Nissan Murano following behind, as well as a Mercedes sport utility vehicle.

The force of the crash caused Galliher to be ejected from the Mercury; police said that the driver was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident. Emergency responders arriving on the scene transported him to Maryland Shock Trauma where he was listed in serious but stable condition at the time of the news report.

Baltimore Car Accident News: Maryland Woman Dies; Other Injured in Charles County Traffic Collision

February 18, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Driver error appears to be the cause of a fatal traffic accident in Waldorf, MD, when a local woman turned left in front of another passenger car on a stretch of Rte 5. According to Maryland State Police, 80-year-old Mary Gertrude Wade Chandler was reportedly attempting to turn her Chevy Cavalier from the southbound side of Rte 5 onto Gallant Green Rd just after 4pm in the afternoon.

In the process, Chandler apparently failed to yield right-of-way to an oncoming northbound Olds Aurora carrying four individuals. Chandler was critically injured as a result of the car crash and was taken to Prince George’s Hospital Center where she later died of her injuries.

The other people in the Oldsmobile received injuries that were not life-threatening. The driver, 37-year-old Jennifer Rae Snyder of St. Mary’s County, MD, and her three passengers were likely treated by emergency responders at the scene before they were taken by ambulance to Civista Medical Center. All three were minors were riding in the rear seat of the Olds at the time of the wreck. They included two boys — 10- and 14-years-old — and a 13-year-old girl, all riding in the back seat, according to police reports.

Baltimore Auto Accident News: Nephew of Tibet’s Dalai Lama Killed in Car-Pedestrian Accident

February 16, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Automobile-pedestrian accidents can happen to almost anyone on foot near vehicle traffic. Every year thousands of people are injured or killed all around the country by passenger cars, commercial delivery trucks and other motor vehicles. Being related to famous or well-known individuals apparently are not immune to the tragic results of a pedestrian traffic accidents.

Just yesterday the nephew of Tibet’s Dalai Lama was struck and killed in an out-of-state pedestrian accident. Such collisions can result in serious and, as in this case, fatal injuries such as broken bones, internal injuries and bleeding, traumatic brain injury and spinal cord damage.

As Maryland and Washington, D.C., personal injury attorneys, we know that even in incidents where a victim survives a deadly car, truck or motorcycle crash, there can be weeks or months of medical treatment, corrective surgeries and physical therapy needed to return the person back to something close to normal functioning. Sadly, only a lucky few escape such violent accidents with little or no medical complications.

Baltimore Car and Truck Accident Update: Maryland’s Automobile Insurance Minimums for Bodily Injury Raised Again

February 13, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As of the New Year, the minimum liability coverage required by Maryland law for bodily injury in case of a traffic collision has been increased for every Maryland vehicle owners. The rise in bodily injury liability coverage coincides with the ever-increasing cost of medical treatment. As Baltimore auto accident attorneys, we can understand how the price of medical care has continued to rise year after year.

According to news reports, 2011 sees the minimum levels of liability protection, which automobile insurance policies sold in Maryland must have for bodily injury, rise by 50 percent. New policies written in 2011, as well as current policies renewed going forward, must now provide for at least a minimum of $30,000 for bodily injury liability for one person injured as a result of a car crash; and a minimum of $60,000 for two or more individuals injured in a traffic collision. This minimum bodily injury liability requirement will be known as “30/60 coverage.” The previous minimums were $20,000 and $40,000, respectively.

While the newly raised minimum coverage requirements might be expected to hit every Maryland policy holder in the form of increased insurance premiums, according to reports not all motorists will be see an increase in monthly payments. According to news articles, only those drivers with so-called “barebones” police coverage should expect to feel an increase in premiums.