Maryland Car Accident Attorney Blog
Getting over a serious traffic accident is no easy feat, and as a Maryland auto accident lawyer and personal injury attorney I know first-hand what people go through to recover from a car, truck or motorcycle crash. Being hit while in the relatively protected shell of a motor vehicle is usually much more preferable to being hit while on foot.
The human body is a wonder of biology and natural engineering, but our bodies where never meant to withstand the impact force of a 3,000-pound car, SUV or minivan traveling even as slow as 25 miles per hour. The injuries sustained by a person when confronted with a colliding vehicle can vary from amazingly slight to life-threateningly deadly. Broken bones, lacerations and traumatic head injuries number just a few of the resulting conditions after a car or truck crash.
Earlier this year a Baltimore woman was hit by a car while just outside of her own vehicle. According to a recent news article, that April 2 hit-and-run accident left 40-year-old Miki Scholtes with no income and hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills, since she did not have health insurance at the time of the crash. Three months later, she is still recovering, bound to a wheelchair with only the hope of walking again, while the driver of the car that injured her has yet to be located.
The accident, a tragedy by any measure, occurred on an April afternoon when Scholtes was packing up after her latest job on St. Albans Way. According to reports, the self-employed painter and home improvement contractor was about to head to her next appointment, opening the driver door of her vehicle when she was hit by a passing blue blue GMC pickup truck with Maryland tags.
The force of the impact bent back the side door of Scholtes’ Ford Ranger and threw her about six feet into the air. In the process, her pelvis was reportedly snapped in half, and one of her femurs was broken in four places. A roofer working on a nearby building saw the event, but could not read the license plate number of the vehicle that hit the woman.
The news article stated that Scholtes was at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center and Maryland General Hospital for about a week, after which she started rehabilitation at University Specialty Hospital located in downtown Baltimore. Apparently unable to pay all of her bills, she reportedly plans to move into her parents’ home in Hillendale after she is released.
Friends and family have worked ceaselessly to help gather donations to cover Scholtes’ car payments and car insurance. Meanwhile, she is applying for Social Security assistance in paying her hospital bills.
Hit-and-run victim “has some really fantastic friends’, ExploreBaltimoreCounty.com, June 22, 2010