Fatal Traffic Accidents

Attention Maryland Mothers and Fathers: Double Check Your Child Safety Seats for Proper Installation

April 23, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As Baltimore personal injury attorneys, we can’t stress enough the importance of proper safety procedures when driving a motor vehicle on Maryland roadways. We have seen too many people, young and old, who have been seriously hurt as a result of a bad automobile, commercial truck or motorcycle crash. Taking any shortcuts when it comes to your safety or that of your passengers is only inviting potential tragedy.

Naturally, nobody expects to become caught up in a highway accident or a traffic collision on a street in any city such as Bowie, Gaithersburg, Washington, D.C., or Columbia, but keep in mind that if you don’t plan for the worst, you may pay a high price for it later. With that in mind, it may be a good time to remind everyone that auto accidents are one of the chief causes of childhood injuries or death in this country.

To this end, the law requires that kids under 40 pounds be strapped into an approved child safety seat whenever traveling by car, minivan, sport utility vehicle or other motor vehicle. Some new parents may even be surprised that the hospital where their baby was born will want to check out the family vehicle to be certain that it is equipped with the proper safety seat for a newborn infant. This is not just a thoughtful service; it reflects the law as well.

Baltimore Auto Injury Update: Multi-car Accidents Can Result in Multiple Injuries or Deaths

April 19, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

When the average person reads of a “head-on” collision involving a crash between two cars, a motorcycle collision with a sport utility vehicle, or a wreck involving a commercial delivery truck and a minivan, the words are sometimes just that: words on a page. But for those victims of traffic-related accidents, the situation is all too real. Being caught in a sudden and violent head-on crash on almost any roadway is a serious incident, and not one from which everybody can walk away.

Of all the typical kinds of motor vehicle collisions, including rear-ending accidents, crashes where a vehicle is side-swiped by another, T-bone-type collisions at intersections, or interstate rollover wrecks, head-on collisions can be some of the most deadly. As personal injury attorneys and experienced trial lawyers, I and my legal staff have seen the aftermath of these extremely deadly and life-threatening events.

When it comes to a head-on automobile or commercial truck collision, these front-to-front impacts account for a large number of traffic fatalities on a percentage basis. That is to say, aside from rollover accidents, we have seen traffic accident statistics from past years that show head-on collisions resulting in 10 percent of deaths on the road, even though only two percent of the accidents were of the head-on type. Frankly, to have just two percent of accidents kill one in ten people, that is chilling.

Maryland Highway Injury Update: Treat All Roadside Emergencies Seriously Due to Potentially Life-Threatening Consequences

April 13, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

We don’t have to tell anyone that being hit by a car as a pedestrian is a no-win situation. Aside from a handful of superheroes, nobody — or perhaps we should we say, no “body” — can very well survive the impact of a fast moving, two-ton lump of iron and steel. It is because a person on foot is no match for an motor vehicle, not even a relatively light-weight motorcycle — and being struck by a commercial truck is simply unthinkable in our estimation.

As Baltimore personal injury attorneys, we know that the chances of being injured to the point of partial paralysis or long-term disability are quite high when it comes to car-pedestrian collisions. In addition to broken bones and compound fractures, damage to organs and internal bleeding are possible results of these kinds of crashes. For those unfortunate victims, a significant percentage of car-bicycle and truck-pedestrian wrecks result in death.

It’s a fact that nearly three-quarters of fatal pedestrian accidents occur in urban areas like Baltimore and the District of Columbia, but this doesn’t mean that being on-foot in rural region is any less dangerous. The higher speeds in less dense portions of the state can mean the death rate among those hit by a car in more open areas is actually high as well. While rarer than injuries and fatalities suffered by drivers and passenger of motor vehicles, an average of 4,000 pedestrian fatalities each year across this nation is nothing to sneeze at.

Maryland Auto Accident News: Manchester Valley HS Teacher Dies in Fiery Carroll County Car Crash

April 3, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

When people think about a products liability claim, it is very common to imagine a defective child safety seat, an electrical appliance with a dangerous flaw, even an auto safety recall involving a faulty tire or brake system component on a passenger car or commercial truck. One thing that most people don’t consider is that larger items, very large items, can also be named in a product liability lawsuit. As Maryland auto accident and personal injury lawyers, I and my legal staff understand the faith that people place in products and everyday items.

By saying this, we mean that consumers and those in the general public have a relative expectation that most products and other man-made items will not harm them; certainly one can surmise that there is a belief among most people that they will not be killed if they use a certain product or manufactured item. Naturally, this also implies that the consumer will use the item in the way it was intended, which can be another important aspect of a well thought-out products liability claim.

As an aside, we should remind readers that every one of us is a consumer of multiple products and services every day of our lives. There is almost nothing that you or I touch on a regular basis that is not designed, manufactured, processed or created in some way, shape or form for our use or consumption. And so it goes that when we purchase a product from a store, dealer or directly from a manufacturer we expect that item to perform in the way in which it is supposed.

Maryland Auto Accident News: Unlicensed Teenager Dies following Car Chase with Police in Wicomico County

March 28, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Understanding as we do the devastating effects of a prolonged hospital stay brought on by serious medical complications problems, it’s wise to never underestimate the injury potential of any automobile or commercial trucking collision. Here in Maryland, where we average close to 500 fatal traffic-related accidents every year, the odds of anyone reading this sentence being involved in any kind of roadway accident during his or her lifetime is fairly high.

Hundreds of thousands of innocent people across this nation are sent to the emergency room each year thanks to car, truck and motorcycle crashes. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise us if someone you know has previously been involved in any type of car collision — from a minor fender-bender to an all-out, multi-car pileup — for the simple reason that the annual number of road accidents is somewhere north of five million for the entire country.

If one does the basic math, it’s amazing to see that, on average, there are more than 14,000 auto accidents every single day in the U.S. And while Maryland is by no means the largest state, we are in the top half by population. But even the knowledge that our state ranks 19th in population (and 5th in population density), it’s still hard to believe that Maryland motorists get into traffic accidents about once every five minutes; every single day, all through the year.

Police Investigate Fatal Baltimore County Car Accident; Head-on Crash on Interstate 695 Leaves Questions

March 22, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Anyone who has experienced a serious physical injury as the result of a car, truck or motorcycle accident already knows the extent to which medical treatment can impact one’s financial situation. Medical care, including emergency room treatment, surgery, recovery and subsequent rehabilitation are all expensive and, most often, necessary following a very bad traffic collision. Whether it’s an injury received in a pedestrian accident here in Baltimore City, a municipal bus crash over in the District, or a bike crash in Annapolis, the odds are some medical costs will be associated with one or more of those incidents.

As Maryland personal injury lawyers and auto accident attorneys, I and my legal staff are dedicated to helping victims recover costs related to a roadway accident caused by another individual’s careless or negligent act. Some accidents are worse than others, such as high-speed motorcycle collisions or multiple-vehicle wrecks caused by a commercial truck driver. Of course, other factors come into play, but the chances of a serious or life-threatening injury can be quite high even for in-town crashes involving passenger cars or light trucks.

Understanding one’s rights under the law is essential following a serious personal injury accident. Many people who have been badly hurt in a car or trucking-related collision may find they do have just cause to file a personal injury claim if the person who caused the crash did so either intentionally or through a thoughtless or careless and negligent act.

Maryland Driver Dies following Head-on Traffic Accident in Reisterstown; Police Say Suspect was Suicidal

March 16, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Regardless of whether a person is eight years old, 28 years old or eighty-eighty years old, nobody deserves to die in an automobile or commercial truck accident; and certainly not in one that could have been prevented. Here in the Baltimore area, as well as in places like Columbia, Rockville, Washington, D.C., or Annapolis, the frequency of fatal car crashes can give one pause.

As of 2009, Maryland had a highway fatality rate just a tick lower than the national average. While this may sound like a positive thing — and we have seen our traffic death rate drop progressively over the years — it still doesn’t change the fact that in 2010, about 10 people died in this state every week as a result of a traffic-related collision. That is nothing to crow about.

For personal injury lawyers like ourselves, we see the aftermath in human terms on a fairly regular basis; those victims of car, truck and motorcycle wrecks who only fault was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We see those individuals who have suffered severe and sometimes life-altering injuries such as closed-head trauma, first-degree burns, fractured arms and legs, as well as internal injuries and spinal cord damage. To these people, the fact that total vehicle accidents decreased by 10 percent between 2009 and 2010 doesn’t make their injuries any less painful or their prognosis for a normal life any more hopeful.

Maryland Traffic Injury Update: Parents, Be Aware That City Streets Can Be Deadly for Children

March 8, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

One of the most heart-breaking life events for any parent is the loss of a child. With all the years of nurturing, guidance and love that mothers and fathers put into their kids, parents the whole world ‘round only want the best for their children. It is no overstatement that most any parent would rather something bad happen to themselves than to their young ones, even as those kids get older. And isn’t it true that all we would want for our own son or daughter is a long and happy life? This is only natural.

Unfortunately, life itself can be cruel and the world is often a cold and threatening place even for adults at times. But the one thing any parent shudders to thing about is their child being hurt or killed in a tragic accident. As Maryland personal injury lawyers, I and my skilled legal staff know that there are no guarantees in life. But this is little consolation to a mother or father who has lost a child due to the negligence of another person.

Car, truck and motorcycle accidents can take the life of a child as much as they can an adult. The difference is only in the kind of sadness that follows an untimely death; the lost potential of a life yet to be lived can fill a family with a grief too heartrending for any words.

One Dead, Two Critically Hurt in Alcohol-related Traffic Collision in Baltimore County

March 7, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

How many times does it have to happen before society can even hope to eliminate the senseless, costly and many times tragic consequences caused by drunken driving. As Baltimore personal injury attorneys, we have seen too many victims of alcohol-related automobile and motorcycle accidents come forth in our local courts seeking recovery of medical and rehabilitation costs from negligent individuals who chose to get behind the wheel of a passenger car or commercial truck only to cause a serious roadway collision.

Far too many people have been hurt or killed on this nation’s city streets, rural routes and high-speed expressways as a result of another driver operating his or her vehicle while impaired by alcohol or prescription drugs. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), someone dies every 45 seconds in an alcohol-related traffic accident day-in and day-out all across this country. And Maryland is no different, with stories in the news almost daily describing the sad circumstances surround these senseless car and commercial trucking wrecks.

Our job here at Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers, is to work with our clients — the victims of these negligent drunk drivers — and help them try to piece together some semblance of their former lives. For the families of victims killed in a tragic road accident, there is no true recovery when one realizes that a child, parent or spouse has been wrenched away from the ones they love. In cases of where an individual has met an untimely death, a wrongful death lawsuit can be filed against the individual responsible for the fatal accident.

Maryland Traffic Safety Update: Pedestrian Accidents Happening More Frequently

March 5, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Here in Maryland, pedestrians face many personal injury threats, from being hit by a bicycle or motorcycle to being involved in a passenger car-related accident, commuter bus or commercial trucking collision. But while it has been reported that the odds of being involved in a pedestrian accident are rather high in more densely populated urban areas, such as Baltimore and Washington, D.C., the lower vehicle speeds in these areas do not always result in fatalities.

Conversely, in suburban and rural areas, traffic accidents involving persons on foot are much more infrequent, yet the potential for being killed as a result of a pedestrian-car collision is considered higher due to the usually greater speeds in those open areas. As Maryland personal injury attorneys, we know that pedestrian traffic accidents are a fact of life, maybe more in this state than in others, simply due to the fact that we rank sixth in the nation by population density.

More people, walking and mixing with larger volumes of traffic inevitably leads to larger numbers of injuries and deaths. Because vehicle speed plays a significant role in pedestrian fatalities, it would seem that city dwellers and those who work in urban areas may not be safer, but have a lower potential for being killed in a traffic-related collision.