Fatal Traffic Accidents

Two Maryland Residents, Pedestrian and Motorist, Killed in Separate Fatal Accidents Near Baltimore

March 2, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Being injured in an automobile wreck or commercial trucking collision is quite common here in the Baltimore area. With the dense traffic in the metro area and high speeds on our parkways and interstates, the chances of being involved in a traffic accident are better than that in the more rural areas of the state. As personal injury attorneys representing people hurt in road accidents here in Maryland and over in the District of Columbia, we understand how painful and long lasting some injuries can be.

For anyone who has been involved in a serious auto accident, we don’t have to tell you that broken bones and compound fractures are just one of the many kinds of injuries that a person can receive in a bad roadway collision. In the case of broken bones, both drivers and passengers can suffer equally. The high forces imparted by a car hitting another vehicle can result in multiple breaks in arms, legs and the pelvis, among other areas. Worse results can come when a commercial vehicle, such as an 18-wheel semi tractor-trailer hits a much smaller and lighter passenger car.

Brain injury is another common result of a bad traffic collision. Known variously as closed-head trauma or traumatic brain injury, these types of injuries can lead to a range of conditions including physical, mental and emotional problems. Brain damage resulting from a vehicle accident can be brought on by any number of issues, such conditions such as concussions, brain contusions, bleeding inside the brain itself or complications from a fractured skull.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Drunk Driving Blamed in Deadly Kingsville, MD, Roadway Accident that Killed One, Injured Two Others

February 4, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

If random fatal traffic accidents caused by a moment’s inattention or a simple distraction inside a vehicle can be termed senseless, not to mention tragic, then drunken driving that leads to the death of an innocent person is surely one of the most unforgiveable acts that can possibly happen on our roadways in this modern age.

Of course, as Maryland personal injury attorneys, we can imagine that nearly every generation, since the advent of the horseless carriage, has lamented the senseless, useless and nonsensical deaths that have been occurring on our highways and city streets since early in the last century.

We’d like to think that driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs will soon be a thing of the past, if not for ourselves, for our children and their children. But is this a reasonable expectation? If human nature is any indicator, sadly we would have to say no; at least not in the foreseeable future.

Four Killed in Fatal Head-on Glen Burnie Car Crash on Marley Neck Blvd

February 1, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Far be it for us to make light of any traffic accident that has resulted in serious injury or death of any person, but we will say that the old adage, “Haste makes waste,” can be quite apropos in many instances of automobile, commercial trucking and motorcycle-related roadway collisions. Whether a single-vehicle crash caused by speeding or a multi-vehicle wreck resulting from impatience, whenever one reads of a bad road accident, one must seriously ask if shaving a few minutes off a commute is worth days or weeks of painful hospital recovery. There is obviously no reasonable excuse for an accident that causes the death of an innocent person.

As Maryland personal injury attorneys, we can fully appreciate the anger and bitterness that families of victims can feel toward a driver who through thoughtlessness or outright negligence has caused the death of a loved one. No amount of monetary penalty or jail time can bring back a person who has been killed in what can only be called a senseless roadway collision. While the common vernacular refers to car and trucking-related highway collisions as “accidents,” there are instances when the term has no basis in the reality of the act.

Although many automobile accidents can cause some property damage and some minor injuries, there are a percentage of traffic wrecks that result in severe and potentially life-threatening medical complications. Traumatic brain injury, spinal cord damage and extensive first-degree burns are a few of the more deadly injuries that victims of passenger car and commercial truck accidents can experience.

Prince George’s Patrolman Killed in Fatal Car Crash Was Not His Wearing Safety Belt

January 24, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As personal injury trial lawyers located in the Baltimore area, we see numerous victims of automobile, commercial truck and motorcycle accidents every year. And, as drivers ourselves, we know the value of wearing a safety belt whenever one ventures out on the road these days. With the volume and density of roadway traffic in towns and cities all around Maryland and the District of Columbia, there is no excuse for those drivers who throw caution to the wind and operate their motor vehicle while not “belted in.”

Of course, there are instances when seatbelts have been known to exacerbate accident victims’ injuries, although those cases are relatively few when compared to all of the lives saved by these albeit simple life-saving devices. In fact, since traffic collisions are the single-most common cause of death for people aged five to 34 years of age, it would seem prudent for anyone — drivers and passengers alike — to make it a habit of buckling up whenever getting into a motor vehicle these days.

The statistics speak for themselves: With upward of 40,000 individuals killed each year in highway wrecks, the use of seatbelts is not only a good idea, it has become law throughout much of the nation. Safety experts tend to agree that seatbelts have the ability to cut in half the number of deaths resulting from traffic collisions. Many of these deaths likely come under the heading of wrongful death, since they were caused by another person’s negligence.

Maryland Driver Killed in Head-on Montgomery County Car Crash; Weather Apparently to Blame

January 22, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Hurricane Sandy took many lives and left many more homeowners and families in desperate circumstances up and down the East Coast. But weather emergencies can also cause problems for drivers and can even threaten the lives of men, women and children attempting to get out of the way of such deadly storms. As Baltimore personal injury lawyers, my firm knows the pain and heartache that a fatal traffic accident can cause a family who has lost a loved one. The tragedy is that many single- and multi-vehicle roadway accidents could perhaps be prevented, though sadly not all.

Whether a roadway collision occurs in the Rockville, Gaithersburg, Bowie or Washington, D.C., area, the results can be very similar, though the circumstances are usually unique to that particular crash. In traffic accidents caused, at least in part, by inclement weather conditions, the normally safe and practical flow of traffic can become chaotic and confused. Even the best drivers can be caught unprepared for what follows.

Regardless of whether one is driving a small economy car, a mid-size sedan, large SUV or semi tractor-trailer rig, nature can throw some deadly conditions in one’s way. No matter if you live or work, ignoring the weather at times like these is to invite disaster. As the old saying goes, “Knowledge is power,” so take advantage of our modern information society and stay connected when the going gets tough. It could end up saving your life, or the lives of those in your vehicle.