Fatal Traffic Accidents

Maryland Auto Injury News: Uninsured Motorist Gets One Month in Jail for Fatal Carroll County Crash

June 11, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

According to news reports, a Sykesville woman will be serving just 30 days in jail following a fatal car crash that killed a Westminster woman back in 2009. The defendant, 21-year-old Anastacia Hardester was found guilty of negligent driving by a Carroll County Circuit Court judge, but apparently avoided stiffer penalties when the court could not find sufficient evidence for the more serious vehicular homicide charges.

As Baltimore automobile and motorcycle accident lawyers serving Maryland and Washington, D.C., we have seen this type of scenario play out time after time in Maryland injury accidents. Each year across this country hundreds and thousands of people are killed by drunk drivers leaving families without mothers, fathers and siblings. According to news reports, this particular accident may have involved drug DUI, however the court was only able to convict the woman of negligent driving, failure to drive on the right half of the road and driving while uninsured.

Based on police reports, Hardester’s vehicle allegedly crossed the centerline along a stretch of Md. 27 in Westminster, colliding with a second vehicle driven by 24-year-old Valerie Claire. According to court records, the car crash took place around 2pm in the afternoon. Prosecutors stated that the defendant told officers at the Westminster police barrack nearly one month following the accident that her prescribed daily dosage of methadone usually made her drowsy around 2 or 3pm.

Baltimore Injury News: James Madison Student Implicated in Maryland Traffic Accident that Killed 3 People

June 8, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Whenever we ride with others in a motor vehicle we place great faith in the abilities and judgment of the driver. For most of us, we cannot imagine that a close friend, business acquaintance or family member would ever put our life in jeopardy, much less his or her own. And yet every day across this country individuals are killed or maimed by the negligence of someone they know and trust.

As Baltimore auto accident attorneys and Maryland personal injury lawyers, we know that the seemingly inconsequential decision to get into a passenger car or climb onto the back of a motorcycle with a friend or relative can sometimes turn out to be a life-changing event. These kinds of road accidents can result in injuries ranging from minor cuts, bruises and abrasions, to more serious broken legs and arms, neck injuries and life-threatening closed-head trauma.

Not long ago, three people died in a single-car accident along a stretch of road in Olney when a James Madison University student somehow lost control of his vehicle and struck a tree. According to news reports, Kevin Coffay was arrested by police following the crash and charged on four felony counts.

Baltimore Auto Accident News: Maryland Driver Sentenced to 3 Years for Fatal DUI Pedestrian Crash

June 5, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It seems that almost daily we hear of another drunk driving traffic here in Maryland. Sadly many of those DUI auto and trucking wrecks result in fatalities, most of which could likely have been avoided if the responsible party had taken the time to adhere to simple and worthwhile state laws regarding drinking and driving. Alas, few of these drivers do consider the safety and well-being of others, much less themselves.

It’s no surprise that traffic deaths involving alcohol intoxication or impairment due to prescription drugs is a serious concern at police departments all over the country. As Maryland auto accident lawyers and Washington, D.C., personal injury attorneys, I and my colleagues try to help individuals injured by the negligent acts of others. For those people who are killed as a result of a car, truck or motorcycle collision, we work to represent the victim’s family’s in cases such as wrongful death.

Sad as it is, spouses and children of these victims must still carry on in the absence of the deceased loved one, which can be a strain when household finances are stretched to their limit due to huge medical bills combined with lost wages.

Baltimore Auto Accident News: Maryland Driver Faces 3 Years for Fatal Sharpsburg Car Crash

May 29, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It’s a terrible shame that so many innocent people are killed or injured every year by drivers who have previously been convicted of drunken driving, sometimes for multiple offenses. As Maryland personal injury attorneys and automobile accident lawyers, I and my colleagues have represented victims of serious traffic wrecks, as well as their families, to help these individuals recover damages due to another driver’s negligence.

Even though courts here in Maryland and in Washington, D.C., convict drivers that have been arrested for driving under the influence, many of these same people go on to drive drunk again and in the process kill or maim others with little concern for themselves or the victims they create by their reckless acts. Not long ago, a Hagerstown driver pled guilty on two counts of causing life-threatening injuries while driving under the influence of alcohol.

Based on news reports, 26-year-old Cory Kuczynski was tried for injuring Joseph and Lauran Dwyer in a three-car Washington County traffic collision one year ago. The defendant was not charged with the death of a third individual, Danielle Paikin, because prosecutors did not believe they could easily prove that the man was responsible for the woman’s death.

According to court records, Kuczynski, who also failed to stop immediately following the crash, admitted to police that he had been driving while intoxicated. Washington County Circuit Court to driving under the influence and failing to stop immediately at the scene of an accident involving serious bodily injury in a 2010 fatal crash near Sharpsburg.

Based on news articles, the accident occurred just after 1am on May 6, 2010 when a sedan driven by another person crossed over the centerline and collided almost head-on with a 1993 Buick being driven by Lauran Dwyer. Just following the initial crash, Kuczynski’s Nissan, which was traveling northbound, hit the Buick on the passenger side.

The force of that crash pushed Dwyer’s car almost 30 feet back, pinning Joseph Dwyer underneath the vehicle and causing him serious torso, leg and head injuries. Paikin, the front-seat passenger, was trapped inside the Buick and later died from her injuries.

Maryland Personal Injury News: AAA Joins Victims’ Families in Pushing for Stricter Vehicular Homicide Legislation

May 24, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Traffic accidents that take innocent lives are some of the most regrettable events anyone has to face. Recently, the Maryland legislature assed House Bill 363 that essential says drivers who are found guilty of being grossly negligent in fatal car crashes will be facing a new prison term option from courts across the state.

According to news reports, the general assembly approved the bill that calls for “grossly negligent” drivers who are determined to have caused a fatal traffic accident will be looking at mandatory jail time. Previously, even reckless drivers’ actions were found to have resulted in a deadly automobile or motorcycle crash were not always help to account for another person’s death.

Under Maryland’s current statutes, a motorist could be facing jail following a fatal car-bike crash, but only if it can be proven that the defendant was grossly negligent. Many experts have suggested that some of the state’s prosecuting attorneys feel gross negligence is an extremely high standard to reach in court. The approach, according to earlier reports, was to get lower the standard to something closer to “substantial deviation from the standard of care.”

Naturally, demonstrating “substantial negligence” is typically more difficult than “ordinary negligence,” however it is easier than meeting the standard for “gross negligence.” It has been suggested that the standard of substantial negligence would apply to more instances of, say, vehicular homicides in which the defendant was found to be going twice the speed limit on a winding country road, or passing a slower vehicle on a blind curve.

Nevertheless, the new jail-time penalties likely to be used by state and local prosecutors’ offices may begin to make a dent in what seems to have become the painful and all too common occurrence of deadly car-bicycle accidents. The goal, as suggested by many observers, is to thwart the sometimes reckless behavior of motorists and even to reduce or eliminate fatal biking accidents, not unlike the way that DWI and DUI laws have helped to reduce the number alcohol-related traffic accidents, injuries and fatalities.

As Maryland auto and motorcycle accident attorneys and Washington, D.C., injury lawyers, my office has seen the results of road accidents involving passenger cars, commercial trucks and bicycle riders enough to know that new laws designed to protect cyclists and pedestrians are a step in the right direction.

Baltimore Auto Accident News: Darlington, MD, Man Gets 10 Years in Jail for Fatal Harford County Car Crash

May 19, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Nothing can make up for the loss of a loved one who has been killed in a traffic accident. We say that because as Maryland personal injury lawyers, we understand how the death of a family member can leave a gaping hole in the lives of the victim’s parents, siblings, children, and of course a widowed spouse. Whatever the circumstances, car crash, trucking accident, or motorcycle wreck, a fatal traffic collision that could have been prevented is a tragedy for everyone involved.

Sadly, once a person has died in a truck or car wreck, there is nothing that can bring that individual back. However, the family that loses a father or mother, must pick up the pieces and try to continue in the absence of that person, hard as it may be. Depending on the situation, medical expenses, lost wages and other collateral costs can put a family in dire financial straits. If the victim was the sole breadwinner, this can be particularly difficult.

As Baltimore auto accident lawyers, our job is to help victims’ families recover the costs associated with the loss of a family member, which can include money awards for actual expenses and lost wages, as well as for pain and suffering. As hard as it may be for the wife or husband, understanding the last moments of the victim’s life is important to determining the amount of any monetary award to the surviving family members.

Not long ago a motorist from Darlington, MD, was sentenced to 10 years in jail for his role in a fatal Harford County traffic accident that claimed the lives of three people back in 2009. According to news reports, 32-year-old Travis Gray was found guilty of drunken driving

The multi-vehicle collision occurred two years ago on November 14, 2009, when the Ford pickup Gray was driving crossed the double yellow center line on a stretch of Rte 543 in northern Harford. Police reports indicated that Gray was driving northbound just before 5am when the accident happened. As it entered the southbound lane, the F250 struck another truck carrying several occupants just south of Prospect Rd.

Three of the other vehicle’s passengers — 48-year-old James Bielanski, 47-year-old Pamela Bielanski, and 35-year-old Robert Arbogast — died in as a result. Gray survived the accident and reportedly told police that he had consumed three or four beers at an establishment that was later determined to be the Old School Tavern on Rte 1 in Dublin, MD.

Baltimore Traffic Safety News: Families of Injured Maryland Highway Workers Push for Increased Driver Awareness

May 16, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It should come as no surprise that state highway workers are injured or killed in traffic-related accidents quite frequently. This is not to say that these individuals are any different than other pedestrians crossing urban roadways or biking on public roads; but as drivers ourselves, we know that construction zones should be treated as hazardous areas — if not for the safety of your own passengers, but for those hard-working men and women who make our highways safe and efficient for all Marylanders.

As Baltimore auto accident lawyers, we see numerous victims of car, motorcycle and trucking accidents every year. Pedestrian accidents are some of the most serious, since people have no real protection against a two-ton passenger vehicle, much less a 30-ton semi tractor-trailer. Broken femurs, tibias, fractured collar bones, injured spinal columns and closed-head trauma are just a few of the potential injuries that a person can receive when struck by a motor vehicle.

Since road workers spend the majority of their working day in close proximity to cars and trucks traveling at rather high speeds, it’s amazing that more of these people are not hurt or killed on an annual basis. Still, with all the safety reminders on our highways, it’s sad that more motorists don’t heed the warnings and really give these folks “a brake.”

A little while ago, the families of injured Maryland road workers began to press the state to make things a little bit safer for those workers still on the job. According to news reports at the time, the latest Maryland highway injury occurred on March 22. A worker for the Jessup, MD, office of the State Highway Administration (SHA) was severely injured as he tried to help clear a traffic wreck along a stretch of Rte 1 near Whiskey Bottom Ln.

Based on reports, Robert Garcia was struck by a vehicle as he was holding up a stop signal in a highway work area. The force of the impact caused Garcia to be thrown into the air. Emergency personnel arriving on the scene apparently treated the injured SHA employee and then transported him to Howard County General Hospital. He was subsequently moved to Johns Hopkins Hospital with severe injuries.

Baltimore Personal Injury News: Ruling Delayed on Fatal DUI Traffic Accident that Killed Maryland Woman

May 13, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The facts are the facts, or so some would say. But in a percentage of traffic accident cases, witnesses’ accounts and those of the victims can vary widely. As Maryland personal injury attorneys, our job is to gather the facts and present them to the court for judgment. These kinds of cases can arise from automobile accident-related injuries or even wrongful deaths from traffic collisions or pedestrian accidents.

In cases that involve occupant injuries, a car or trucking-related crash could result in something as minor as superficial cuts and bruises to more serious lacerations and bone fractures. Depending on the severity of the wreck, the driver or passengers may have suffered back or neck injuries, some of which can have a major impact on a person’s quality of life down the road. These kinds of life-threatening, or certainly life-altering, injuries can include spinal cord damage and closed-head trauma.

Whether a judge or jury rules in a victim’s favor can have a strong bearing on the testimony given by those involved in the accident, as well as witnesses to the car, truck or motorcycle crash. In a vehicular homicide case that came before a Carroll County court a while back, the judge decided to postpone his ruling because of some conflicting expert testimony pertaining to the 2009 car wreck that killed a woman from Westminster, MD.

Baltimore Injury Accident News: Maryland Driver Killed in Fatal Wicomico, MD, Single-Car Rollover Accident

May 7, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Rollover accidents are one of the more deadly traffic wrecks that occur on public roadways. When occupants of a vehicle are not belted in, a rollover can cause severe bodily harm, if not death. Closed-head trauma and neck injuries are fairly common when a person is thrown around the interior of a rolling motor vehicle.

Most any passenger vehicle can be involved in a rollover incident, but this depends on numerous factors including weather and road conditions, vehicle speed and other steering inputs, all of which affect the vehicle’s dynamic performance. It’s commonly accepted that sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and larger passenger vans are more prone to rollover crashes than other passenger vehicles with lower centers of gravity, such as sports cars and sedans.

As a Maryland injury accident lawyer, I have seen the aftermath of highway rollover accidents and the human toll that can result. In some cases, the driver or another passenger can be ejected as the vehicle flips over and over. When thrown from a car or truck, a person can be easily killed by the impact with the roadway or another object such as a tree, bridge abutment or traffic sign pylon.

Not long ago a man died in a single-car accident along a stretch of road in Wicomico County, MD. According to reports, the crash happened just after 12am on Norris Twilley Rd., which connects Delmar with Mardela Springs, where the victim lived. Police stated that 58-year-old Milton Shiles died from injuries he sustained after being ejected from the vehicle.

Based on police reports, Shiles was along in the car and heading south when for some reason he was apparently unable to negotiate a curve. The vehicle reportedly left the roadway and overturned in a nearby field. Police and emergency rescue personnel arrived at the scene shortly after the accident to render aid, transporting the victim to Peninsula Regional Medical Center. Sadly, doctors could do nothing for the man and he was pronounced dead shortly after being admitted.

Baltimore Auto Accident News: Maryland Woman Gets 4 Years for Death of Passenger in Fatal Crash

May 4, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Negligence on the part of one driver can result in the injury and death of one or many innocent people. As Maryland injury accident lawyers, I and my colleagues feel deeply for the families of automobile accident victims, especially in cases where loved ones have died as a result of a car, truck or motorcycle wreck. Of course, there is no amount of money that can bring a person back to life, but the recovery of medical expenses and any court-ordered award for pain and suffering can help a family get back to the job of living.

With this in mind, a wrongful death lawsuit is one way a family can punish an individual whose negligent actions brought about the untimely death of a loved one. These victims can be other drivers, innocent bystanders, and even passengers in the defendant’s own vehicle. Whether you live in Rockville, Gaithersburg, Annapolis or Washington, D.C., car, bus and commercial trucking collisions happen all too frequently. The results can be devastating, with even the survivors suffering long-term disability due to spinal cord damage, neck injury or traumatic brain injury.

Drunken driving is probably one of the most common causes of preventable traffic accidents, which take lives, destroy property and scar families for years to come. The choice of a driver to get behind the wheel in an impaired state is as much a function of poor judgment as trying to beat a red light, or speeding in dense traffic. It’s a sad fact that a driver’s bad choices on the road can and do result in injury and death to others around them.

Not long ago, an article caught our eye that illustrates how quickly one individual’s poor judgment can take the life of another vibrant and lively human being. According to news reports, a 33-year-old Laurel, MD, woman received more than fours years in jail (plus 3 years of supervised release) for the drunken driving-related death of a 31-year-old passenger in October of 2009. That passenger was a basketball player for Howard University, as well as James Madison.