Maryland Car Accident Attorney Blog

Maryland Junior Dies in Clinton Area Single-Vehicle Crash

May 9, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

According to reports, a 17 year old Maryland high school junior died earlier this month in a single vehicle car accident in Clinton. He was allegedly driving a car he had purchased just days earlier.

The young man reportedly crashed just before three in the afternoon near the 11900 block of Brandywine Road in Clinton. He allegedly ran off the road and crashed into a tree, and was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of the crash remains unknown.

According to local residents, the twisting stretch of Brandywine Road is known for causing car accidents. One resident told a news agency that he had placed giant rocks in his front yard in order to protect his house from potential crashes.

While the cause of this particular tragic traffic accident remains unknown, statistics reflect the fact that young drivers are more susceptible to being involved in car accidents, whether as passengers or drivers, than their more experienced counterparts. According to a list compiled by the California DMV, in 2008 alone 103 teens aged 15-20 died in Maryland in car 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 News: Several Marylanders Injured in Five-Car Pileup on Merritt Blvd. in Dundalk

April 21, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

With the number of car wrecks that happen on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis here in Maryland, is it really a wonder that more people are not hurt as a result of some kind of traffic-related accident at least once in their lives? It’s a sad truth that as long as we have motor vehicles and roadways on which to drive them, that there will likely continue to be mishaps on city streets, in rural areas and on every stretch of interstate expressway in this state.

Quite frankly, with the literally millions of vehicle miles racked up every year all across the U.S., it shouldn’t be too surprising that there are on average five to six million automobile, motorcycle and trucking-related crashes annually. As Baltimore personal injury attorneys representing victims for traffic accidents — from passenger car collisions and commercial motor vehicle crashes, to motorcycle crashes — we have met many people who have received very serious injuries as a result of another driver’s negligent actions.

Whether through the other person’s negligence, thoughtless or careless actions, or even reckless disregard for anyone else’s safety or well-being, our job is to help the victims of these typically senseless incidents recover the costs of medical treatment, rehabilitation and even long-term care following a bad roadway accident.

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 School Kids at Risk? St. Mary’s County Police Say Drivers Ignoring School Bus Stop Signals

April 16, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

There are few things in life more precious than our youth. As the embodiment of the future of our world, children should be protected from the dangers that they have yet to appreciate. As Maryland personal injury lawyers, I and my colleagues are all too aware of the fragility of life. This view is based on the years of experience that we have representing victims of automobile and trucking-related traffic collisions, as well as pedestrian and bicycle injury accidents.

Through the decades, we as a society have developed laws and physical safeguards to protect the populace from physical injury or death caused by senseless and unnecessary traffic wrecks, not to mention other types of accidents that may result in personal injury. As motorists ourselves, we understand the dangers that every driver, passenger, pedestrian and bicyclist faces on our state’s roadways. For the children, this is doubly important because they do not always understand the hazards that you and I see as commonplace in everyday life.

Helping kids get to a stage in their own lives where they can recognize inherent dangers and avoid them is the job or parents, relatives, educators and our community leaders. Because traffic accidents are one of the leading causes of childhood fatalities in the U.S., it goes without saying that we should all obey the runs and regulations that protect not only these young lives, but also those of our friends and neighbors.

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 Driver Seriously Injured in Talbot County Rollover Crash on Rte 50

April 10, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Living here in Maryland, it’s quite common to hear of traffic accidents that happen every day on our freeways, rural routes and city streets. While rear-end car crashes and side-impact automobile collisions can be rather common in cities like Baltimore, Bowie and the District, we don’t see many rollover accidents in-town, but that doesn’t mean they have never happened; it just takes a certain set of circumstances to result in that kind of traffic wreck.

As experienced trial lawyers representing individuals who have been hurt or seriously injured in a car, truck or motorcycle accident, we have gone to bat for many victims of auto and trucking-related collisions caused by negligence on the part of the other driver. In cases of multi-car crashes, it is usually found that the fault lies primarily with one driver. As Maryland personal injury attorneys, our job is to help victims and their families recover the cost of medical expenses made necessary by the thoughtless act of another person.

Sometimes a single-vehicle accident occurs, which may be caused by the failure of a critical vehicle part or component, such as the brake system, steering mechanism or one of the car or truck’s tires. One type of accident can be caused by the overall vehicle design. Rollover incidents, which tend to affect vehicles with high centers of gravity (such as a full-size van or sport utility vehicle). While the design of these types of motor vehicles provides a great deal of utility and convenience, that very design can affect the way they handle in emergency situations.

Warmer Weather Translates to More Foot Traffic, But Also More Urban Pedestrian Crashes

April 8, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

With spring almost in full swing, we can only hope that the warmer days will continue and take us into summer in a couple months. Meanwhile, it may be a good idea to offer a bit of cautionary advice regarding traffic safety. In this case, the safety of those people who walk to work or school, use bicycles to go shopping, or who enjoy a warm-weather exercise regimen of running or jogging in the fresh air.

We have no qualms about people wanting to enjoy healthy pastimes or simply to eschew driving for a spell and take to the sidewalks for a change of pace. However, as Baltimore auto accident attorneys and personal injury lawyers, I and my colleagues are cognizant of the basic risks that those who venture out on foot amid vehicular traffic take on from time to time. Quite simply, pedestrians and automobile traffic do not readily mix, though our state and local traffic safety departments try to maintain safe zones to keep these mutually exclusive groups apart.

Whether one is a pedestrian for economic reasons, health purposes, or just plain enjoyment, it is important that everyone who travels on-foot does so with safety foremost in their mind. This does not mean that one can assume that his or her safety is solely the responsibility of passenger car drivers, commercial truck drivers, or motorcycle riders; it isn’t. Those operating motor vehicles do have a responsibility to watch out for pedestrians and bicyclists, but pinning one’s future well-being on another person’s ability NOT to hit you with their car is not a very good strategy.

Automobile Insurance Premiums for Washington, D.C., Drivers in Top Five of Most Expensive

April 6, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

For the average driver, it’s a fair bet that the he or she looks at auto insurance as a necessary evil; certainly something that they would rather not have to shell out hundreds of dollars every six months. But despite the common sentiment that paying large amounts of money for a car, truck or motorcycle insurance policy that they may never have needed, someday, somewhere you or a family member might just be thankful for that coverage.

As Maryland personal injury attorneys, I and my legal staff fight against lawyers for various insurance companies in court when benefits or insurance payouts have been withheld or reduced unfairly. As much as some people might rail against having to buy car insurance, having a policy that covers one’s vehicle is required by law. That said, it’s important to remind critics why carrying coverage is a good idea for every driver.

For one, car insurance protects the owner and/or driver from personal liability in the event that his car, truck or bike is involved in a traffic accident. If a person gets into an accident and they are found to be at fault he or she can be held personally (read: financially) responsible for the damage to property and for the costs of any medical treatment incurred by those injured as a result of one’s mistake or negligence.

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.