Maryland Car Accident Attorney Blog

Baltimore Auto Safety Alert: Nearly 900,000 Honda Vehicles Recalled; Maryland Drivers May Be Affected

December 12, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Many claims of product liability involve negligence, breach of warranty, strict liability, and other consumer-related claims against a manufacturer, distribution company or industrial corporation. In the area of products liability law, there are three main categories of liability claims. These are manufacturing defects, faulty product design, and failure to warn consumers and the general public about the shortcomings discovered in a certain product (also referred to as “marketing” defects).

As auto accident lawyers, my firm understands the impact that a defective vehicle safety component can have on a person or an entire family. Faulty safety devices and components designed to save lives can ironically result in the serious injury or death of an innocent person. Whether the victim is a child, older sibling, parent or grandparent, the incident is never easy for a family to deal with, especially in the case of wrongful death.

As Maryland personal injury attorneys who deal on a daily basis with the carnage wrought by negligent drivers of automobiles, light trucks and commercial delivery vehicles, our primary goal is to help our clients and assist those victims who have been hurt, maimed or killed due to another individual’s negligence. Occasionally, car, truck or motorcycle wrecks can be caused by a defective part or component, usually a safety-related device, that fails unexpectedly resulting in a highway collision or serious crash.

Maryland Auto Safety News: NHTSA Announces Benefits of Vehicle Stability Control Systems

December 11, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As motorists driving on public roads we all have a responsibility to other drivers, pedestrians and our passengers to operate our vehicles in a safe and prudent manner. Unfortunately, circumstances occasionally make safe driving difficult even for the best drivers. When an accident situation arises, the average driver doesn’t always have the necessary skills to perform rapid emergency maneuvers to avoid an accident.

As Maryland personal injury attorneys, automobile and commercial trucking accident lawyers, we know that many accident situations are difficult to get out of simply because a two-ton vehicle traveling quickly can easily get out of control, especially at higher speeds. SUVs in particular, due to their higher centers of gravity and more pliant suspensions, can actually roll over given the right circumstance, which can threaten the lives of all the occupants, causing closed-head injuries, broken bones, and many times resulting in a person being thrown from the vehicle onto the roadway. Survival in that latter case is slim due to the violent action of being ejected from a moving vehicle.

Car, truck and motorcycle accidents happen in Maryland with amazing frequency. Emergencies on the highway, city streets, or rural routes can come in the form of another car or commercial truck that has lost control, a mechanical problem with one’s own vehicle, poor roadway conditions or bad visibility due to inclement weather. Whatever the initial cause of a potential traffic collision, a driver may be placed in a position where he or she must act instantly; deciding what to do and trying to guide their vehicle out of danger to the best of their ability. Quite often a driver is unable to avoid a collision likely caused by another driver’s negligence.

Maryland Driver Indicted for Fatal Traffic Accident that Killed Jazz Musician, Joe Byrd

December 6, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It’s natural for victims and their families to feel the need for closure following a severe or fatal traffic wreck. However, not every lawsuit or criminal case provides the needed emotional release for some people. Especially in cases of wrongful death as a result of a fatal car, truck or motorcycle crash, having the negligent party pay for his or her mistake through monetary penalties or through incarceration can take some of the sting away, but for those who have lost a loved one as a result of negligent or thoughtless actions, even this may not be enough to quell the pain and anger.

As experienced personal injury attorneys serving the people of Maryland as well as those hurt in car or trucking-related accidents over in the District, we understand the difficult and trying times between a tragic car or commercial truck crash and the culmination of a lawsuit in a Maryland courtroom. The wheels of our legal system turn ever so slow at times, and this can lead to additional aggravation and upset; all the more reason to choose a qualified attorney to guide one through the process.

We were reminded of this after reading an older news report stating that the individual accused of causing the death of well-known jazz musician, Joe Byrd, was indicated nearly six months after the fatal collision that took Byrd’s life. According to earlier news reports, the automobile crash that killed the jazz man was allegedly caused by a Lothian, MD, resident with a reportedly long history of traffic-related offenses.

Maryland Traffic Safety News: Illegal Dirt Bike, ATV Riding Still Major Safety Problem in Baltimore

December 4, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Whatever one’s take on motorcyclists in general, it’s important to remember that most riders are responsible people just like most of the driving public. The trouble is that many in the motorcycling community suffer from public misperceptions and a reputation born of the movies and TV. That said, there is always an element within some groups of people that can give the majority a bad name. For bikers, this can be those individuals who actively intimidate other motorists with their machines for whatever reason.

Regardless of what kind of bike any rider uses, be it a Harley-Davidson cruiser or chopper, a Ducatti or Honda sport bike or so-called crotch-rocket, or even one of the newer three-wheeled touring-style bikes, the average motorcyclist is not a danger to the public, though many will argue that he or she may certainly be taking risks for themselves that other, four-wheel motorists would never accept, much less take part in — all things being equal, a car accident or commercial truck crash is less likely to kill the driver, though the same thing cannot necessarily be said for bikers, at least based on motorcycle rider mortality rates.

Of course, getting back to the dangers posed to Maryland’s commuter public, we are all too aware of the trouble caused by groups of individuals within cities and towns who operate all-terrain vehicles and other unlicensed motorcycles in a reckless and negligent manner, causing traffic accidents and other incidents. These riders, many of whom according to police state are renegade bike riders who are causing havoc within our metropolitan areas, are acting in more of a criminal way than any normal rider would be expected to handle an off-road cycle or ATV.

Howard County Auto Injury News: Maryland Teenager Pleads Guilty to Fatal Car Accident That Killed Friends

November 30, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Being a party to a wrongful death lawsuit can be an emotional life event, especially when it is your relative or loved one who was killed in a car, truck or motorcycle accident on a Maryland roadway. With emotions running high, there are more than a few good reasons to lean heavily on the skills and experience of a qualified personal injury attorney. As a legal advocate for the bereaved family members, an injury attorney can address the situation from a legal point of view with a professional detachment that is needed to maintain perspective and do what is required for his or her clients.

For experienced Maryland auto injury attorneys, compassion for their clients’ circumstances is paramount, as is acting in the victim’s and family’s best interests. As mentioned previously, a wrongful death suit is something that requires discipline to help the victim and his or her family to legally recover the losses that resulted from a negligent act on the part of another party or parties.

Here in the Baltimore area, as well as Columbia, Glen Burnie and Washington, D.C., our goal is to help the plaintiff become whole. And while there are no guarantees, just as in life, we aim to provide as much assistance as possible to victims of traffic accidents, commercial trucking crashes and pedestrian mishaps. What may be the hardest of all is to look into the eyes of our clients and feel, first-hand, their pain and deep sorrow at the loss of a loved one.

Baltimore Auto Accident News: Could Future Autonomous Vehicles Eliminate Traffic Wrecks on Maryland Roadways?

November 29, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

With tens of thousands of innocent victims being sent to emergency rooms all over the U.S. every year as a result of untold numbers of car, truck and motorcycle accidents, it’s reasonable to ask why so many people are being hurt, maimed and killed more than one hundred years after the invention of the automobile. As Maryland personal injury lawyers, my firm is dedicated to helping those who been involved in a car crash or who experienced the loss of a loved one killed in a senseless traffic collision. But why do these incidents continue to happen?

While we can go on and on about how society should have moved on from the carnage of the 20th Century, at least in terms of roadway accidents and the related bodily injuries and wrongful deaths that occur on a daily basis throughout our country, we likely must resign ourselves to the fact that human nature is still a factor in many auto wrecks, commercial trucking crashes, pedestrian accidents and bicycle collisions. As long as human beings are behind the wheel of motor vehicles, there will always be mistakes and errors in judgment, all of which add up to people being hurt and killed in traffic accidents.

Yet, with nearly 90-percent of all automobile and trucking-related collisions on our public roads being preventable, at least according to safety experts, one would hope that there might be a way to reduce those senseless crashes and the injuries they cause. If we could drastically cut the number of closed-head injuries, broken and fractured bones, damage to internal organs and irreversible spinal cord damage, life for tens and hundreds of thousands of injured individuals and those soon-to-be injured could be vastly improved.

Personal Injury News: Could Maryland Motorists be Some of the Worst Drivers in the Country?

November 28, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Here in the Baltimore area one has many opportunities to observe, or sometimes be involved in a variety of accidents that cause some kind of personal injury. The trick, it would seem, is to not be in the wrong place at the wrong time. As Maryland auto and trucking accident attorneys, my firm is experienced helping those people who have become victims of someone else’s negligent or thoughtless actions.

When it comes to roadway collisions, it could be said that Maryland drivers are right up there in terms of being involved in mild to severe car-, trucking- and motorcycle-related wrecks on a fairly regular basis. Of course, nobody asks to be involved in any kind of traffic-related accident situation. And on a similar note, no one would ever want to be sent to the hospital with life-threatening injuries as a result. Regardless, every month dozens of innocent men, women and children are hurt or killed as a result of a bad car, SUV or minivan crash.

As the people at the Allstate insurance company have illustrated with their annual report of cities with the worst drivers, many Marylanders live and work in the epicenter of national car accidents. In a way, Washington, D.C., is the capital of more than just our nation; the District is also number one, according to Allstate, in traffic wrecks. Anyone who might be thinking that only D.C. residents have to worry about increased rates of car accidents just has to look at the number two position: Baltimore City.

Maryland State Police See Road Rage as Possible Cause of Fatal Harford County Traffic Accident

November 26, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Once you have seen the aftermath of as many car, truck and motorcycle wrecks as we have, you too might be all the more cautious on the road as we would like all of our friends and family member to be. While most people never expect to become victims of a bad traffic collision here in Baltimore (or elsewhere across the state and in the District of Columbia), it’s a sad fact that many people who become involved in severe or life-threatening car or trucking-related roadway crashes never would have imagined their day ending on such a terrible note.

As Maryland auto accident attorneys and personal injury lawyers, our main concern is for those who have been injured or killed in a car accident caused through the negligence, and sometimes because of the deliberate actions of another driver. Placing blame is one thing, but understanding that a severe or fatal auto accidents are something that can affect anyone at one time or another might be a better course to alleviating the frequency — and hence the suffering — of many individuals in the future.

While it is true that many traffic accidents are just that, accidents, if there is anything we have learned through our years of litigation in courts throughout the state of Maryland it is that a lot of accidents could possibly have been avoided if one or the other driver was paying more attention to the road. Furthermore, knowing how accidents materialize on the street can make for some serious introspection on the part of many people who work in personal injury law. What is truly disconcerting is that a percentage of car and truck crashes are actually caused by drivers intent on causing some kind of damage or injury to another person.

Traffic Accident News: Maryland Woman Survives Multiple-Car Crash on Interstate 95 near Baltimore

November 25, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As Baltimore personal injury lawyers we understand quite well that anyone who follows us on this venue has a very good chance of being involved in some kind of accident involving bodily injury during the span of their life. This is not to say that one should expect to be hurt as a result of a car, truck or motorcycle crash, just as nobody should look forward to being hit by a car while walking to the store or being injured as a nursing home resident in the distant future. But our statement is purely to illustrate the extremely high odds of such events.

Of course, being automobile accident attorneys, I and my staff know that with the millions of vehicle miles traveled every year by residents of Maryland and surrounding states, the chances of anyone being hurt as a result of a car or commercial trucking wreck may be very good. We’ll say, up front, that if you or someone you love has been injured as a result of another driver’s negligence, it is always a good idea to consult with a qualified personal injury attorney. For our part, we help accident victims in this state, as well as the District of Columbia.

Of more than five million roadway collisions annually across the U.S., many of these are of the minor, so-called fender-bender variety. But there are a large percentage of car and trucking-related crashes that result in both property damage and bodily injury. A percentage of these more serious collisions can result in death or life-threatening injuries.

Danger is Everywhere, But When a Roadside Car Accident is Evident, Extra Caution is Advised

November 21, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

We have spoken of distractions on many occasions and we’d like to reiterate the potential for severe bodily injury when the warning signs just outside a driver’s windshield are not heeded because one is too fixated on reading or sending a text message or doing some other highly distracting activity. Automobile and commercial trucking wrecks occur daily, both on our highways and along city streets. There are few men or women out there who can multi-task on a superhuman basis to the point that driver distraction is not a deadly threat to both driver and passengers.

Being personal injury attorneys here in Baltimore and serving greater Maryland and the District of Columbia, we understand how easy it is to become sidetracked by a phone call or enticing email from a friend or relative. But when these interruptions happen from the driver’s seat of a passenger car, or worse, a commercial delivery vehicle or semi tractor-trailer, the ingredients for a potentially deadly traffic collision are all there.

We’ve already seen what a possibly distracted teen driver wrought out in Worcester County a while back. But it is incumbent on every driver to maintain 100 percent of his or her attention to the job at hand: operating a two-ton motor vehicle on public roads while maintaining to the best of their ability the safety of their car, themselves and the innocent people all around them. To paraphrase a now well-known saw, “It takes a village to maintain a peaceful roadway.” And while that may seem a little silly, the fact is a highway or crowded city street is a kind of rolling village, and we are all, for a time, responsible for the harmony or chaos at any one moment.