Maryland Car Accident Attorney Blog

A Word to the Wise: Being Alert on the Road is No Accident for Maryland Drivers

November 18, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Would it be so difficult to remind your friends and tell your driving-age kids that being distracted behind the wheel is more than just a minor safety concern? Could it be that hard to speak to them as a concerned friend or parent that allowing oneself to be distracted on the road can be tantamount to driving while impaired by alcohol or prescription drugs? Would you be willing to trade the momentary glares and indignant scowls for loved ones to understand, once and for all, that you believe no distraction, regardless how small, is worth anyone’s life?

When it comes to traffic safety, we know the downside that errors in judgment and thoughtless actions can cause on our roadways. As Maryland automobile accident and personal injury lawyers, my firm sees numerous people every month who have become victims of a roadway accident, hurt or maimed as a result of another individual’s negligence. Whether a crash occurs in Bowie, Rockville, Baltimore or Washington, D.C., our firm is dedicated to providing legal representation in the event that a driver, passenger, pedestrian, cyclist or motorcycle rider is injured or killed in a traffic collision.

Aside from the normal bumps and bruises, cuts and lacerations, and other relatively minor injuries received in a car, bike or trucking-related road accident, many people can end up with long-term, debilitating conditions resulting from closed-head trauma, neck and spine injury or damage to vital internal organs. Considering that most traffic accidents are likely preventable or, at the very least, could have been lessened to a great degree, isn’t it worth a moment of indignation from a loved one to remind them how dangerous distracted driving can be?

Baltimore Auto Safety Recall News: Toyota Says 2.8M Vehicles May Have Steering-related Problem

November 15, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As consumers we all expect the products we buy to work as advertised and to be safe for us and our families. When it comes to cars, minivans, sport utility vehicles and other light trucks and passenger vehicles, admittedly the complexity of these products makes safety a much more involved effort, however for the prices that automakers charge for many new motor vehicles, buyer should expect that the quality of safety-related compounds is more than up-to-snuff.

In months past we have heard about numerous safety-related recalls, both from the manufacturers themselves and from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in Washington, D.C. These recalls have involved products from Honda, General Motor and Toyota, to name a few. Most recently, Toyota has announced a new campaign that could affect drivers in Maryland as well as over in the District.

Now, as Baltimore personal injury lawyers, I and my colleagues keep an eye out for these kinds of safety issues, since any one of them could result in a car, truck or motorcycle crash. Whether a roadway accident involves a single vehicle, multiple cars, or a passenger car and a large commercial truck, the lives of the driver and passengers may be compromised depending on the type of collision and the circumstances surrounding the wreck.

Are Maryland’s Older Drivers Safe On the Road, Or Is Stricter Licensing Needed for Seniors?

November 12, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

While it may seem discriminatory to suggest that some older motorists could constitute a danger to the driving public based solely on their age, the question is one that many traffic safety experts grapple with on a regular basis. The problem is that the older we get there is opportunity for reductions in physical strength, mental ability and reaction time, all of which can conspire to increase the chances of a traffic accident for senior citizens of advanced age. When it comes to cutting the frequency of injuries caused by auto, truck and motorcycle accidents, shouldn’t every avenue be explored?

As Maryland personal injury attorneys, I and my team of legal professionals are dedicated to assisting victims of traffic accidents in the Baltimore area, Rockville, Annapolis and even the District of Columbia. What is common for this state, as well as our nation’s capital and the balance of the U.S. is that tens of thousands of people are killed, maimed and injured in roadway collisions, many of which could be avoided or lessened in severity through improved traffic safety efforts, driver training, or vehicle maintenance.

Since injuries to victims of car and trucking-related crashes include some extremely debilitating conditions caused by closed-head trauma, neck and back injury, trauma to internal organs and other critical medical complications, efforts to reduce or eliminate the incidence of car and truck collisions should continue to be a priority.

Maryland Auto Safety Alert: Some Jeep Owners May Be Driving Around with Defective Airbag Systems

November 9, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Products liability is an area of law that handles merchandise and other goods that have injured or killed an individual or group of people as a result of using or being in contact with those items. It includes holding those entities, such manufacturers, suppliers and distributors, responsible for injuries sustained by people who have purchased or used a company’s products. As Baltimore personal injury attorneys, my firm works to help clients who have been hurt, maimed or killed as a result of an unsafe or defective product.

Here in the U.S., product liability claims most often entail negligence, strict liability, breach of warranty, and other consumer-related claims. When it comes to the law, products liability looks at three major areas of liability claims, including defects in manufacturing, poor or faulty design, as well as failure to warn the consumer about shortcomings in a product. This last area involves what is sometimes referred to as marketing defects.
As Maryland automobile and trucking-accident lawyers, our aim is to assist victims of traffic accidents that have been caused by another individual’s negligence. In some instances of car, truck or motorcycle wrecks, the cause can occasionally be traced to failure of a safety-related component or part that failed and resulted in a roadway crash. It’s not unheard of to have a car or truck part, such as a steering arm, wheel bearing or suspension component break or fail and cause a loss of control for the driver.

Maryland Woman Critically Hurt in Pedestrian Hit-and-Run Traffic Accident, Say Baltimore Police

November 8, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Anyone who walks in or near traffic must understand that they run a risk, no matter how small, of being struck by a passenger car, clipped by city bus, or hit by a commercial delivery truck. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), more than 4,000 pedestrians were killed across the county in 2009 in traffic incidents involving car-, truck- and motorcycle-related collisions. And while several thousand persons on foot are typically killed each year, almost 20 times that number are injured, either severely or with only minor bodily injuries.

From the perspective of a Maryland personal injury law firm like ours, our experience tells us that lion’s share of pedestrian accidents result from driver distraction. This can be caused by a number of activities, including talking or texting on a cellphone or smartphone, changing the radio station or adjusting a navigation system; even eating or putting on makeup have been known to be direct causes of pedestrian traffic collisions.

Because most everyone assumes the role of pedestrian at least once a week, if not once a day, it’s important to remind anyone who walks near traffic to be especially careful when crossing at intersections. Dangerous intersections, something that is quite common here in Baltimore as well as in other busy metropolitan areas such as Washington, D.C., can include the following attributes that make them more dangerous for pedestrians than other roadway crossings:
— Improperly design, which presents a danger to both cars and pedestrians
— Lack of necessary traffic signals/signs
— Poorly timed traffic lights
— No vehicle merging lane

Speed Blamed in Double-Fatality Single-Vehicle Traffic Accident in Baltimore County

November 5, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

We’ve all hear a lot about road rage here in Maryland, but that’s just one of many conditions that people can become involved in on our streets and highways, many times to someone’s ultimate detriment. While road rage can usually be accompanied by bouts of aggressive driving, driving in an aggressive manner is not necessarily accompanied every time by anger on the road. This may sound as if we are describing a medical condition, which would be for the healthcare community to decide; what we mean to discuss here is that aggressive driving on its own can cause serious and sometimes deadly traffic accidents.

As Baltimore area personal injury lawyers, I and my colleagues have enough experience with car, truck and motorcycle accidents to know that, for lack of a better phrase, speed kills. While the auto and traffic safety community is generally in agreement on this subject, many sports car enthusiasts and racing devotees would likely argue that speed doesn’t necessarily kill, but it makes a car or trucking-related collision that much worse, all things being equal that is.

Speed limits are established for one main reason: to keep speeds on public roads to a reasonable level while also maintaining quick, efficient and economical travel for members of the public who use the roadways. As we have said before, however, having laws and regulations in place is no guarantee that people will obey them, which is why we have police to enforce the laws and a judicial system to provide an unbiased forum for citizens who have been accused of a violation of those laws.

Baltimore Traffic Safety Update: Nationwide More Than 1,000 People Injured Daily by Distracted Driving

October 31, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It is probably a kind of self-preservation that people go about their lives thinking that bad things — such as car accidents, household injuries, heart attacks, even dog bites — will not happen to them. Which might be a good thing considering if any one of us worried constantly about the possibility of injury or death, we probably would not get much done, much less get out of bed in the morning. Having health, car and life insurance helps people to at least protect themselves and their families from serious accidents that can have a life-changing effect on an individual and his or her loved ones.

On the flipside, not worrying or thinking about something doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Take automobile and commercial truck collisions; these events take place every day here in Maryland. Whether one lives or works in Rockville, Bowie, Columbia or even the District, odds are you or someone you know has been in a traffic-related accident sometime in the past. The same goes for pedestrian accidents and bicycling mishaps; of course, they happen every day, just not to us… right up to the point when they do happen to us.

As Maryland personal injury attorneys, we know that the actuarial tables paint a statistical picture of who might be involved in a life-altering event today, tomorrow, next week or next year. One of the constant contributors to accidents on the road over the years has been driver distraction. Decades ago, this probably meant spending too much time trying to “dial in” a radio station on an analog receiver, or having a heated discussion with one’s relatives while in dense traffic.

Automobile Safety Components: Mostly Unseen, These Clever Devices Exhibit Their Benefits in Many Traffic Accidents

October 29, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Time marches on, as the saying goes, but one thing that comes with time is the steady development of new and better technologies for every aspect of human life. Granted, there are instances were certain products end up being detrimental to our health, exemplified in most any successful products liability case. Yet, on the who we as human beings do benefit from constant improvements to existing devices, as well as through the innovation and development of new and better technologies.

As Baltimore automobile and commercial trucking accident lawyers, I and my personal injury legal staff have seen the results of a wide range of injury-related car, truck and motorcycle wrecks. Even so, there is no end to the potential bodily harm that can come to individuals caught up in serious roadway collisions, many times due in no part to themselves. Many of these innocent victims may have received even worse injuries — including traumatic brain injury, pneumothorax, ruptured internal organs and spinal cord damage — if it wasn’t for the variety of safety devices found in many modern cars, SUVs, minivans and crossover vehicles.

Seatbelts
By many experts thinking, tops on the list of protective automotive technologies would be the lowly three-point safety belt. With airbags, stability control and other “high tech” safety technologies, seatbelts are still the unsung heros of auto safety; one reason why safety experts and law enforcement agencies place great importance on the use of these basic, yet very effect devices. First offered as standard equipment in the 1959 Volvo 122, the two-point lap belt graduated to a lap-and-shoulder-harness design (the now-ubiquitous three-point system) about a decade later, and was made mandatory on U.S. passenger cars in 1974.

Baltimore Personal Injury Update: Another Serious Automobile Safety Recall from Nissan Indicates Steering-related Problem

October 28, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Is it us, or does the auto industry seem to be having more trouble lately regarding serious mechanical issues and automobile safety recalls? This is not an indictment of the entire industry, but there certainly have been some very significant safety recalls from automakers and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) over the course of the past year; problems with cars made by reputable automobile manufacturers such as General Motors and Toyota. Now comes Nissan Motor Company with a potentially life-threatening issue on thousands of their Altima sedans.

As Maryland personal injury lawyers, we know that people expect to be safe in the vehicles that they purchase from car, truck and motorcycle manufacturers. And while it may be a difficult job to build completely flawless motor vehicles, there is a level of safety that every consume hopes for in their vehicle. But, considering the number parts and components that go into every passenger car, SUV or minivan, it’s understandable that some of those items may be faulty. We only hope that the critical ones have been checked and double checked.

Being hurt in a car accident can lead to serious complications. Back and neck injuries, as well as serious head or brain trauma can sideline an individual for months or years, if not a lifetime. Being injured in a car or commercial trucking collision due to negligence of the other driver usually provides a clear-cut case against the responsible party. And although the facts may speak for themselves, it’s always a wise choice to consult with a qualified personal injury attorney to better understand one’s situation following a bad car, truck or motorcycle accident.

Street Racing in Maryland Communities: Does Aggressive, Dangerous Driving Threaten Innocent People on the Road?

October 26, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

We all know that driving while intoxicated, texting or talking on a cellphone, and screaming kids in the back seat — even tuning the radio in a car or truck — can all be potential causes of traffic accidents. Certainly these scenarios can contribute significantly to injuries and deaths in car and trucking-related wrecks. Whether leading to a single- or multiple vehicle collision, each and every cause of serious accidents is a concern to police and traffic safety experts.

As Baltimore personal injury lawyers, my firm is interested in the effects of car, truck and motorcycle accidents, not only because we want to help the victims, but because understanding the causes might help others to avoid tragic incidents in the future. Sadly, even with public awareness, car and commercial truck crashes occur with alarming frequency. Preventing the random and unexpected can prove difficult, yet cutting the number of preventable motor vehicle accidents is theoretically within our power.

As mentioned above, drinking and driving and texting, as well as other potentially distracting activities, are things which motorists have an active part in preventing. Getting a sober ride or designated driver can help to prevent DWI- and DUI-related traffic injuries and senseless automotive-related deaths; not taking a cellphone call, putting off texting on a smartphone until one’s car is safely parked; and even using presets on the car radio are all ways to protect oneself, one’s passengers and other innocent people on the roadway.