Maryland Car Accident Attorney Blog

The Role of Emergency Medical Helicopters in Victim Survivability Rates following Automobile Crashes

June 18, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

With the number of serious traffic accidents in tens of thousands every year across this nation, it’s surprising that the death rate from car, truck and motorcycle accidents is not higher than it already is. While alcohol and drug use contributes to a vast number of injury- and fatality-related roadway collisions, the percentage of distracted driving incidents has been rising on its own as one of several major factors in modern-day automobile and commercial trucking wrecks.

As Maryland personal injury lawyers, we understand how even the most innocuous distraction — such as a crying child, spilled coffee or in-car conversation — can draw a driver’s attention away from the task at hand. More than a few motorists and their passengers have been killed thanks to a moments loss of focus on the highway.

While the number and frequency of auto and trucking accidents on our nation’s roads can at times be amazing, it is the actions of police, fire and other emergency personnel that can make the difference between a serious car or truck crash and a fatal one. Part of the response equation can involve the often cited medevac helicopter flights that ferry critically injured victims of traffic accidents from accident scenes all around the country to medical facilities for rapid, and hopefully life-saving treatment.

Harford County Schools Employee Killed in 3-Car Collision in Fallston, MD, on Maryland Rte 152

June 15, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A 59-year-old Maryland man died in early May as a result of a three-vehicle pileup on Rte 152 in Fallston, MD. According to news reports, Don E. Jones, Jr. was killed along with another person during the traffic accident. At the time of the news report, authorities from county stated that the sheriff’s office was still in the process of investigating the incident. As Maryland personal injury attorneys, we know that these kinds of investigations can sometimes be long and involved, depending on the circumstances.

From the information available at the time of the news report, it appeared as if the county-owned vehicle that Jones was driving crossed the roadway centerline and hit, head-on an oncoming sport utility vehicle heading southbound in the opposite direction. According to reports, the accident occurred on a Tuesday morning and also involved a Jeep that was following the SUV that Jones’ vehicle struck. There was no mention of whether the crash was caused directly or in part by defective vehicle control systems.

Based on preliminary police reports, the work vehicle that Jones was driving crossed over into opposing traffic and hit a ‘12 GMC SUV. That vehicle was then hit by a ‘94 Jeep Wrangler, also headed on the southbound side of the roadway. Police stated that the 46-year-old operator of the GMC truck, a resident of Essex, MD, died at the scene. Jones apparently survived the initial crash, however he, too, passed away upon his arrival at the Upper Chesapeake Medical Center, located in Bel Air, Maryland.

Woman Trapped in Car in Harford County, MD; Two Men Die in Howard County Traffic Accident

June 13, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As Maryland personal injury lawyers representing victims of car, truck and motorcycle accidents from Annapolis and Bowie to Rockville and Washington, D.C., I and my colleagues find that highway collisions and urban automobile crashes rarely discriminate. These “equal opportunity” accidents can involve individuals from every social strata and any age range.

For those individuals and families of less than modest means, an injury-related car or commercial trucking wreck can result in hefty hospital bills and potentially long-term rehabilitation expenses. What our firm does is to help people who are the victims of another driver’s negligence recover costs related to serious traffic collisions. Whether the victim is an adult injured in a crash or a child hurt while riding in a car, the law provides victims with the opportunity to sue the responsible parties for damages.

A while back an elderly woman was seriously injured in a Harford County roadway collision. Based on news reports, the accident occurred on a Tuesday afternoon near Fallston, MD, along a stretch of Rte 1. The police stated that the automobile collision involved two vehicles when it happened near Rte 152. According to the news articles, Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS personnel found the victim trapped in her car at around 1pm.

Annapolis, MD, Policeman Injured in Pedestrian Accident when Car Hits Him during Traffic Stop

June 11, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

High-speed car and commercial trucking accidents can result in extensive and serious injury to the victims of such automobile collisions. This goes for vehicle occupants, but bystanders or pedestrians can also be at severe risk of bodily injury or even death when it comes to being hit by a passing car or truck. The chance of critical or fatal injuries on our nation’s expressways and higher-speed rural roads can be increased by a number of factors, not the least of which is inattentive (sometimes impaired) drivers.

With summer upon us, it’s probably a wise idea to be more alert than usual due to the number of vacationers and other potentially distracted drivers on Maryland’s roadways. Whether it’s a parent driving a car-load of noisy children, a younger driver talking with friends in the front seat or a delivery truck driver searching for the next exit, the range of distractions are many and varied these days. And we won’t even get into the potential number of motorists who may be driving while intoxicated.

As we’ve said numerous times before, car, truck and motorcycle accidents occur frequently everywhere across the state. Having worked as Maryland personal injury attorneys for many years, I and my legal staff know that it doesn’t take much to turn a pleasant drive to the beach into an unexpected trip to the hospital. Whether here in Baltimore, over in Columbia, or out in Washington, D.C., a roadway collision can be a life-changing event for some victims.

Five Marylanders Injured, One Dead in Two Separate Traffic Accidents on Same Day

June 9, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The reasons for traffic accidents are not always readily apparent. This is not to say that car, truck or motorcycle collisions happen for no reason at all, but simply because the factors that influence certain automobile wrecks are too numerous or intertwined to be immediately obvious, even to professionals like those who work on police accident reconstruction teams.

As Maryland personal injury attorneys and auto accident lawyers, my firm is dedicated to representing our clients and to helping the victims of car and commercial trucking accidents recover damages owed to them as a result of another person’s negligence. Working together with police and other forensic analysts, personal injury lawyers gather the pertinent facts and evidence from an accident scene to better prove a client’s case against another negligent party.

This evidence can range from something as simple as the length of skid marks on a roadway, to the chemical analysis of a drunken driver’s blood-alcohol content following a fatal traffic wreck. Whatever the specific circumstances of an automobile or trucking-related injury accident, the facts are what support our client’s assertions that another driver or other person was responsible for the accident that may have injured or incapacitated them.

Following Tragic Head-on Traffic Accident Teenager Gets Prison Time for Texting-related Fatal Car Crash

June 7, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

We’ve seen these kinds of scenarios play out more and more across the country over the past several years; a driver using his or her cellphone losses concentration on the road and causes an accident as a result of a simple yet deadly moment of distraction. Was that phone call or text message really worth it? The answer is obvious — an emphatic, No! — yet roadway collisions, many fatal, continue apace with few signs of abating. What to do?

As Maryland personal injury attorneys, we have heard numerous pleas for a reduction in phone calls and texting while driving. Some legislators in many states all across the country have suggested making cellphone use while driving into an offense akin to driving while impaired. Some people may guffaw at such a notion, thought the danger of texting and other distracting activities by drivers is shown to be real and immediate.

Over the last several years, cellphone and, subsequently, smartphone use has brought a real and serious danger into the front seat of nearly every vehicle on the road. While not every driver is guilty of texting while driving, 36 states have already outlawed that activity. But laws can be broken and this has given rise to increasingly strident calls for stricter penalties to be attached to cellphone use when it can be shown to have contributed to a fatal automobile or commercial trucking accident.

Baltimore Police Pay Out Settlements to Drivers and Other Citizens for Mishaps and Questionable Procedures

June 3, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Living and working in the Baltimore area, it isn’t a rare sight to see Baltimore city and county police officers conducting all manner of duties from criminal arrests and emergency services to traffic control and accident scene investigation. What citizens don’t always see are the occasional missteps taken by patrolmen and other law enforcement personnel from time to time. As Maryland personal injury attorneys, I and my legal staff have the utmost respect for the difficult job that police officers do every day in this state and across the nation.

But just as we commend the efforts of the majority of this country’s law enforcement community, we also have concern for the private individuals who occasionally suffer from improper police procedures or ignorance of the civil rights of some individuals who come in contact with those few, less-than-professional officers from time to time.

We’re reminded of this occasionally when we run across stories of abuse of power by some officers and other police officials. Similarly, some innocent citizens are actually injured or killed as a result of a patrolman’s actions during the performance of his or her duty. Again, the job of law enforcement is in no way an easy one; however, as tax payers and citizens we all expect excellence from our police force and certainly hold the entire organization to a higher standard than the rest of society.

Many Maryland Residents Suffer from Spinal Cord Injuries Resulting from Car and Truck Accidents

May 29, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Being injured in a car, motorcycle or commercial truck accident is not so much a possibility as a certainty, depending on the speed at the time of the traffic collision, the number of cars or trucks involved and the conditions surrounding the wreck. As Maryland car, truck and motorcycle accident lawyers, my firm is built on the idea of helping individuals recover damages resulting from roadway accidents.

While property can be replaced, however, lives are more precious and more difficult to be made right following a devastating highway crash. Consider two of the more major types of physical injuries that can sideline a person for weeks or months, not to mention possibly for a lifetime. These include spinal cord and brain injuries. Of course, there are numerous types of neck, back and head injuries related to these two major types, but the seriousness of the bodily injury should never be underestimated.

Whether one is hurt here in Baltimore, over in Rockville, or somewhere in the District of Columbia, car, truck and even pedestrian incidents involving vehicular traffic can be just as life-threatening no matter where they occur. Given the sheer number of people hurt or killed in motor vehicle accidents, it’s no surprise that Maryland personal injury attorneys like our legal team hear of dozen of severe and near-fatal injury accidents every month.

Maryland’s Traffic Death Count Includes More than 100 Pedestrians and Cyclists Each Year

May 24, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As Maryland and Washington, D.C., personal injury attorneys, it’s not uncommon for individuals to approach our firm following a serious car-, truck- or motorcycle-related traffic accident. Quite a few of these individuals have likely received some type of serious bodily injury as a result of the collision in question. While more people survive car and trucking-related wrecks, there is a percentage of victims who do not make it home to their loved ones.

For those families who lose a parent, spouse, or child to a preventable traffic collision, there is not much anyone can say to alleviate the pain and loss that the relatives mush endure for years to come, if not a lifetime. Car accidents take many lives each year, but what many people don’t thing about when it comes to traffic-related fatalities is the pedestrian component of those statistics.

Based on numbers coming out of various agencies, it has been said that 100 people or more are killed every year as a result of being struck by an automobile or commercial delivery truck. This group of individuals includes those who may have been traveling on foot, standing near a street corner, or riding a bicycle in or near vehicular traffic.

Maryland Motorists and Automobile Passengers Can Suffer Serious Head and Spinal Cord Injuries in Traffic Accidents

May 21, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Many people are amazed to learn of the numerous auto, truck and motorcycle injuries that occur every week here in Maryland. Throughout the state, as well as in the District of Columbia, we read and hear about dozens upon dozens of traffic and other injury accidents that happen every month as the result of another person’s negligence or just plain thoughtlessness. Many of these injuries are bad enough to require hospitalization and some may lead to permanent disability on the part of the victim.

Being Maryland automobile and trucking-accident lawyers, we know that there is no easy solution to eliminating the amount of accidents, save a total ban on driving. Of course, this would not even be a practical solution. Because of this, the next best thing would include education and awareness of the dangers of car and truck crashes. (And let’s not forget those individuals who are injured or killed in pedestrian accidents, including bicycle-car collisions.

As auto accident and personal injury lawyers, every day we see the results of car and truck crashes. Many automobile collisions are not fatal, however they can cause serious and long-term injuries to vehicle occupants, as well as pedestrians and onlookers. Scrapes and bruises, cuts and minor contusions are the least serious, but in high-speed or head-on crashes, head, neck and back injury can easily occur. Safety belts and airbags certainly help, but even these safety devices can’t always be counted on to fully protect victims of Maryland traffic accidents.