Maryland Car Accident Attorney Blog

Traffic Safety Advocates Raise Concerns Over Rental Car Safety; Call for Federal Regulation

April 4, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Years after a terrible automobile accident on the West Coast, auto safety advocates and traffic safety experts are starting to push hard for federal regulation of rental cars and the companies that rent vehicles to the public. According to various news articles and other media outlets, this latest drive stems from a 2004 car crash that resulted in the death of two sisters who were killed when their rented Chrysler PT Cruiser had a mechanical problem, which led to a collision with an 18-wheel tractor-trailer rig.

That crash eventually led to a wrongful death lawsuit brought against Enterprise Rent-A-Car by the mother of the two women, 24-year-old Raechel Houck and her 20-year-old sister, Jacqueline. According to court records, the vehicle the two rented on that fateful day was part of a recall campaign involving the car’s defective power-steering system; however, at that time the rental company had yet to make any repairs to the car.

As a matter of fact, those two women were not the first to have rented the vehicle while it was under the recall order. Based on reports, Enterprise had rented the vehicle to three prior customers following the recall notice being issued. The resulting failure of one of the steering components precipitated the eventual crash that killed the two young women.

Baltimore Auto Accident News: Two Teenagers Critically Injured when SUV Hits Howard County School Bus

April 3, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

When it comes to traffic collisions, it certainly doesn’t take much to send a person to the hospital emergency room. Whether one drives in or around Baltimore, Annapolis, Columbia or Washington, D.C., a week doesn’t go by when you might see at least one car, truck or motorcycle wreck on the street. For our part, as Maryland personal injury attorneys and drivers ourselves, we know all too well the hazards and potential dangers of driving in this part of the country.

Of course, one doesn’t have to live in the East to know that teenager drivers, at least as a group, are more prone to being involved in traffic accidents than other age groups. This may sound somewhat pejorative, but statistics from across the U.S. tend to bear this out, which is why parents all over the country tend to dread the day when their kids become drivers, if only because the family’s auto insurance premiums take a big jump up.

While nobody looks forward to a car or truck accident, parents especially can spend sleepless nights worrying about their teen sons and daughters borrowing the family car to drive friends to a movie or to go out to eat after high school sporting event. A phone call from the local police is a nightmare scenario that any mother or father would rather not consider, but they do occur, usually at the most unexpected times.

Baltimore County Traffic Accident News: Safety of Belair Road Challenged following Another Fatal Car Crash

March 31, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

We’ve already spoken previously about the potential accident risk posed by certain stretches of roadways throughout the state. It would appear that drivers and local residents near more than one road in Maryland have reason to be nervous, based at least on recent news stories covering a fatal crash that killed one woman.

As personal injury attorneys serving individuals in Baltimore, Annapolis, Gaithersburg and the District, I and my colleagues travel on streets and highway along with thousands of other motorists every day; any danger to one’s health and well-being is a legitimate concern.

Of course, passenger car and motorcycle accidents can occur any time without notice, but those crashes caused by a poorly designed roadway or badly regulated speed zone could potentially be avoided given the proper amount of attention. Sometimes all it takes is public outrage to bring the topic to the fore.

Maryland Personal Injury News: Car Crash Victim Given Three-Percent Chance of Survival Walks Again

March 29, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Running across inspirational personal injury stories can be difficult especially in cases of serious car, truck and motorcycle accidents that injure or maim their victims. As Maryland personal injury attorneys, I and my legal staff have met people who have had to suffer through weeks and months of medical treatment and corrective surgeries in the aftermath of passenger car and commercial trucking wrecks.

There is no manual or instruction booklet that can prepare a person to cope with a debilitating roadway collision; the injuries can sometimes be too extensive to leave any hope for a total recovery; yet, every once in a while, we read of an individual who has beaten the odds.

While these all-too-rare stories of near-miraculous recoveries from auto accidents are uplifting, they can also be instructive from the standpoint of understanding how a severe traffic collision can also be a life-altering event in anyone’s life. With spinal damage, closed-head trauma, ruptured internal organs and abdominal bleeding all being possible results of a high-speed car or truck crash, the odds can be stacked against a car wreck victim before he or she even reaches a shock trauma center.

Maryland Auto Safety News: NASA’s Attempt to Unravel Toyota’s Mysterious Sudden Acceleration Problem

March 27, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It is understood that mechanical defects and product manufacturing errors can adversely affect the safe operation of motor vehicles by causing a potential failure mode in safety-related automotive components and systems. As personal injury lawyers here in Maryland, I and my staff know very well the possible consequences that a critical component failure can have at highway speeds or in densely-packed traffic conditions.

Whether an accident occurs on an expressway or a city street, chances are that someone may be injured or killed as a result. While some accidents are caused mainly be driver error or negligence, other car and trucking-related wrecks are a result of a broken part or component. When something fails in a motor vehicle’s steering or braking system, suspension or tires, the driver can be caught unaware and lose control of the motorcycle, car or tractor-trailer rig.

Problems with a car or truck’s throttle controls can also cause and accident, such as the well-known Audi 5000 many years ago. In cases such as these, victims typically complain of an uncontrolled or sudden acceleration condition in which the driver of the vehicle finds it either difficult or nearly impossible to stop the car. Last year, similar sudden acceleration complaints began to occur with certain Toyota models. The source of the trouble, if any, was next to impossible to figure out.

Maryland Automobile Accident News: Injuries Reported in Rte 214 Traffic Collision in Anne Arundel County

March 25, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Wherever you live — Rockville, Columbia, Annapolis or the District — some roadways and intersections have acquired a bad name over years of traffic problems. Blind corners, hidden driveways, dangerous curves and ill-timed traffic lights are all blamed from time to time as factors in various local car, truck and motorcycle accidents. While not every accident can be blamed on road design or designated speed limits, there may be some legitimacy behind the bad reputations some stretches of roadway receive.

Given that fact, we as Maryland personal injury attorneys understand the many and varied causal factors linked to traffic wrecks that happen around the state. A passenger vehicle crash or trucking-related highway wreck may very well have something to do with the stretch of pavement itself. Sadly, it sometimes takes numerous injuries and even some deaths for people to sit up and really take notice; pushing their local municipalities or the state to do something to correct an obviously deadly situation.

Just last month, two woman were seriously injured in a multi-car accident along a stretch of Rte 214 in Anne Arundel Co. Based on the various comments following the brief news article we happened upon, one would think that this situation could have been predicted in advance. According to one local resident, the intersection where the accident occurred on February 2nd is itself a “death trap” where two lanes of traffic are required to merge prior to the crossroads.

Baltimore Roadway Injury News: Police Officers and Civilians Hurt in Several Maryland Traffic Accidents

March 23, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

We’d like to take this opportunity to remind drivers in and around Maryland to always be alert to potential traffic dangers, be it in Rockville, Gaithersburg, Howie or the District. More to the point, be aware that police officers doing their jobs should be given a wide berth when approaching and passing police cruiser. Furthermore, while we all understand that it’s sometimes difficult to avoid staring at the scene of a car accident or other roadside emergency, this is no time to be losing one’s concentration on other aspects of the roadway and traffic in the immediate area.

As Maryland injury attorneys, we’ve seen enough victims of car, truck and motorcycle crashes to know the value of safe and conscientious drivers. And, having represented our share of individuals hurt by the negligent, careless or deliberately harmful actions of another motorist, we know the pain and discomfort that can accompany bodily injuries received in roadway collision.

High-speed car and trucking-related crashes can cause extensive injury or even death; both driver and passengers are at risk when something goes wrong at expressway speeds. As we said previously, highway patrol officers and other law enforcement and emergency personnel are members of a larger group of at-risk individuals when it comes to traffic accidents.

Baltimore Auto Safety Update: Doctors Press Maryland’s Legislature to Change Child Safety Seat Standards

March 21, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As we have reported on in the past, our children are some of the most innocent of victims when it comes to traffic accidents here in Maryland and across the U.S. as a whole. Anything that can be done to better protect these youngsters from injury or death as a result of a car, bus or trucking-related accident would be well worth the time and effort expended on such an endeavor.

As Maryland personal injury lawyers, I and my staff of legal professionals are dedicated to our clients, many of whom have been hurt or injured as a result of another driver’s negligence or thoughtlessness. Whether those actions involve deliberate flouting of our traffic laws or other statutes created to make our society a safer place; or if the defendant was simply not paying attention to the job of driving a motor vehicle correctly, a personal injury lawsuit is often called for.

Many times, victims and their families are left to foot the bill for thousands of dollars of medical bills and physical rehabilitation costs following an injury-related traffic collision. Insurance companies will often try to lessen the payout, which leaves those injured victims with little or no option. For families with small children, the last thing anyone wants is for that little boy or girl to be hurt in a car or truck crash.

Maryland Personal Injury News: 18-month-old Child Critically Injured in Ocean City Car Crash

March 19, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

There is nothing so tragic as a baby, toddler or young child being hurt or killed as a result of an accident. What makes things more unbearable for parents is when that accident could have been avoided through forethought or other preventative measures. Kids hurt as a result of automobile and trucking-related collisions fall into this category.

Whereas, some roadway incidents may occur as a result of truly unexpected circumstances, the factors that lead to some of these traffic-related accidents, which ultimately cause personal injury, can often be tied to some failure of man or machine; nature, of course, being one of the less controllable factors.

Being personal injury attorneys here in Maryland, we typically represent persons seriously hurt or injured in and around Baltimore County, Anne Arundel County, Annapolis and Washington, D.C. While some of the more deadly accidents involve motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrian collisions with cars and truck, automobile wrecks generally represent a range of outcomes.

Baltimore Maryland Personal Injury News: Driver found Innocent of Neighbor’s Death following Fatal Late-night Pedestrian Accident

March 17, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Pedestrian injuries and fatalities can happen anywhere people on foot mix with automobile traffic; whether in crosswalks, at bus stops, near taxi stands or on neighborhood streets, there always exists the potential for an individual to be hit or run over by a commercial vehicle or passenger car; even as a result of a motorcycle collision.

Auto-pedestrian traffic accidents are not simple incidents, since they can very often result in serious injuries to the relatively unprotected and helpless victim. Numerous bodily injuries are possible as a result of pedestrian collisions (which also include car-bicycle crashes as well). The injuries sustained can range from minor cuts and bruises to more serious broken bones and compound fractures.

In addition, back and neck injuries can occur; and many times the worst can be a closed-head, or traumatic brain injury. As Baltimore, MD, personal injury attorneys representing individuals in Maryland and Washington, D.C., we understand how extensive these injuries can be, and also how difficult it is for a person to recover from one or more of the more serious ones.