Maryland Car Accident Attorney Blog

Maryland Personal Injury Update: Following Painful Traffic Accidents, Insurance Companies can Increase the Discomfort

June 28, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It’s a fair bet that more than one motorist in Annapolis, Gaithersburg, Washington, D.C., or Rockville has been dismayed to find that his or her health insurance company has demanded to be repaid for the costs that their insured toted up as a result of an automobile, motorcycle or trucking accident injury accident.

Most people who haven’t been involved in a car crash or filed a traffic-related personal injury claim would find it more than surprising that an injured party could be asked to essentially reimburse their insurance company for various medical costs incurred following an personal injury.

Certainly a party that was not at fault and has been hurt, possibly seriously, should not have to pay back costs to an insurer for a legitimate claim. As the argument goes, healthcare insurers don’t ask to be paid back for costs associated with medical treatment or other necessary physical rehabilitation, so why now?

When people hear that their health insurance company wants a refund after paying months or years of timely healthcare premiums, we as Maryland personal injury lawyers understand how this could raise more than a few eyebrows. The simple counter to this seemingly unscrupulous request from one’s own insurer is that eventually the client himself will be reimbursed for all of his or her medical costs through the auto insurance company that represents the other negligent party.

Baltimore Personal Injury News: Maryland Man Allegedly Driving Drunk Goes Wrong Way, Hits Second Vehicle

June 26, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It seems that we cannot get away from the latest spate of drunken driving-related traffic accidents. While it is a forgone conclusion that driving while impaired by alcohol, prescription medication or illicit drugs can get a person arrested and charged with DWI or DUI, a percentage of passenger car drivers, commercial truckers and even motorcycle riders will kill someone or be killed themselves for their indiscretion.

Operating a motor vehicle, in the eyes of the law is not a right, but a privilege that we as motorists are granted by means of state licensing. We can only continue to exercise our driving privileges by showing competency on state licensing exams and by obeying Maryland’s traffic laws. Two many violations or other charges — such as drunken driving convictions or car accidents — and a person risks losing their driver’s license; in some cases this is blessing, especially in the case of people who demonstrate that they don’t know enough to stay off the road when inebriated.

As Maryland automobile accident lawyers and personal injury attorneys, we have seen far too many victims of drinking and driving to be in any way understanding to those who chose to drive drunk and then injure, maim or kill another innocent person. Anyone who reads the news on a regular basis will likely agree that, on the face of it, drunk drivers who cause accidents seem to walk away with nary a scratch, while their victims are rarely as lucky.

Being caught for driving under the influence is one way that a bad driver may be taken off the road, if only for a short period of time. Others, who may cause serious injury to one or more people, may be held to account for their actions. In the end, the cost of being permanently disabled by a drunk driver is likely far worse than most any punishment that the law can inflict back on a negligent motorist.

Rockville Man Gets 20 Years for Deaths of Two Pedestrians in Fatal Drunken Driving Crash

June 24, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

We’ve said it before, but once again it bears repeating; causing a traffic death while driving under the influence here in Maryland or the District of Columbia is simply unforgivable and no amount of excuses or apologies can make things right again. If you don’t believe this, consider the recent sentence levied against a 25-year-old driver from Rockville, MD, who will be spending the prime of his life behind bars for the untimely drunk driving deaths of two innocent people.

As Baltimore auto, trucking and motorcycle accident attorneys providing personal injury representation to Maryland residents, there is no redeeming characteristic that trumps a fatal DWI, DUI or drug-related traffic accident that leaves another person dead or maimed for life. The seemingly harmless act of becoming drunk, turns into a jailable offense when an individual gets behind the wheel of a motor vehicle and essentially turns it into a deadly and random weapon.

Such was the case of Alejandro Roman, who was recently sentenced to two consecutive 10-year jail terms by a Montgomery County judge in the vehicular homicide deaths of two Maryland men. Some may argue that the defendant should have received a harsher sentence, however under Maryland law 10 years in prison is the longest sentence allowed for this kind of crime. Even so, others tend to believe that 20 years is rather strict. We’ll let history be the judge.

According to police reports, Roman was driving his Acura at nearly two times that posted speed limit last October when he struck the two pedestrians along a stretch of Rockville Pike in White Flint, MD. Police stated that the man was legally drunk at the time of the accident and that his vehicle was estimated to be traveling at 76mph in a 40mph zone.

A former sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserve, Roman reportedly said that he was deeply sorry for the deaths of the two individuals. According to court records, the defendant pled guilty to both counts of vehicular manslaughter last March. Based on news reports, police apparently held Roman in custody, but following an interview the man was not initially charged with any crime.

Maryland Auto Injury News: School Bus Crash in Queen Anne’s County Injures 17 Children and Adults

June 22, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In the realm of roadway crashes, school bus accidents can be one of the most harrowing in the minds of mothers and fathers everywhere. There are few things that alarm most any parent than the possibility of injury-related or fatal traffic accident that involves young children and other minors. This is especially true because most adults assume that school and church buses are driven by people who we hope take the safety of our kids as seriously as the parents.

As Maryland personal injury and auto accident attorneys, I and my colleagues know how scary it must be for a parent to hear that a son’s or daughter’s school bus may have been involved in an automobile or commercial trucking-related collision. There isn’t any parent who wouldn’t switch places with a child who has been critically injured in a traffic incident.

Yet, with all our hopes for safe transportation of school children, busing-related crashes do occur and will likely continue to be possible outcome for any child that lives far enough away from school. In large cities, such as Baltimore and Washington, D.C., kids will sometimes take public transport in the form of city buses and subways. Even these modes of transportation are not without risk to riders of every age.

According to a recent news article, more than a dozen passengers were taken to the hospital following a charter bus accident in Queen Anne’s County on a Thursday morning. We’ll say right off the bat that thankfully nobody died in this particular road accident, however there were a number of injuries sustained by youngsters and adults alike.

Based on police reports, the accident happened along a stretch of Rte 213 near White Marsh Rd. in Centerville, MD; the southbound bus, one of two chartered vehicles taking students from the Kent County school district to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in D.C.

The vehicle involved in the crash was carrying 35 people at the time and apparently overturned when the 86-year-old man who was driving the bus steered the vehicle quickly in an effort to avoid a collision with another motor vehicle entering the road. That action reportedly caused the bus to go off the roadway and hit a utility pole, which in turn caused the vehicle to roll onto its side.

Maryland Pedestrian Injury News: Young Boy Hit by Car Outside McDonald’s Restaurant in Baltimore County

June 18, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Having represented many individuals injured, hurt or permanently disabled in automobile accidents here in Maryland, we can say that the youngest of these victims, children and toddlers, are many times the most at risk in traffic-related accidents. Being small of stature and difficult to see in the first place, youngsters can be hit by cars while walking to school, riding bikes with friends or just playing near the street.

As Maryland personal injury attorneys, we know that drivers need to take extra precautions when traveling through neighborhoods and when approaching schools and establishments that attract kids, such as ice cream stands and fast food restaurants. Although adults are just as much at risk of serious injury, juveniles can easily be killed or critically injured by cars, SUVs, minivans and commercial vehicles.

Being hit by a car or truck will almost certainly result in an emergency trip to the hospital, with injuries to the child ranging from lacerations and heavy bruising to head trauma and neck and spinal cord damage. In the saddest of cases, a child can end up losing one or more limbs, being bed ridden for months or years, or even being killed as a result of a thoughtless or negligent act on a driver’s part.

Not long ago, the young son of a Baltimore County family was hit by a passing vehicle right outside of a McDonald’s restaurant off of Reisterstown Rd. According to news reports, the 10-year-old was hit by a station wagon just before 6pm. Fortunately for the boy and his parents, news articles indicate that the youth’s injuries were not life-threatening.

Baltimore County Police reported that the boy was alert when emergency responders arrived at the scene. Witnesses saw the boy standing in one of the northbound lanes out in front of the fast food chain store. The driver of one vehicle was able to stop in time however the youngster was subsequently struck by a Volvo wagon. The force of the pedestrian-car accident caused the child to be thrown into the air, knocking off one of the boy’s shoes in the process.

Baltimore Automobile and Trucking Accident News: Maryland State Trooper Dies in Collision with Semi Rig

June 16, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Even experienced drivers and other professionals who operate motor vehicles for a living can be caught in a serious or fatal car, truck or motorcycle crash. As Baltimore auto accident lawyers and D.C. personal injury attorneys, we represent numerous individuals who have been hurt in traffic collisions between passenger cars, SUVs and other larger vehicles, such as tractor-trailers, commercial delivery trucks and gasoline tanker trucks.

Not long ago, one of our Maryland State Police troopers was killed in the line of duty when his patrol car slammed into the rear of a tractor-trailer rig parked on the shoulder of Interstate 95 a little bit south of the Laurel rest stop. The accident occurred in the early morning hours on a Saturday as Trooper First Class Shaft Hunter was heading southbound apparently pursuing a motorcyclist who may have been speeding along the interstate.

A witness reportedly saw the biker pass by at a high rate of speed sometime before 2:30am with the trooper not far behind. No details were given at the time of the news article, but for some reason Hunter’s patrol car struck the parked semi just south of Rte 32.

Baltimore Pedestrian Injury Accident News: Crossing Guard Hit by School Bus in Glen Burnie, Maryland

June 14, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Even those people charged with the safety and security of others can be thrust into a situation where their lives are placed in jeopardy. Police officers, fire fighters and ambulance personnel are just a few of the civil servants that respond to automobile, commercial truck and motorcycle-related traffic accidents as part of their job to help and protect the public.

As Maryland car accident lawyers and personal injury attorneys, our experience has taught us that anyone can be injured or killed in a traffic collision. This includes experienced individuals whose job it is to keep us and our families safe. As is well known, occupants of vehicle involved in highway and urban car crashes can receive some horrendous injuries, such as internal bleeding, spinal cord damage and traumatic brain injury. That says nothing about the potential harm that can come to a pedestrian or other bystander when a vehicle goes out of control.

According to news reports, a Glen Bernie crossing guard was herself hit by a school bus when the driver allegedly failed to yield the right of way. Police reports indicate that 54-year-old Vicki Whitehead was stuck by a county school bus a little before 8am on a Wednesday morning as she was standing in a crosswalk near Point Pleasant Elementary School.

Maryland Auto Injury News: Uninsured Motorist Gets One Month in Jail for Fatal Carroll County Crash

June 11, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

According to news reports, a Sykesville woman will be serving just 30 days in jail following a fatal car crash that killed a Westminster woman back in 2009. The defendant, 21-year-old Anastacia Hardester was found guilty of negligent driving by a Carroll County Circuit Court judge, but apparently avoided stiffer penalties when the court could not find sufficient evidence for the more serious vehicular homicide charges.

As Baltimore automobile and motorcycle accident lawyers serving Maryland and Washington, D.C., we have seen this type of scenario play out time after time in Maryland injury accidents. Each year across this country hundreds and thousands of people are killed by drunk drivers leaving families without mothers, fathers and siblings. According to news reports, this particular accident may have involved drug DUI, however the court was only able to convict the woman of negligent driving, failure to drive on the right half of the road and driving while uninsured.

Based on police reports, Hardester’s vehicle allegedly crossed the centerline along a stretch of Md. 27 in Westminster, colliding with a second vehicle driven by 24-year-old Valerie Claire. According to court records, the car crash took place around 2pm in the afternoon. Prosecutors stated that the defendant told officers at the Westminster police barrack nearly one month following the accident that her prescribed daily dosage of methadone usually made her drowsy around 2 or 3pm.

Baltimore Injury News: James Madison Student Implicated in Maryland Traffic Accident that Killed 3 People

June 8, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Whenever we ride with others in a motor vehicle we place great faith in the abilities and judgment of the driver. For most of us, we cannot imagine that a close friend, business acquaintance or family member would ever put our life in jeopardy, much less his or her own. And yet every day across this country individuals are killed or maimed by the negligence of someone they know and trust.

As Baltimore auto accident attorneys and Maryland personal injury lawyers, we know that the seemingly inconsequential decision to get into a passenger car or climb onto the back of a motorcycle with a friend or relative can sometimes turn out to be a life-changing event. These kinds of road accidents can result in injuries ranging from minor cuts, bruises and abrasions, to more serious broken legs and arms, neck injuries and life-threatening closed-head trauma.

Not long ago, three people died in a single-car accident along a stretch of road in Olney when a James Madison University student somehow lost control of his vehicle and struck a tree. According to news reports, Kevin Coffay was arrested by police following the crash and charged on four felony counts.

Baltimore Auto Accident News: Maryland Driver Sentenced to 3 Years for Fatal DUI Pedestrian Crash

June 5, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It seems that almost daily we hear of another drunk driving traffic here in Maryland. Sadly many of those DUI auto and trucking wrecks result in fatalities, most of which could likely have been avoided if the responsible party had taken the time to adhere to simple and worthwhile state laws regarding drinking and driving. Alas, few of these drivers do consider the safety and well-being of others, much less themselves.

It’s no surprise that traffic deaths involving alcohol intoxication or impairment due to prescription drugs is a serious concern at police departments all over the country. As Maryland auto accident lawyers and Washington, D.C., personal injury attorneys, I and my colleagues try to help individuals injured by the negligent acts of others. For those people who are killed as a result of a car, truck or motorcycle collision, we work to represent the victim’s family’s in cases such as wrongful death.

Sad as it is, spouses and children of these victims must still carry on in the absence of the deceased loved one, which can be a strain when household finances are stretched to their limit due to huge medical bills combined with lost wages.