Examples of roadway collisions can be found almost every day across this state. As the fifth most densely populated state in the Union, it shouldn’t be too shocking to read of car, truck and motorcycle wrecks happening all across Maryland every month. Still, being actually involved in one may bring the pain home.
Injuries ranging from simple bumps and bruises to broken bones, internal injuries and closed-head trauma are quite common in and around the state’s urban areas, not to mention our highways. There are few if any excuses one could think of for causing serious injury to another individual, and less so in cases of a fatal automobile accident.
As Baltimore personal injury lawyers, I and my staff of experienced legal professionals believe are dedicated to fighting for the rights of our clients following a car or trucking-related traffic accident. Whether one is injured in Gaithersburg, Columbia, Washington, D.C., or Bowie, the personal injury laws of this state give victims certain rights to pursue recompense for their injuries, emotional distress, current and future medical treatment and necessary rehabilitation.
To see what the results can be following a bad automobile accident or commercial truck crash, one need only look at the headlines from local or statewide news agencies. The following are just a few examples of types of commercial vehicle-related collisions that happen monthly in and around cities like Rockville and Annapolis, among others.
Dundalk, MD
According to news reports, a Baltimore County school bus filled with young students was hit by a box truck along a stretch of roadway at the crossroads of Portship and Liberty Pkwy in Dundalk. The crash occurred on a Monday afternoon, around 3pm, when the bus carrying middle school students was reportedly hit by the box truck exiting Portship; police stated that the driver of the box truck did not obey the stop sign. Two of the 15 children received injuries that were described as minor; however, the injured kids were taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview hospital for treatment of those minor injuries.
Tractor-trailer Rolls Over on Interstate 95
A section of I-95 had to be closed following a single-truck crash that resulted in an 18-wheeler flipping on its side near the Caton Ave. exit. According to news reports, the crash happened on a Sunday afternoon sometime after 2pm. A call to 911 resulted in emergency response personnel being dispatched to the crash scene. Based on articles, Maryland Transportation Authority officers responding to the accident found the truck lying on its side and leaking diesel fuel onto the roadway.
At the time of the news report, police were still conducting an investigation into the cause of the rollover wreck. However, preliminary evidence suggested that the vehicle was traveling too fast for weather conditions at the time of the incident, causing the driver to lose control of the large truck. Fortunately, no injuries were reported, although the roadway had to be closed off for nearly five hours as a HAZMAT team and other cleanup personnel washed the spilt fuel off the tarmac.
I-95 Off-Ramp Crash Kills Baltimore Trucker
A local truck driver was not so lucky when his big rig reportedly crash along an Interstate 95 off- ramp during an out-of-state traffic accident. Based on reports at the time, the police had not determined the exact cause of the fatal trucking accident, which happened near Newark, NJ. The driver, Leon Morris, apparently lost control of the truck, which was hauling a load of steel pipe. The entire tractor-trailer rig flipped over, trapping the driving inside his cab. By the time emergency personnel could get to the man, he had already died from his injuries. No mention of whether the crash was caused by faulty mechanical equipment or, perhaps, driver error.
School bus crashes into truck, 2 hurt; ABC2News.com; April 23, 2012
Semi-Truck crash closes Southbound I-95, ABC2News.com, April 22, 2012
Crash on I-95 off- ramp kills truck driver, WDEL.com, April 24, 2012