Fatal Trucking Accidents

Maryland Commercial Trucking Accidents: Recognizing the “False Security” of a “Large” Passenger Car

May 31, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Anybody who has lost a parent or child, friend or loved one in a fatal car crash has no doubt looked back many times on what could have been, rather than what is now likely an emotionally painful void in one’s life. Being a survivor is not an enviable position for many people who must carry on in the absence of a significant person in his or her life. As Maryland personal injury lawyers, I and my colleagues understand the finality of a fatal traffic accident; and the senselessness of the whole incident.

As car, truck and motorcycle accident attorneys who represent victims of severe and fatal traffic collisions, we understand all too well the automobile, motorcycle and trucking-related roadway collisions, I and my legal staff have first-hand experience with people whose pain may take years to go away, if ever.

Here in the Baltimore area, as with parts of The District, Cumberland, Annapolis and Bowie, MD, hardly a week goes by that there isn’t a news report of a car crash involving a cyclist or pedestrian. These types of accidents are almost always “one-sided,” in that the person on foot or on his or her bike has little protection against a 3,000-pound car or even larger commercial delivery truck or 18-wheeler. In these instances, closed-head trauma, spinal cord injuries and broken bones can all be quite common.

Four Separate Maryland Semi tractor-trailer Accidents Result in Deaths of 4 Passenger Car Drivers

May 23, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As commercial trucking accident attorneys, we make no bones about the number of innocent people killed each year as a result of negligent driving on the part of truckers operating 18-wheeler rigs and other heavy commercial vehicles. The very nature of these huge motor vehicles — such as fuel tankers makes these vehicle more than a match for the average passenger car, SUV or family sedan.

As such, the drivers of these vehicles are trained and licensed by the government to operate their machines in a responsible and safe manner. And while most truckers do treat their jobs as positions of great responsibility, there are others who tend to give the entire industry a bad name. The same can also be said about trucking line owners, a small percentage of whom seem to thumb their noses at the rules and regulations that have been established to protect the road-going public from harm.

Whether through unwritten policy, direct acts of negligence or outright dangerous vehicle operation, numerous big rig drivers and trucking companies throughout the U.S. are fined or imprisoned each year as a result of poor business practices or injury-related traffic accidents caused by trucker in their employ.

One Person Dead After Tractor-trailer Crashes into School Bus North of Maryland State Line

May 16, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

We doubt that many parents place much stock in hoping that their children have a safe ride to and from school. Preferably, most parents would likely want to be assured by a consistent safety record of the bus drivers that work in their school district. Unfortunately, while a school system can more or less control the quality of the drivers they hire, other external factors affecting the safety of school kids riding in those buses can be much more random and have a sometimes dangerous effect on the number and frequency of traffic accidents involving those school buses.

It’s certainly a tragedy when any innocent child is hurt or killed in a mostly preventable accident. When that accident involves a loaded school bus, more than one child can be affected. As Maryland personal injury attorneys, our concern is for the victims and their families, especially in cases where negligence likely played a part in the confluence of such a roadway collision.

From time to time, we read of situations that place our most precious of resource — our children — in harm’s way. Whether an incident takes place here in the Baltimore area, over in Columbia, or even in Washington, D.C., a victim of a car, truck or motorcycle crash can face a long road back to full health. As injury lawyers, our job is to help victims and their families recover costs associated with a bad auto accident. Of course, recouping monetary costs may not help heal the emotional and psychological scars, but it can go a long way to easing the burden on a family whose world has been turned upside down by a traffic wreck.

Baltimore Personal Injury News: Aberdeen, Maryland, Driver Killed in Crash with Tractor-trailer Rig

April 23, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It’s a fair bet that anyone who drives here in Maryland travels at one time or another on an undivided highway or high-speed surface street. As human beings most of us don’t dwell too much on the potential carnage that could result from a head-on car collision at almost any speed, much less highway speeds. Sometimes it takes a certain lack of imagination to venture out onto roads with no barriers separating opposing traffic lanes.

Of course, it goes without saying that accidents can and do happen on a rather regular basis in rural areas as well as urban locales such as Gaithersburg, Bowie, the District and Rockville. As a Maryland personal injury law firm, I and my legal team represent victims of automobile, motorcycle and commercial trucking accidents. In cases where a family has lost a loved one to a traffic accident caused by the negligent act of another motorist, we can help pursue a wrongful death claim against the responsible parties.

Nothing is permanent in this life, but the loss of a life through a senseless or preventable act is one of the more tragic ways to lose a parent, child, friend or colleague. While accidents happen all of the time around this country, car and motorcycle wrecks can result in serious injuries, permanent disability or even death. Whether a family has had a loved one die on a Maryland highway, or be injured with weeks or months of medical treatment and rehabilitation ahead of them, it is always a wise choice to contact a qualified injury attorney before talking with the other driver’s insurance company.

Maryland Auto Accident News: Truck Driver Killed in Auto Hauler Accident in Baltimore County

March 31, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As motorists we are all tested and licensed by the state of Maryland before we can legally operate a motor vehicle on public roads. This is reasonable and as a matter of tradition and the law, completely acceptable considering the dangers that an unqualified driver could pose on the streets of Rockville, Howie, Columbia and Washington, D.C. By extension, it is no surprise that drivers of commercial motor vehicles have an ever stricter set of hurdles to clear before being granted their commercial driver’s license (CDL).

Anyone who disagrees with the added regulatory requirements imposed on operators of 18-wheelers, semi tractor-trailers, commercial box trucks, and even city bus drivers, should consider the heady responsibility of driving a 30-plus-ton, multi-wheeled behemoth on a public road. At nearly 20 times the mass of an average passenger car, a long-haul semi rig can easily become an almost unstoppable and indiscriminate killing machine if driven recklessly on an expressway or city street.

As Maryland trucking accident lawyers and personal injury attorneys, I and my colleagues are keenly aware of the potential for bodily harm or death from one of these vehicles when its driver is caught unaware or even actively negligent in his or her operation of that 18-wheeler. And this goes for being in or working around even a stationary truck.

Maryland Personal Injury News: Trucker Who Killed Maryland University Professor Gets 5 Years in Jail

March 16, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Whenever, wherever a person passes away it can certainly be a sad event for the friends and relatives of that individual. A death in the family can thrust lives into turmoil and shake some people’s faith to the core; and this can happen under the most normal of circumstances, much less in the aftermath of a seemingly senseless and random traffic accident. When a person dies as a result of a car or motorcycle accident, the many ask the question, Is no one safe from the indiscriminate hand of fate?

As a Maryland personal injury attorney, I understand how the days and weeks following the death of a loved one can be a confusing and emotional time. Even under the best circumstances, such as the passing of an elderly relative by natural causes, we wonder if anything else could have been done. Certainly, as is the case of many roadway collisions, the victim’s family has even more questions; why did this happen, who is to blame, how can we cope with our loss?

In the wake of a serious and fatal car wreck or commercial truck accident, the family’s anger and upset can be blinding, especially in those instances where the loved one’s death was likely a result of certain negligent actions of another individual. A little while ago, we ran across a news item concerning the criminal aspect of a fatal trucking-related accident that happened back in 2010.

Baltimore Traffic Injury News: Maryland Commercial Trucking Company Ordered to Cease Operations following Fatal Traffic Collision

November 30, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As professionals operating massive and potentially dangerous motor vehicles on public roads, truckers and the commercial fleet operators that employ them have both a moral and legal responsibility to the driving public. The firms are required to maintain their trucks to federal standards and to operate them safely on the nation’s highways. Unfortunately, with so many commercial vehicles plying the roads, there are bound to be more than a few poor drivers and some less-than-scrupulous trucking firms.

As Maryland personal injury lawyers representing victims of car, truck and motorcycle accidents, we know all too well the damage and harm that even a single semi tractor-trailer or large delivery truck can do to a passenger car, minivan or sport utility vehicle. Needless to say, the occupants of these smaller vehicles can receive serious and sometimes fatal injuries as a result of a commercial trucking wreck.

During a car-truck collision, the extent of bodily injury can range from lacerations and broken bones to internal injuries and closed-head trauma. Depending on the circumstances and other factors, vehicle fires can also erupt threatening any occupant who happens to be trapped inside the passenger car. As one might imagine, many traffic accidents involving large trucks — such as Peterbilts, Macks and Kenworths — can cause fatal injuries as well.

When the negligent party is found to be the trucker or company that employed him or her, it is likely that the victim or his family may seek to file a personal injury claim against those negligent parties. According to recent news reports, a Maryland trucking firm that was deemed to be a hazard to public safety was ordered to shut down its operations by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

Baltimore Trucking Accident News: Maryland Legislator Continues Push for Mandatory Court Appearances in Fatal Traffic Wrecks

November 19, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Anyone who has survived in a serious car, truck or motorcycle accident knows too well the pain and discomfort resulting from a traffic collision. Here in Baltimore County and surrounding areas, such as Wicomico, Charles and Washington, D.C., automobile and trucking-related wrecks have become an unfortunate part of our mobile lifestyle. Whether one is a daily commuter, a parent shuttling kids to and from school, or a business person calling on customers around the state, the danger of a severe or fatal car crash is ever-present.

As Maryland trucking accident attorneys and personal injury lawyers, I and my legal staff are trained to represent the victims of traffic accidents, as well as families who may have lost a loved one in a fatal car or truck wreck. As drivers ourselves, one thing we all know is that there is little alternative to the freedom that a passenger car, truck or minivan provides individuals and families.

Since road accidents happen with alarming frequency in this state, it is quite possible that someone you know has already been involved in a crash, or will be sometime during their life. For most people, a fatal truck, car or motorcycle collision is unlikely, but an injury accident is a distinct possibility given the law of averages. Sadly, when a crash does take the life of another driver, it is sometimes difficult to assess blame.

In some cases, police may cite the other driver for a basic traffic violation, which the victim’s family may believe was due to carelessness or extreme negligence. It has been noted on numerous occasions that some drivers who cause a fatal accident are not required to appear in court as a result of his or her error in judgment, even though another individual may be dead as a result. Many times, the law allows these motorists to simply pay the fine by mail and never once step into a courtroom to answer for their mistake.

Baltimore Trucking Accident Update: Thoughts on Decreasing Fatal and Injury-related Maryland Truck-Car Collisions

October 23, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

For most of the drivers here in Maryland and Washington, D.C., maintaining the safety of oneself and one’s vehicle occupants involves more than a modicum of active participation. In short, to survive in this part of the country a drive must, out of necessity, watch out for the other guy.

What this means for the average passenger car, light truck and motorcycle rider is to be certain that your vehicle is well-maintained, tuned up and mechanically safe and sound. We won’t go into a discussion on the dangers of defective vehicle equipment here, but suffice it to say that a percentage of roadway wrecks are sometimes found to be a result of poorly designed safety components and other critical systems, such as steering and braking systems (an area of law known as Products Liability).

As Maryland personal injury lawyers, I and my legal staff understand the causes of many traffic accidents and how easily a quiet Sunday drive can turn into a serious and sometimes life-threatening event. Keeping a vehicle in good running condition is a basic requirement for safe driving. This goes as much for automobiles as it does for commercial trucks, usually more so.

Speaking of trucking-related accidents, one cannot argue with the laws of physics when it comes to serious traffic accidents involving semi tractor-trailers, such as Kenworths, Peterbilts, and Mack Trucks; not to mention large box trucks and rather heavy and extremely dangerous tanker trucks.

Many passenger car occupants, not to mention motorcyclists, are killed on a tragically frequent basis when they become caught involved in a crash with a commercial delivery vehicle or 18-wheeler. Those smaller, lighter and less substantial motor vehicles are hardly a match for a fully loaded semi, commuter bus or dump truck. Injuries from car-truck collision can take months or years to recover from, both physically and financially, which makes prevention a no-brainer.

Baltimore Trucking Accident News: Baby Dies in Car Fire after Maryland Trucker Hits Passenger Car

September 30, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

When a child dies there are no words of consolation for the victim’s family. And so it goes without saying that when a baby — a young infant — passes away as a result of a traffic collision, the sadness and grief felt by all concerned is sometimes too much to bear. As Maryland personal injury lawyers, representing the parents of a minor child killed as a result of another person’s negligence is both humbling and heartrending.

Any accident that causes a death, by its very nature, is a tragedy; but automobile wrecks that take lives and injure people are especially deadly and many times preventable. The fact that car, truck and motorcycle collisions can typically be prevented, or the effects lessened, makes any serious injury or fatality that much more distressing to everyone involved.

Children, of all people, are the most innocent among us. To most any reasonable individual, it is a sad and tragic event when a young child is critically injured or killed in a passenger car or commercial trucking accident. For the parents, siblings and other relative, losing a young family member is horrible beyond words.

And, while no amount of money or compensation can bring back that young life or relieve the personal torment and anguish, parents and/or guardians who have lost a child to the negligent actions of another individual have a right to recover damages for the loss of that child. This includes the loss of their child’s affection or love.