Maryland Trucking Accident Lawyer Blog

Hazmat Truck Rolls Over on I-95, Slowing Traffic for Hours

January 6, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in Baltimore, a truck accident on the Inner Loop shut down traffic for hours as hazmat crew members cleaned up the scene. According to one local news report, the truck flipped over on the ramp between I-95 southbound and I-695 westbound.

Evidently, the truck was fully loaded with hazardous cargo, including filled trash bags and other potentially hazardous materials. Hazmat crews worked diligently to clean up the mess caused by the accident and upright the truck. However, it was still several hours before the highway was able to reopen for regular traffic.

Hazmat Truck Accidents

As if a semi-truck accident isn’t serious enough, the accident above involved an overturned truck that was carrying hazardous materials, or hazmat as it is often referred to. Luckily, no one was seriously injured in the single-vehicle accident described above. However, with these types of accidents, that is rarely the case.

Box Truck Discovered on Side of Road, Flipped Over

December 24, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in Hollywood, Maryland, police and rescue workers responded to calls of an overturned box truck on the side of the highway. According to a report by one local news source, the accident occurred on Three Notch Road, a bit north of Airport View Drive, in Hollywood.

Evidently, the driver of the truck told responding authorities that there was some kind of mechanical failure that forced the truck off the road. Luckily, there were no other vehicles involved in the accident, and no one was seriously injured as a result of the truck overturning. It is unclear if the driver of the truck was cited for any traffic violation.

Overturned Trucks

One of the many dangers of large trucks is their propensity to flip over easily. It appears from the driver’s statement in the accident above that mechanical failure was responsible for the roll-over in that case. However, there are myriad other reasons that a truck may roll over, including:

Truck Wreck Results in Spilled Fuel on Maryland Highway

December 17, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this week in Maryland Heights, a tank truck flipped over on the highway, spilling thousands of gallons of fuel onto the road. According to a report by one local news source, the accident occurred around 9:30 in the morning on Maryland Heights Expressway north of Creve Coeur Mill Road.

Evidently, another tank truck overturned at around the same time on Highway 270, requiring emergency responders to triage the two accidents. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured in either of the two potentially catastrophic accidents. Police are still conducting an investigation into how the accidents may have occurred.

Trucks with Dangerous Loads

Trucks carry almost anything one can imagine across the country. On occasion, a trucking company will have the need to transport hazardous, flammable, or otherwise dangerous materials on the nation’s highways.
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Four-Vehicle Wreck in Howard County Injures Six

December 10, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this week in Elkridge, a semi-truck, an ambulance, and two other vehicles were involved in a serious car accident that left six people injured. According to one local news report, the accident occurred around seven in the evening near the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Kit Kat Road, in Elkridge.

Evidently, the semi-truck was stopped in the middle of Washington Blvd., taking up three lanes because it had just been involved in an accident. As the ambulance approached the traffic jam created as a result of the accident, it crashed into a Hyundai and then bounced into the semi-truck, colliding with the rear portion of the truck. The force from the ambulance hitting the Hyundai sent the Hyundai into another vehicle.

The driver of the ambulance needed to be extricated from the vehicle when emergency crews arrived. This process took about an hour, and afterwards the driver was sent to Shock Trauma in Baltimore. He is currently listed in critical condition. The remaining people involved in the accident suffered less serious injuries and have since been treated and released.

Bicyclist Dies After Colliding with Sanitation Truck

December 3, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in Gaithersburg, a bicyclist was killed when he was struck by a sanitation truck that was pulling into a parking lot. According to one local news report, the bicyclist was riding on the 12100 block of Darnestown Road heading east when the accident occurred.

Evidently, the driver of a sanitation truck was heading westbound on Darnestown Road when he attempted to make a left turn into a parking lot. As he completed the left turn, he struck the bicyclist, fatally injuring him. At the time he attempted to make the turn, the truck driver had a green light. The bicyclist was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency workers.

Police are currently investigating the cause of the accident to see if the bicyclist was at fault or whether it was the truck driver’s negligence that caused the accident. Depending on the result of their investigation, the truck driver may face charges for his role in the accident.

Trucker Killed When He Crashes into Disabled Dump Truck

November 26, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this week in a fatal accident out of Prince William County, Virginia, a truck driver lost his life when he crashed into a disabled dump truck on Interstate 95. According to a report by a local CBS affiliate, the dump truck was stalled in the middle northbound lane of I-95 around mile marker 195.

Evidently, the dump truck driver notified authorities as soon as his vehicle became disabled. However, before authorities could get to the scene, the semi-truck driver crashed into the back of the dump truck. It was only a matter of minutes after the truck was disabled that it was hit.

After the accident, the driver of the dump truck was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. However, the driver of the semi-truck was killed in the accident and pronounced dead at the scene. Both drivers were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the accident.

Huge Beam Falls Off Semi-Truck in Washington State

November 21, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in Everett, Washington, an 86-foot beam fell off the back of a semi-truck as the truck was making a left turn. According to a report by one local news source, the 55-ton beam fell off the truck on a Thursday afternoon around 4:30 in the afternoon and remained on the road for approximately nine hours until emergency crews were able to remove it.

Evidently, the truck driver was almost to his destination when he made a left turn and the beam fell off the back of the semi-truck. There is no indication as to how the beam was secured on the truck, or how it came off the back of the truck. Luckily, no one was hurt when the beam fell off the truck.

Police are currently investigating the cause of the accident. Thus far into the investigation, they do not believe that drugs or alcohol were involved.

Car Cuts off Semi-Truck on NJ Highway, Causing Two Deaths

November 14, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this in New Jersey, a tragic accident claimed the lives of two motorists when a semi-truck rolled over on top of a car, engulfing both vehicles in flames. According to a report by one local news source, a truck was heading down New Jersey Route 21 around 7:30 in the evening when a car cut off the truck.

As the truck lost control, it slammed into the guardrail and eventually toppled over on top of another car. The truck and the car it fell on top of both caught fire. Shortly thereafter, another vehicle crashed into the wreckage.

After the truck driver got out of the vehicle, he ran over to the car that was still on fire. Witnesses report that he tried to help get the people trapped inside out of the car. Unfortunately, he was unable to get them out, and both passengers in the car were pronounced dead at the scene. The truck driver is expected to be fine.

2013 Rosedale Accident Determined To Be Caused by Distracted Driving

November 7, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Last year in Rosedale, a trash truck crossed onto a railroad track as the train was approaching and caused the train to derail, ultimately resulting in millions of dollars of property damage. Luckily, no one was hurt in the accident.

Just recently, the National Transportation Safety Board released the results of its investigation into the accident. The NTSB determined that the driver failed to check that the tracks were clear before he proceeded over them. Specifically, the NTSB also determined that the driver of the trash truck was on his cellular phone, using a hands-free device, at the time of the accident.

Evidently, the cell phone records of the driver came back indicating that he accepted a phone call just 18 seconds before the serious accident.

Truck Driver Dies in Hagerstown I-81 Crash

October 24, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In a tragic accident earlier this week in West Hagerstown, one man lost his life in a semi-truck accident when the truck he was driving drifted off the right side of the road, struck a guardrail, and then ran into a bridge support beam. According to one local news report, the truck was carrying recyclables and was heading northbound on Interstate 81 when the fatal accident occurred.

Evidently, when the truck crashed into the beam, it exploded. Investigators believe that a saddle fuel ruptured on impact and that was the cause of the explosion. The driver of the truck was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Thankfully, no other cars or trucks were involved in the accident, and the truck driver was the only person injured.

One witness to the accident told reporters that she was about 13 car lengths back at the time of the collision, and that initially she didn’t think that it was a very serious accident. It wasn’t until the loud “boom” that she realized the seriousness of the accident. Engineers were called in to assess the structural integrity of the bridge after the explosion. It is not yet clear what the situation is regarding the bridge’s stability.