Maryland Trucking Accident Lawyer Blog

Federal Investigators Focus on Trucking Company for Alleged “Chameleon” Operations following Fatal Highway Accident

February 28, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As a highly regulated industry, one would expect that all commercial trucking firms would follow the laws of the state, as well as federal regulations, yet it is sometimes frightening to find that some of these operations are not always run in a safe and proper fashion. By this we mean to say that, from time to time, a commercial trucking company may cut corners to the point of reduced safety of their vehicles and possibly poor choices in terms of who they choose to drive those large trucks.

Of course, anyone who reads the newspaper or watches the evening news will note from time to time that trucking-related traffic accidents can be traced back to poorly maintained vehicle equipment or questionable employee screening. As Baltimore personal injury lawyers, I and my colleagues have seen the result of accidents that may have been caused by improperly maintained vehicles or truck drivers who may have been impaired — either through drugs or alcohol, or due to drowsiness resulting from excessive service hours and insufficient sleep.

Having seen the kind of injuries inflicted on innocent victims by events surrounding bad trucking-related traffic accidents, it is not hard to understand why the government will shut a commercial firm down after many instances of safety infractions and, possibly, fatal or near-fatal car, truck or motorcycle crashes involving a big rig, semi or large commercial box truck.

Trucker Loses Control of 18-Wheeler in Frederick County Collision; Kills Two People, Injures Three

February 26, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Whether a commercial trucking accident case involves catastrophic claims, punitive damages and/or multiple defendants, a plaintiff will usually benefit from the valuable advice and skills provided by a qualified personal injury attorney experienced in trucking-related traffic collisions. Here in the Baltimore area, it’s not difficult to hear of or read about many traffic-related accidents every week. As automobile and motorcycle injury accident lawyers, I and my staff of legal professionals know first-hand the extent to which victims of these kinds of roadway collisions suffer through their pain and rehabilitee following a bad crash.

When it comes to trucking accident litigation, we understand the stress and worry that victims and their families can experience when filing a personal injury lawsuit or wrongful death claim against a large company with extensive resources at its disposal. This fact, however, does not mean that one’s claim is irrelevant or should be swept under the rug. To the contrary, truck drivers and the companies that employ them have a responsibility to the general public. And when a mistake has been made, especially one that has resulted in serious injury or death, the responsible party must answer for it.

As many people already understand, at least intrinsically, a personal injury lawsuit involving a trucking-related traffic accident differs in many ways from that of a common automobile accident case. Whereas passenger car accidents involve more much cut-and-dried elements, cases covering injuries or fatalities resulting from a commercial truck wreck require particular expertise. This is why it is always good to seek out the best possible legal representation when you or a loved one has been hurt in a serious trucking-related collision.

Auto Injury News: Maryland Mother and Daughter Die in Out-of-State Commercial Trucking Accident

February 15, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

While we hate to sound like a broken record, we feel compelled to remind anyone reading this to be particularly cautious when driving near a large commercial vehicle. It makes little difference if you live in Baltimore, Rockville, Germantown or the District, being involved in a traffic accident with a much larger commercial motor vehicle can lead to life-threatening injuries or even death. As Maryland personal injury experts, I and my legal staff have seen too many of these large-vehicle wrecks not to advise caution when approaching any 18-wheeler, gasoline tanker truck, automobile hauler, or even a municipal or charter bus.

Injuries sustained by occupants of a passenger car or light truck accident, or a motorcyclist injured by a large truck or other massive motor vehicle can be serious and extensive. From contusions and deep lacerations to multiple fractures, internal organ damage and closed-head trauma, many of the injuries received in these kinds of collisions can lead to other complications, lengthy hospital stays and even death. Head and neck injuries have been known to eventually cause severe paralysis or even paraplegia. Considering the choice between a possible lifetime of 24-hour assisted care versus allowing a big rig semi a wide berth, we know what we our choice would be.

Many traffic accidents involving trucks result from driver fatigue. In fact, a Federal Highway Administration’s study showed that fatigue makes trucking accidents all the more possible. According to experts in the field, although most individuals require more than seven hours of sleep a day to function well, the average trucker reportedly gets less than five hours on average. This is shocking, especially considering the fact that there are regulations in place designed to preclude this kind of situation. Sadly, it apparently does not always help; at any one moment all across our country, there are conceivably hundreds of truck drivers operating their vehicles while in an overly fatigued state, if not completely impaired by lack of sleep.

Baltimore Traffic Safety Update: Fog, Heavy Rain, Blizzards Present Serious Risks to Maryland Drivers

February 8, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The next time you hit a fog bank, encounter white-out blizzard conditions or get stuck in a torrential rain storm, please remember that the prudent course of action is to slow down, turn on your emergency flashers and be prepared for any and all possible accident situations. This is not always easy, even for experienced drivers like police officers, EMS drivers and truckers, but it’s a wise idea to be prepared.

As Maryland auto accident attorneys and personal injury lawyers, we have seen the results of too many car, truck and motorcycle accidents not to take seriously any circumstances that can even remotely lead to a traffic crash or roadway collision involving cars, bikes or commercial trucks. Don’t let you or a loved one become just another line in a list of highway accident statistics and please use caution when poor weather strikes.

This advice goes as much to drivers of private vehicles as it does to professional truck drivers. In fact, in many cases, a commercial truck that loses control on a slippery stretch of roadway can cause much more serious and extensive damage to people and property that any passenger car, minivan or sport utility vehicle ever could.

Baltimore Auto Accident News: Minor Injuries Reported Following I-95 Collision in Harford County

January 31, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

When it comes to trucking-related traffic accidents, especially those involving serious bodily injury, there are some key differences between these and the more or less “normal” passenger car collisions. In fact, many people who seek assistance from a Maryland personal injury attorney will often understand this intrinsically, though they may not know the specifics of understanding their rights following such commercial trucking wrecks.

Whether one is injured in roadway accident here in the Owings Mills area, somewhere in the greater Baltimore metro area, or over in the District of Columbia, the aftermath of a bad tractor-trailer crash can be a devastating sight to see. As we alluded, from a legal standpoint, my legal team of auto, commercial truck and motorcycle injury lawyers look at trucking accidents through a much different lens than other private motor vehicle collisions.

For instance, when determining negligence based solely on the rules of the road, there is no particular difference between a commercial truck-related crash and a passenger sedan or motorcycle accident. However, when a violation has occurred in terms of the state and federal rules covering commercial vehicle — such as 18-wheelers, tanker trucks, construction vehicles, commercial service vans, and even municipal buses and touring coaches — there is a large difference.

Easton, MD, Trucking Accident; Head-on Collision between Delivery Truck and Car Kills One Person

January 24, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It’s amazing when one considers that nearly 200 traffic accidents occur every hour around this country. As automobile, trucking and motorcycle accident lawyers, I and my colleagues are serious when we say that over-worked and over-tired trucker can cause some of the most serious, deadly and large-scale traffic accidents of any motor vehicle drivers on our roads. It’s really a matter of simple physics. With a combined vehicle weight upward of 50,000 pounds or more, the shear mass of an 18-wheeler far outstrips that of our miniscule passenger sedans, family minivans and even the largest of our sport utility vehicles.

To put it succinctly, as well-built as today’s passenger cars and SUVs they are no match against even a lightly-loaded or even an empty semi tractor-trailer rig. The steel structure surrounding a family sedan, which to you and me seems very strong and rigid, cannot very well withstand the impact from a large big rig weighing more than 10, 15 and sometimes 20 times that of the smaller passenger vehicle.

Having practiced for years as auto and trucking accident injury attorneys, the lawyers at Lebowitz & Mzhen have the skills to assist victims of serious traffic accidents recover costs associated with medical treatment, hospital stays and physical therapy. We know from our experience that trucking-related collisions are unlike other motor vehicle crashes. Understanding Maryland’s commercial vehicle law’s, as well as federal regulations governing the trucking industry is important in any case involving injury or death due to negligence on the part of a truck driver or his employer.

Maryland State Patrol Officer Survives Close Call with Commercial Motor Vehicle on Interstate 70

January 16, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The unfortunate and mostly unavoidable side-effect of modern day motoring is that large and small vehicle alike end up sharing Maryland’s high-speed and congested thoroughfares. Regardless if one lives or works in Germantown, Glenn Burnie, Waldorf or the District, the potential for an accident involving a commercial delivery truck, semi tractor-trailer, or even a commercial repair van is ever-present across our state.

As Maryland personal injury lawyers, we serve the victims of car, truck and motorcycle accidents who have been sent to the hospital with serious to life-threatening injuries all because of another individual’s error in judgment or simple careless actions. Thousands of innocent people are hurt or killed annually by negligent driving attributed to operators of 18-wheelers, flatbed tractor-trailers, commercial box trucks and gasoline or chemical tankers. We understand how a simple drive to the mall or a trip to the supermarket can end in weeks or months of medical treatment, physical pain and difficult rehabilitation.

Many auto accidents in here in Maryland typically happen on some of the more frequented byways, such as Interstate 695 (also known as the Baltimore Beltway), the Baltimore-Washington Pkwy (I-295), Interstate 95, and I-495/Washington Beltway. Simply bad driving, possibly overworked truckers, and illegally loaded and oversized trailers are just a few of the dangers that can confront Maryland drivers on a daily basis.

Minor Injuries After Two School Buses Tangle with Semi Tractor-Trailer Rig on Highway

January 8, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

At any one time, children represent both a precious commodity as well as one of the most vulnerable assets any family has. As many parents will attest, having kids is a joy like no other, but the worry and concern, not to mention the responsibility, that comes with parenthood can be unnerving to some, if not all mothers and fathers. In the home, we can watch over youngsters, though even the safest household can be fraught with hidden dangers. But when children start to play with friend outside, or begin their school careers, parents must relinquish much of the control they once had to others in whom they must place all of their trust.

For kids who ride on school buses, they can face possible injury should there be a mistake on the part of any number of motorists, truck drivers or operators of large commercial vehicles. We won’t even go into the potential for disaster should a safety-related vehicle component fail while a bus is traveling at highway speeds. The point here, at least from our standpoint as Baltimore personal injury attorneys, is that a bus accident can affect not just one person, but many; not just one child but children of multiple families.

Large commercial vehicles, such as buses, many times are very tall, overall. While this allows the occupants to conveniently move around inside the vehicle, it also results in a much higher center of gravity; sometimes dangerously so. Unlike passenger cars and even sport utility vehicles, which themselves can be prone to rollover-type crashes given the right circumstances, school buses and commercial tour buses, as well as municipal commuter buses, can be hard to control under emergency situations.

Two Successive 18-Wheeler Wrecks on the Capitol Beltway; No Injuries, But Long Tied Ups

December 31, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: anyone who is injured in a traffic accident caused by the negligence of another driver or other responsible party owes it to themselves and their family to consider speaking to a qualified Maryland personal injury attorney. Especially in cases where expensive medical care and costly rehabilitation is or will be required, there is no reason for the victim of traffic accident to bear the brunt of the costs from a crash caused by another individual.

At Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers, we understand how easily a family can be sent into a devastating spiral of financial debt and emotional pain when a loved one — especially a breadwinner, such as a single mother or father — is injured or killed in a senseless traffic collision. Over the years, our legal staff has assisted numerous victims and their families affected by bad injury accidents or fatal roadway crashes resulting from the negligent actions of a truck driver, bus operator or cabby. These commercial vehicle-related auto-truck collisions have the potential to interrupt or destroy the lives of victims because of both the physical and emotional injuries that can result.

Whether the financial problems come due to emergency room bills, hospital costs, rehabilitation expenses, or lost wages, victims and their families have the right to pursue the responsible party and recover those costs incurred through no fault of their own. And those responsible do not have to be the trucker himself; many times responsibility in whole or in part can be attributed to the owners of the commercial trucking fleet that employed the driver and supplied the vehicle for him or her to operate.

Maryland Man and Two passengers Hurt in Crash with Semi Tractor-Trailer Rig on I-79

December 22, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Unlike traffic accidents involving passenger cars, collisions between a cars and pedestrians, and motorcycle-related roadway crashes, trucking accidents can be and many times are serious events affecting multiple vehicles and numerous individuals. Here in the Baltimore area, as well as throughout Maryland and in the Washington, D.C., area, commercial truck drivers are held to higher standards than the average motorist.

As a Maryland personal injury law firm, our attorneys know the law as it applies to traffic accidents caused by drivers of commercial vehicles. With specific standards required of truckers and the companied for which they work, any personal injury lawyer who handles cases involving these kinds of large-vehicle crashes must fully understand both state and federal regulations covering commercial vehicles. Any truck driver or commercial trucking company that is found to be in violation of Maryland’s commercial vehicle laws, could possibly be held responsible if any one or a number of those rules has been violated while the vehicle in question is out on the road.

It’s quite true that trucking accidents are an unfortunate reality in our modern world; these is really no avoiding these vehicles as passenger car drivers and other motorists must inevitably share the road with extremely large and massive vehicles. It’s no surprise, then, that thousands of innocent victims killed, injured or maimed in accident involving collisions with semi tractor-trailer rigs and other large commercial motor vehicles.