Maryland Trucking Accident Lawyer Blog

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.

Three Maryland Residents Killed After Car Hits Tractor-Trailer along Rte 1 in Howard County

December 16, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Every Maryland driver must understand that the potential for being involved in traffic accident with a large commercial motor vehicle is a sad, yet inevitable side-effect of sharing the roadways with these large vehicles, in only because modern, large-scale commerce would be virtually impossible without the use of 18-wheelers, fuel tanker trucks, commercial delivery trucks and large construction vehicles. Of course, it doesn’t excuse those truckers from causing a crash, especially if they are found to have operated their vehicle in a negligent manner.

As Baltimore personal injury attorneys, I and my staff of legal professionals understand that after any accident — regardless of whether it is between two passenger cars, an SUV and a pedestrian on foot, a single motorcycle that crashes due to poor roadway maintenance, or a minivan hit by a large 18-wheeler — it is important to assess the situation and determine which party or parties was at fault. This is especially critical in cases where the victims has sustained serious and life-altering injuries, such as spinal cord damage, closed-head trauma or amputated limbs.

As any driver in the Baltimore, Gaithersburg or Washington, D.C., area has likely seen, the aftermath of a commercial trucking accident can be extensive and devastating. Traffic accidents involving these behemoths can turn a standard passenger car into a crumpled, nearly unrecognizable pile of metal and plastic. And no surprise; these large trucks can weigh upward of 80,000 pounds. Compare that to even a good-sized sport utility vehicle at 4,000 pounds; there is no comparison and little defense when such a large and massive commercial vehicle slams into a light-weight passenger vehicle.

Baltimore Bus Crash Injures Members of Girl’s Soccer Team, Two Drivers and a Pedestrian

December 5, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As Maryland personal injury lawyers, I and my colleagues recognize that not everyone can avoid exposing themselves to the many and varied dangers out there on our public roads and highways. This is why we always warn friends and associates to be all the more cautious when driving in dense traffic or taking public transportation.

Naturally, as a motorist, one has more control over any given driving situation than a person who is riding as an occupant of a commuter train, municipal shuttle or school bus. And although passenger car occupants are in a smaller vehicle, they also have the advantage of seatbelts and airbags to protect them in a crash; the same cannot be said for most bus riders. We won’t go into the dangers associated with motorcycle accidents here, but even with a helmet on bikers have less protection overall than commuters on a city bus or a driver in a small economy car.

This latter category is particularly concerning, since children are very precious to their parents and relatives, yet as they get older and begin going to school, they are more and more out of their parents’ control. This is why we believe that the potential for school bus accidents, whether during normal school hours or on extended field trips and traveling to sporting events, can weigh particularly heavy on parents and guardians.

Maryland Injury Accident News: Glen Burnie Woman Killed in Highway Collision with 18-Wheeler Semi

November 30, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Anytime a life is lost it is a true tragedy, but in cases of traffic accidents one must consider that most circumstances likely could have been prevented. Sadly, tens of thousands of innocent people lose their lives in fatal car, truck and motorcycle collisions every year in this country. As Baltimore personal injury lawyers, we more than most understand the pain, anger and resentment felt by the victims’ families at the time of their greatest loss. Nothing can bring back a loved one who has been killed in a senseless roadway accident; and no amount of compensation can make it alright.

Families who have seen a parent, child, sibling or grandparent taken from them by the negligent action of another driver have recourse. Certainly, if the victim was not killed outright, but suffered from his or her injuries, the family is fully within their rights to file a lawsuit to recover medical costs, as well as punitive damages from the responsible party or parties. When a commercial trucker is found to be negligent, both the driver and his employer may be subject to a wrongful death lawsuit as well.

We all can understand that trucking-related accidents, whether they occur here in the Baltimore area, in Annapolis, out in Washington, D.C., or over in Rockville, are something that none of us can stop from happening. Laws are put in place to help protect the motoring public, but laws can only go so far. Physics and fate are sadly the more influential forces in the real world. Short of banning all vehicular traffic everywhere, there is no way that every automobile or commercial trucking accident can be prevented, at least from a practical standpoint.

Port Deposit, MD, Gasoline Tanker Crash Kills Maryland Driver in Roadway Blaze

November 15, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As Maryland personal injury lawyers, we know of few more terrifying accidents that driver can find themselves in than a car or truck fire. While pedestrians and motorcycle riders who are hurt in traffic accidents can receive some bad injuries, being trapped in a burning motor vehicle and knowing that one’s fuel tank is filled with the equivalent of many sticks of dynamite can be a horrifying experience, and one that survivors of such events are not soon to forget.

Roadway accidents happen all over the state of Maryland and the Washington, D.C., area. But vehicle fires are not always seen, though they do occur with some frequency. As auto accident attorneys practicing in the Baltimore area, I and my colleagues are ready to assist those victims of car, truck and pedestrian accidents, as well as to assist the families who have lost a loved one following a tragic and untimely death.

A while back we heard of one accident that would likely send chills through drivers everywhere. The roadway crash in question took place on a Friday evening when a commercial tanker truck carrying a load of gasoline crashed and burned in the area of Port Deposit, Maryland. According to news reports, the incident took place around 9pm at the intersection of Main St. and Rte 222 in Cecil County, MD. According to the Maryland State Police, the tanker truck was rounding what officials describe as a “sweeping curve” as it came down a rather steep incline heading westbound from Interstate 95 on the way into Port Deposit.

City Bus Goes Out-of-Control in Baltimore, Injures Seven Maryland Residents in Sidewalk Collision

November 10, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

While it may be unreasonable to assume we, as pedestrians, are always safe so long as we do not walk blithely into an intersection or across a busy highway without looking, is it beyond reason that we should at least feel moderately safe from being hit by a car or commercial delivery truck when strolling along a public sidewalk or sitting inside a restaurant or other establishment? Our expectations of safety and security undoubtedly must be tempered by the knowledge that accidents do happen in places one would not necessarily expect.

To take it one step further, it is reasonable to assume that a slip-and-fall accident or other personal injury incident might happen in the absence of motor vehicle traffic. But people have been hurt, and some even killed, while minding their own business in a fast-food restaurant, at home or while standing and waiting at a street corner. Obviously, the closer one is to a public or even private roadway, the greater one’s chances of being involved in a car- or truck-pedestrian collision. As Maryland personal injury attorneys, we know these kinds of event can and do happen; the question is many times, when will they occur?

As pedestrians, we are all somewhat at the mercy of fate, unless of course one sequesters oneself at home, far from automobiles and other vehicles. And just as a bicyclist can be killed in a car accident or a motorcycle rider can be injured in traffic wreck, people on-foot should be aware of the ever-present dangers that a modern and mobile society present to those less protected against serious injury.

Baltimore Personal Injury News: At Least Two Maryland Residents Hurt in Separate Commercial Trucking Accidents

November 1, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As we have mentioned time and time again, avoiding a traffic collision may not be something motorists actively think about day in and day out, but the fact remains that every day, week or month that any of us is not involved in a car, truck or motorcycle accident is one more day we have each beaten the odds. Naturally, good drivers and those experienced as professionals skew the results for the rest of the driving population by getting through months or years without being caught in a traffic collision.

Remember, however, that on average, anyone reading this right now has an even chance of being involved in a roadway collision at some point in their lifetime. As Maryland personal injury attorneys, I and my colleagues are more than certain that those individuals who are involved in traffic accident here in Maryland, or over in Washington, D.C., will have a much higher chance of being seriously injured or killed if that crash includes a large commercial truck.

This is because the massive size and overall weight of 18-wheel tractor-trailers, large box trucks, flatbed trailer trucks, construction dump trucks, and fuel tankers can only exacerbate the injuries associated with any highway accident. When a trucking-related collision does happen, it is an almost certainty that the injuries sustained by those in smaller passenger cars, motorcyclists, pedestrians and other bystanders will be more severe than a “typical” car-to-car crash.

Injuries Reported in Commercial Truck Crash after Semi Loses Tire in Frederick County

October 31, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Hard as it may be to reconcile at time, we all put our lives on the line each and every time we step out of homes and into a motor vehicle to travel to work, school or even to the grocery store. It’s not a pleasant thought, to be sure, but it is a reality: People are killed and injured every day across the state of Maryland, and throughout the U.S., doing simple day-to-day activities that none of us would think twice about. As Maryland personal injury lawyers, we have to concur that operating a motor vehicle can be intrinsically life-threatening, if only from a statistical standpoint.

Of all the many and varied causes of traffic collisions, a percentage of these are the result of a failure in some safety- or control-related vehicle component or system. Be it a fractured steering shaft, poorly cast suspension arm, improperly torqued bolt or other fastener, even a faulty safety belt, each of these items can result in a serious accident. Depending on the part, the vehicle’s speed at the time of the failure, and other factors, it’s not a stretch to say that a fatality or multiple fatalities could be in the cards as well.

As automobile, trucking and motorcycle accident attorneys, we understand that these are not uplifting subjects. But the fact remains, at least for experienced legal professionals like ourselves, the existence of a faulty or poorly designed vehicle part or component can be grounds for a products liability suit, especially if a person is hurt or killed as a result of the failure.

Baltimore Highway Accident News: Entire Maryland Family Dies in Fatal Semi Tractor-Trailer Collision

October 29, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Heart-breaking human tragedies happen all too often here in Maryland, not to mention throughout the nation and the world, so there is little sense railing against the nature of fate and unexpected events. Yet, this is just the problem with traffic-related injuries and deaths; so much about car, truck and motorcycle accidents would seem to be preventable, if not mostly avoidable. When a car or trucking accident takes the life of someone, anyone, we all suffer to some extent.

Families suffer through the loss of a loved one; a spouse, a sibling, a parent or a child killed in a tragic traffic accident. Society suffers in some way as well, with the loss of a fellow human being and, in the case of children or young adults, a young life that may have been full of promise, now gone forever. Never mind the financial costs to the family or the community, especially if the victim was a major contributor to the well-being of the local economy or a supporter of charities and other benevolent organizations.

In short, fatal highway wrecks in no way improve the human condition; at best they can only point up deficiencies in the safety of certain vehicles, poor design in particular roads, or lack of care on the part of another, possibly negligent driver. As Maryland injury attorneys practicing in the Baltimore area, as well as Washington, D.C., we understand how a family can be ripped asunder by a senseless and preventable death caused by a highway collision.