Maryland Trucking Accident Lawyer Blog

Truck-to-Truck Collision in Talbot County Sends Maryland Driver to Baltimore Trauma Center

September 30, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Trucking-related accidents can be fatal to those people traveling in passenger cars who are unlucky enough to be involved in a crash with these heavy-weight motor vehicles. But as Baltimore auto injury lawyers, the legal staff at y firm knows that other commercial truck drivers are just as at risk as many other drivers of car, truck and motorcycles caught in a collision with a semi tractor-trailer, tank truck, municipal bus, or box truck. This is why we always advise caution when passing or driving near large commercial vehicles, especially at higher speeds on the expressway.

It’s a common problem that trucking accidents are frequently caused by driver fatigue. In fact, drowsiness on the part of truckers is one of the primary contributing factors linked to commercial trucking accidents. As motorists, we tend all to rely on the fact that truck drivers are professionals, and as such they are required by law to follow various state and federal safety regulations specifically written to protect the rest of us. Sadly, not every trucker or trucking company obeys the laws laid out for them.

Thousands of innocent people, mostly drivers and passengers in private automobiles, sport utility vehicles and minivans are hurt in collisions caused in full or in part by the driver of a tractor-trailer or commercial delivery vehicle. Whether the negligent trucker is operating a car hauler, tanker truck, flatbed tractor-trailer, commercial dump truck, box trucks or any of the numerous other commercial motor vehicles plying our state’s highways and city streets, the potential for personal injury is high.

Commercial Lumber Truck Crashes near Baltimore, Igniting Fire and Killing Driver on Interstate 95

September 25, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

We’ve said it before, but trucking accidents are an unfortunate part of the automotive landscape here in Maryland. With the tens of thousands of passenger cars, truck and motorcycles all sharing the road with each other, it’s amazing that more accidents do not happen on a regular basis. But when it comes to collisions involving commercial vehicles, we are all in greater danger as occupants of much smaller and less massive passenger cars.

As Baltimore auto accident attorneys, I and my colleagues see just a fraction of the thousands of innocent people who are injured every year across the United States as a result of being caught up in a collision with a tractor-trailer, 18-wheeler, tanker truck, of large commercial delivery vehicle. Obviously, the sheer size and mass of these motor vehicles — approaching 20-times the weight of an average sport utility vehicle or family minivan — makes these trucks intrinsically more dangerous than other cars and trucks on the roadways.

As motorists ourselves, we have each at one time or another driven slowly past the site of a commercial vehicle accident on the expressway or country road. The destruction that such a large and heavy vehicle can cause to cars, light trucks and motorcycles is sobering to say the least. Weighing in at upward of 80,000 pounds, a commercial vehicle whose driver has lost control, for whatever reason, can easily wreck serious havoc on other passenger vehicles and bystanders. Serious and fatal injuries are not uncommon in these instances.

Traffic Safety Update: Caution Advised Whenever Approaching an Accident Scene with Personnel and Emergency Vehicles

September 21, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

More than once you may have heard the phrase uttered, “Work as long as we have in this business and you’ll see just about everything.” Well, we can say that if a person lives in the Baltimore area long enough there will likely come a day when you may start to see things that in no way surprise you. As automobile injury accident lawyers, I and my colleagues are less surprised than most people at the types of car, truck and motorcycle crashes that occur weekly across this state.

The point is that in densely packed metropolitan areas like Baltimore and Washington, D.C., hardly a day goes by without a severe traffic-related collision between cars and trucks. These kinds of roadway wrecks can result in some very serious and life-threatening physical injuries. Back and neck injuries, many involving spinal cord damage are common, as are traumatic brain injuries. Certainly, those caught up in motorcycle-related accidents have a greater chance than anyone of being serious hurt in a roadway wreck.

As Maryland personal injury attorneys, we understand many of the causes of car and truck collisions, but even so, we can still be amazed by the way in which these accidents come about. Consider an incident that happened just a short while ago involving a couple passenger cars and a fire department vehicle. While the fire truck was not moving at the time, one has to ask themself whether or not the other drivers were paying attention to the road ahead of them.

Maryland Auto Injury Accident News: Two Die in Separate Trucking-related Traffic Accidents

September 14, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Surviving a collision with a large commercial motor vehicle can be as random as the initial circumstances that set the traffic accident in motion to start with. One could say that it is simply a “role of the dice” whether or not an victim of an automobile or motorcycle wreck will make it to the hospital, much less recover from his or her injuries sufficiently to live a long and fulfilling life.

Looking as we do at the events leading up to a serious injury accident or fatal traffic collision, it is no mere coincidence that vehicle mass, or weight, plays a significant part in whether or not a driver or other occupants will sustain mild or critical injuries. Being involved in a highway accident between a relatively small passenger car, minivan or sport utility vehicle and a much larger commercial motor vehicle is a case in point.

As Maryland personal injury attorneys, we know that a significant percentage of injuries are sustained by drivers and passengers of smaller vehicles that are hit by large trucks, such as semi tractor-trailers, large box trucks, commercial delivery vehicles and even heavier utility trucks. It all goes back to physics, but the important thing to remember is that the danger exists. Knowing that a roadway incident involving a larger motor vehicle, drivers should always be on the alert when traveling in traffic alongside one of these vehicles or when approaching an oncoming truck on an undivided road.

Maryland Traffic Injury Update: Commercial Trucking Accidents Can Lead to Passenger Car Fatalities

August 31, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It is an unfortunate outcome of many a highway wreck involving a large commercial motor vehicle, but occupants of passenger cars that are involved in collisions with big rigs — have a fairly good chance of being hurt or seriously injures during a bad multi-vehicle pileup. The issue in many of these cases is that the simple factor of mass, or weight, for those non-scientific among us, can make the difference between life and death. Size is certainly a factor here, but all things being equal, the two are interrelated.

For anyone who has not been involved in, or been witness to a severe car-truck traffic accident the statistics kept of such events tend to bear this out; that time and again, injuries from trucking-related collisions, especially those involving smaller and more lightweight passenger vehicles, can typically result in much more serious and often fatal bodily injury. These can include, but are in no way limited to traumatic brain damage, spinal cord injuries, broken bones and compound fractures, and other sometimes permanently disabling injuries.

It is because larger and heavier 18-wheelers and other commercial motor vehicles are so common on our highways and city streets that these kinds of accidents occur at fairly frequent rates. As Maryland personal injury lawyers, the legal professionals at my firm understand very well that any traffic accident involving a semi, large box truck or heavy commercial equipment can easily turn into a life-threatening event for the individuals involved.

Baltimore Traffic Accident News: Some Truckers are Less Professional than Others, Cause More Accidents

August 25, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It may not be too much of a stretch for those among us — long-time motorists and seasoned commuters alike — to consider themselves at least to some extent professional drivers. Certainly the number of miles driven over decades of traveling to and from work likely add up to the hundreds of thousands, but this is just a fraction of the mileage that the pros log. Those who operate buses, taxis and large commercial vehicles for a living are the true professional drivers, and as such they carry a responsibility to the rest of us to maintain safe vehicles and operate them in a safe manner that avoids risk of accidental bodily injury.

Professional truck drivers, as with other working professions, are licensed by the federal government to be competent in their field of endeavor. In the case of truckers, a commercial driver’s license (CDL) is required for any person employed in the operation of 18-wheelers, commercial delivery trucks and other heavy over-the-road equipment. Unfortunately, the fact that a driver passes a test and keeps up with annual requirements is no guarantee that any one individual will not be involved in a traffic accident of his or her making.

It’s likely that most of our readers give only a passing thought to the potential damage that an out-of-control tractor-trailer or large delivery vehicle can inflict on property and innocent people. As Maryland personal injury attorneys, I and my staff know how a normal commute can turn into a nightmare of vehicular carnage with just a slight bit of inattention or a thoughtless action behind the wheel. The fact is, it only takes one careless or otherwise negligent trucker to ruin the lives of one or more people who otherwise did nothing wrong except be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Commercial Trucking Crashes Occur Frequently in Maryland, Injuring Motorists, Bicyclists and Pedestrians Alike

August 22, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As personal injury attorneys serving victims of car, truck and motorcycle accidents, I and my colleagues are sensitive to the pain and suffering that can result from even the most innocuous of traffic accidents. Whether a person is injured in the Baltimore area, or over in Gaithersburg, Rockville or even Washington, D.C., we are available for consultation with victims of slip-and-fall mishaps, automobile collisions and even pharmacy errors and injuries received at nursing homes in the area.

For those who have been unlucky enough to be caught in a roadway wreck with a large commercial vehicle, such as a semi tractor-trailer hauling heavy loads, or an urban delivery vehicle such as a UPS or FedEX box truck, we understand how serious and even life-threatening injuries can easily happen to a driver or his passengers. And regardless of whether the injured parties are adults or children hurt in a car crash, the serious of the situation is never lost on personal injury lawyers like ourselves.

While many people go through life relatively unconcerned about their safety on Maryland roadways, the fact remains that there are many drivers currently on our streets and highways who have little or no regard for the well-being of others with whom they may be sharing the road. Aggressive drivers, taxi and hire-car drivers, and even professional truckers may be among those whose actions can spell danger and certain injury to many innocent motorists throughout our state.

Two Truck Drivers Injured in Collision between 18-Wheeler and Commercial Box Truck in Frederick, MD

August 17, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

We won’t go into great detail here, but it is instructive to remind people that being involved in a traffic accident with a larger and more massive commercial vehicle can have a significant effect on the extent of one’s injuries following a roadway collision. As Maryland personal injury attorneys, I and my colleagues understand the law as it pertains to personal injury caused by a collision with an 18-wheeler tractor-trailer rig, commercial box truck, cement mixer or dump truck, even a city bus or airport shuttle.

How often do these types of accident occur? From our perspective, often enough to merit extreme caution when driving with one’s family along Maryland roadways, not to mention dense urban areas. Based on statistics compiled over the years, trucking accidents involving passenger cars can result in extensive, if not serious bodily injury to the automobile’s driver and occupants. Even large, so-called safer sport utility vehicles are not much of a match for a 20-ton tractor-trailer rig carrying a full load.

So what happens when truck meets truck on the highway? Unlike the mismatch between commercial vehicles and smaller autos, two trucks of near equal mass will likely suffer similar damage, depending on the circumstances. In these types of cases, the drivers and passengers in either vehicle could be at risk of bodily injury such as broken bones, cuts and abrasions, deep lacerations and internal injuries. Because these trucks would be equally matched, the results of a roadway collision can be quite spectacular.

Maryland Driver Killed in Worchester County When Her Car was Hit by 18-Wheeler in Pocomoke

July 31, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Dozens of traffic-related personal injury accidents take place every month across this state and it doesn’t make much difference whether you live in an urban area like Baltimore, Rockville and The District, or in a less populated portion of Maryland. A bad car, truck or motorcycle crash will likely put one or more people in the hospital. Occasionally, fate plays the unenviable part in a roadway collision, resulting in an untimely death for a driver or passenger of a motor vehicle.

As automobile accident attorneys, I and my staff of experienced legal professionals understand all too well the extent of bodily injuries that can occur as a result of a really bad accident. From compound fractures, collapsed lungs, ruptured spleen or even closed-head trauma, the range of life-threatening conditions that can precipitate from a car or commercial trucking accident are many and varied. What we do know is that recovery, in many cases, will long and drawn out; some people may never fully recover, requiring daily or near-constant care for months or even years.

Car-to-car wrecks can be quite serious, to be sure, especially in the case of head-on accidents or high-speed T-bone crashes at highway intersections and access roads. Speed and size of the vehicles involved play a large role in the potential outcome of most any traffic wreck.

Commercial Trucking News: Federal Motor Vehicle Carrier Safety Administration to Look Into Truck Accident Accountability

July 24, 2012 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The FMVCSA (Federal Motor Vehicle Carrier Safety Administration) appears to be taking the first steps toward determining if police accident reports covering commercial trucking collisions are truly sufficient to prove conclusively who or what caused any particular traffic accident. To support this effort, the FMVCSA would reportedly set aside approximately three million dollars annually to cover the costs of such an endeavor.

According to news reports, FMVCSA Administrator, Anne Ferro, described the proposed effort in a meeting of trucking executives yesterday out west. Part of that meeting included discussions on how the federal agency has been approaching the issue of commercial truck crash accountability determination over the years. Based on the history of the issue, according to news reports, this has been a major point of contention between the trucking industry and the government for some time.

As Maryland auto accident lawyers and personal injury attorneys, I and my staff have seen our share of commercial truck wrecks; and we know the extensive damage and serious injury that these events can inflict on people and property. Fatal crashes are not uncommon in this category of highway accident statistics, which makes the question of accountability all the more important to the families of those who have lost their lives in such horrendous accidents.