Maryland Trucking Accident Lawyer Blog

Maryland Injury News: Baltimore Commercial Trucker Killed in Fatal Single-vehicle Out-of-state Accident

June 7, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Single-truck accidents are not uncommon, however the causes can be very similar to multi-vehicle trucking accidents involving passenger cars and semi tractor-trailers. The force of such truck crashes can easily result in death of the passenger vehicle’s occupants, not to mention the truck driver himself. Whichever is the case, defective truck equipment should always be considered.

A sad fact of highway tractor-trailer and commercial truck wrecks is that lack of safety inspections can sometimes be to blame for a crash. These massive motor vehicles have a large number of moving parts and inter-related components that all need to work properly in order to keep the vehicle operating safely. Passenger car, SUV and minivan drivers, as well as motorcycle riders have died as a result of poorly maintained semi tractor-trailers.

As Maryland trucking accident attorneys, our staff has handled numerous personal injury cases in which one or more critical components have failed on an over-the-road truck, resulting in a serious injury or fatal traffic crash. State law requires truck drivers to individually inspect their vehicle assure that all major components, including safety equipment, are functioning correctly. But while the law requires this, many drivers will perform only perfunctory inspections, noting only nominal inspection times in their vehicle logs.

Truckers’ Negligent Driving Can Cause Injuries and Occasional Death on Maryland’s Highways and City Streets

May 31, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Commercial trucks and semi tractor-trailer, such as Freightliners and Peterbuilts pose a significant threat on our highways and byways. As Maryland trucking accident attorneys and injury lawyers, our firm understands the seriousness of a traffic accident caused by negligent operation of over-the-road haulers, or big rigs. Motorists and passengers riding in relatively small passenger cars and minivans have a slim chance of escaping injury when hit by one of these heavy trucks.

Even in busy downtown areas, truck accidents can happen with little or no warning. Motorcycle riders and bicyclists, pedestrians and other commuters can all be injured or killed by a poorly driven delivery vehicle or other commercial motor carrier. The amount of local commerce can be an indicator of the potential frequency of trucking accidents in a particular area.

In Baltimore and other busy metropolitan centers, motorists must use extreme caution in and around industrial areas where truck traffic is usually the highest. These huge vehicles and their trailers can weigh a total of 80,000 pounds, the rough equivalent of 30 economy cars. Even large sport utility vehicles (SUVs) or light-duty pickup trucks are no match for a fully-laden tractor-trailer rig. In a crash, a fully-loaded semi can literally accordion a smaller passenger vehicle, injuring or killing the occupants.

Being a Maryland injury attorney, I have seen the aftermath of these kids of heavy truck-passenger car accidents. I know how every year hundreds of individuals are cars caught up in traffic accidents involving big rigs — some wrecks are fatal to the occupants of these passenger cars. This is one of the sad and sobering facts of trucking accidents.

Statistics show that injuries resulting from truck accidents can be much more serious than car-to-car crashes. Common injuries include spinal cord damage, brain trauma, broken bones and other serious and permanent bodily harm.

One last unfortunate fact that comes up time and time again; many trucking-related accidents can be avoided. While many trucking companies take the time and effort to ensure that their trucks and drivers are safe, still others do not. An overloaded trailer is one of the most frequent causes of truck wrecks.

Eight Children Escape Injury when Maryland Fire Truck Rolls Down Hill, Crashes into Tree

May 22, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Motor vehicle accidents can happen almost anywhere throughout Maryland and nobody is immune. Even under the seemingly safest circumstances the tragedy of an injury accident or fatal car crash can be lurking just around the corner. As Baltimore trucking accident lawyers, my office takes nothing for granted when looking at the causes of these potentially life-threatening occurrences.

Whether someone is involved in a simple bicycle accident, motorcycle collision or commuter train wreck, the facts tell the story. Understanding those facts is one way of determining who the responsible party is. Every accident has its share of property, medical and associated costs, all of which can combine to place a strain on families who may or may not be already coping with a loss, such as the death of a loved one.

A recent accident in Pasadena, MD, reminds us that our most precious resource — our kids — can sometimes be placed in jeopardy. According to news reports, during a community event near Edgewater Road, a number of children were playing on one of the Lake Shore Volunteer Fire Company’s vehicles when it started rolling down a hill and struck a tree. Fortunately for everyone the eight children involved were unhurt in the accident, however a member of the fire company was injured in the Saturday afternoon incident.

Maryland Trucking Accident News: Construction Vehicle and Tanker Truck Crash causing Baltimore Bridge Closure

May 14, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Commercial truck accidents can cause some of the most serious injuries to surrounding passenger vehicles, pedestrians and other innocent bystanders. Tanker trucks in particular are some of the most dangerous vehicles on the roads these days. Many of these vehicles carry flammable cargo, such as gasoline, fuel oil, compressed natural gas and propane, not to mention dangerous chemicals.

Serving the residents of Baltimore and surrounding Maryland communities, my personal injury law office knows how quickly an accident involving a semi tractor-trailer rig can cause serious injuries or even death to other motorists. Recently, the Pennington Avenue Bridge was closed down due to a bad collision between a gasoline tanker and a construction vehicle.

According to reports, the force of the accident nearly pushed the tanker off the bridge entirely. Based on police reports, the fuel tanker was en route to pick up 9,000 gallons of gasoline when it was struck by the other vehicle. The accident caused the tanker to became wedged over a concrete barrier wall. Although the tanker was reportedly empty at the time of the crash, the entire area was sprayed with foam as a precaution against fire.

Maryland Accident Update: Injured Parties can Use Trucker’s Traffic Citation as Evidence in Injury Suits

May 7, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As a vehicle driver or passenger car occupant hurt or injured as a result of a truck driver’s negligence, you have the right to present the police-issued traffic citation as evidence in a personal injury or wrongful death suit against a big rig operator or trucking company. Being involved in a crash with an 18-wheeler can have serious medical implications and can cause life-changing results to a victim and his or her family.

As Maryland trucking accident lawyers, we know from first-hand experience how a multi-vehicle accident involving semi tractor-trailers can affect individuals months and even years following a crash. Whether someone is involved in a collision with a delivery truck, tanker trailer rig and over-the-road commercial hauler, the results can be financially crushing and medically devastating to say the least.

Injuries from such accidents can range from typically serious injuries, such as head and neck trauma, to lesser bodily harm like cuts, bruises and contusions. The smaller the victim’s vehicle the more chance there is for serious injury or death.

When it comes to bringing a suit, the injured party can use the truck driver’s traffic citation as part of his or her evidence that the truck driver was considered by the police to be negligent. As any person who has received a speeding ticket in this state knows, our traffic laws govern all Maryland drivers. What is important to understand, however, is that truck drivers are also governed by other federal as well as state regulations. If a commercial truck driver violates any of these laws and causes a car accident, the injured party may use that violation as evidence of the truck driver’s negligence.

Since heavy trucks including Mack, Volvo, Freightliners to name a few are used to maintain the commerce of our state and country, the number of these large trucks found on public roads will always be significant, especially during the work week. Busy metropolitan areas see a significant number of truck traffic, both expressway and surface street truck volume, and especially in areas populated by industrial parks and manufacturing centers.

Drivers of small family vehicles, such as minivans and passenger cars, must continually deal with the presence of these larger vehicles on a daily basis. In fact, a fully-loaded semi can weight as much a 80,000 pounds — close to 20 times the weight of an average car or SUV. In a crash, a fully-loaded semi can literally crush the smaller vehicle with little effort.

Maryland Trucking Accident News: Semi Driver Could Face Charges after Baltimore County Commuter Train Collision

April 30, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In Maryland highway collisions as well as automobile accidents on Annapolis, D.C., Columbia and other cities’ streets, occupants of a passenger car can be severely injured when hit by a large commercial delivery truck or over-the-road tractor-trailer rig. But even these large trucking company vehicles can be damaged and the drivers hurt, if not killed, if they are hit by a train.

Depending on the circumstances commuter train riders and railroad employees can also be hurt if the engine hits a large truck sitting on a railroad crossing. Personal injury attorneys in Baltimore and elsewhere can receive numerous inquiries following severe train-truck wrecks. The speed of the train and the size of the commercial vehicle usually determine how many passengers might sustain serious injuries as a result.

A few weeks ago, a truck driver operating a Volvo-powered 18-wheel rig crossed paths with a light rail passenger train. According to news reports at the time, investigators were checking into the collision in Cockeysville, MD, and were expected to lodge charges against the truck driver.

Maryland Truck Crash News: Car Collides with Baltimore School Bus Injuring Eight People

April 21, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

One particular area that Maryland residents should expect the utmost in safety is in the school buses in which our children ride daily. The fact is that passenger cars, delivery trucks and commercial big rigs share the same roads with our kids’ school buses and church shuttle vehicles. The law of averages means that, sadly, an occasional traffic accident involving a school bus will likely occur sometime in your city or town.

While we all hope our children will not be involved in a bus-car or bus-truck collision, it could happen any time. As a Baltimore trucking accident lawyer, I and my associates understand how difficult it is to care for an injured child while holding down a job and running a household. Anytime a person, young or old, is hurt in a car crash or truck wreck, the victim’s family will usually be under a financial stress caused by mounting medical and healthcare bills.

Not long ago, a school bus loaded with elementary school kids from Winston Middle School was caught up in a bad traffic accident in the Baltimore area. According to news reports, a number of people were injured when a car collided with the students’ bus. The wreck occurred on a weekday morning just before 8am at the intersection of Loch Raven Boulevard and Lochwood Road.

Maryland Trucking Accident News: Family Vacates Home following Garbage Truck Crash in South Baltimore

April 14, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Apparently trucking accidents can occur anywhere, even when you’re family is supposedly safe at home. That’s what happened not long ago when the driver of a trash collection truck apparently lost control and slammed into the front of a South Baltimore home. As a Maryland personal injury lawyer, I have helped many people following the aftermath of semi collisions and tractor-trailer crashes on our highways and surface streets.

Although most truck-related crashes involve other vehicles, this particular accident caused massive damage to a family’s home. It is only by shear luck that no one was seriously injured in the incident. Accidents involving large commercial vehicles can range from minor abrasions, to deep cuts and bruises, contusions, neck and spinal damage, or traumatic brain injuries.

According to reports, the family who house was damaged did receive help from the city, who owns and operates the garbage truck that hit the structure. The city’s housing commissioner was told by the mayor to do “everything possible to help this family.”

Baltimore Trucking Accident News: Tractor-trailer Crash Kills Husband; Critically Injures Wife in Harford, Maryland

April 7, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Trucking accidents are some of the most deadly for occupants of passenger cars, light trucks and motorcycles. From thrown tire treads to loose trailers and out-of-control semi-tractors on severe grades, a motorist who is in the wrong place at the wrong time could be seriously hurt or even killed as a result.

As a Maryland trucking accident lawyer and personal injury attorney, I am dedicated to assisting victims and their families recover damages following a devastating tractor-trailer collision. Big rigs, also known as 18-wheelers, can haul in excess of 30 tons of cargo. With that much weight traveling at highway speeds, a serious disaster is just one wrong move away.

Not long ago, the Maryland State Police reported a fatal tractor-trailer crash that took the life of a Washington man and seriously injured his wife. According to news articles, the collision occurred on Interstate 95 crash in Harford County, MD, when a semi hit the couple as they stood by the side of the road.

Maryland’s Commercial Truck Drivers have a Responsibility to Keep Their Rigs in Control; Avoid Trucking Accidents

March 30, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

After a rough winter such as Maryland and the East Coast has recently experienced it is easy to say that weather is unpredictable and that drivers can be caught off guard with little recourse to prevent an accident. While trucking accidents can and do happen every week on the highways and surface streets in and near cities such as Annapolis, Frederick, Rockville and D.C. the weather is just one factor.

As Maryland trucking accident attorneys, my office understands how severe a tractor-trailer, delivery truck or commercial carrier accident can be. Many times, persons injured as a result of a truck driver’s negligence must pursue legal means to recover damages, such as medical costs, lost wages and other accident-related expenses. Of course, fatal auto accidents are the worst-case scenario for a truck-related wreck, which unfortunately no amount of compensation can make up for the tragic loss of life.

A recent editorial in the Baltimore Sun brought up the point that truck drivers should be held responsible for situations involving tractor-trailer jack-knifing. While there are many who would argue that weather conditions themselves make a jack-knife accident less avoidable, it is not unreasonable to expect that all drivers are responsible for operating their vehicles within its physical limits based on weather and road surface conditions, such as snow and ice.