Maryland Trucking Accident Lawyer Blog

UPS Truck Driver Involved in Fatal Baltimore County Crash Charged with Three Violations

January 4, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Trucking accidents, due to their scale, can result in tragic and many time fatal outcomes. Such was the case in an October United Parcel Service truck crash that killed the driver of a second vehicle and injured a young passenger. As a personal injury lawyer practicing in the Baltimore area, I have helped numerous victims of trucking-related wrecks recover damages caused by another driver’s negligence.

In this case, the operator of the delivery truck has only recently been charged with several traffic offenses. Based on news reports, Baltimore County police charged 28-year-old Kevin Callahan of Owings Mills with negligent driving, failure to stop at a red signal and failure to obey a traffic device.

On October 5, 2009, Callahan was driving north on York Road when his truck broadsided a vehicle at the intersection of York and Corbett roads in Monkton, MD. The collision killed the driver, 48-year-old Tim Wheatley, and injured Wheatley’s 9-year-old daughter who was getting a ride to Sparks Elementary School. The girl was critically injured in the accident and has since been released from the hospital, according to news reports.

Maryland Trucking Accident Update: Rapper Beanie Sigel Injured after Semi Runs Car off Road

December 30, 2009 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

If there is one truth about traffic accidents, it is that anybody can become a victim within moments. Trucking-related crashes involving big rigs, delivery vehicles and other commercial vehicles are common occurrences all across the state of Maryland, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere. Recently, musical artist, hip-hop performer and rapper, Beanie Sigel, was hurt when the car in which he was riding was side-swiped by a tractor-trailer rig.

As Baltimore, MD, injury lawyers and trucking accident attorneys, our job is to help victims of trucking collisions – as well as their families — recover damages from accidents caused by another person’s negligence. This can include semi drivers, repair and maintenance facilities, truck manufacturers and even component and parts makers, if the cause is found to be defective or poorly designed equipment.

According to news reports, shortly after leaving a Baltimore recording studio the vehicle that Sigel was riding in was apparently forced off the road during the crash. The entertainer sustained a number of injuries to his arms, legs and face, however police reports indicate that Sigel declined medical treatment and eventually made it to a performance venue in Norfolk, VA on Sunday, December 20.

Maryland Named in Wrongful Death Lawsuit from Fatal 2008 Truck Crash on Chesapeake Bay Bridge

December 23, 2009 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Based on recent news stories the state of Maryland has been named in a $7 million wrongful death suit in regard to a fatal car-truck accident that occurred on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in August 2008. Dozens of people are killed or injured every year in tractor-trailer accidents across Maryland; some of these victims are actually semi drivers themselves who have been killed or critically injured due to another person’s negligence.

As trucking accident attorneys, the legal professionals at Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers have the knowledge and experience to represent victims and their families in cases not unlike the one reported here. This time, according to news articles, the state of Maryland has been named as one of the defendants in a lawsuit growing out of a deadly traffic accident.

According to reports, a trucker died during the accident in question, which was allegedly caused by a 19-year-old woman who fell asleep while driving across the Bay Bridge. News articles at the time said that Candy Baldwin had been to a wedding earlier and apparently fell asleep while passing across the bridge. This caused a truck driver to swerve his rig to avoid crashing into the young woman’s car.

Maryland Man Killed by Tractor-trailer Rig in Fatal Pedestrian Accident on Interstate 695

December 15, 2009 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Police recently reported a tragic pedestrian death along I-695 recently when a Parkville, MD, man was attempting to cross the busy interstate on foot. The incident occurred on December 5, when an Exxon tanker truck driving along the Beltway’s Inner Loop near Harford Road came up on a man attempting to cross the roadway just before 11am on that Saturday morning. According to Maryland State Police the pedestrian apparently died at the scene after being struck by the oil company’s big rig.

As Maryland trucking accident and personal injury lawyers, we have the ability to represent the families of victims killed as a result of another person’s negligence. In this case, police who were investigating the accident said that the tractor-trailer rig was hauling an empty tanker trailer at the time.

According to early reports, state troopers could not immediately give a reason as to why the deceased pedestrian was on the Beltway to start with, nor if weather conditions may have been a factor in the fatal accident. Initially the man’s identity was not provided, but following notification of his next of kin he was identified as 57-year-old Joseph Mark Scannell.

Maryland Trucking Accident News: Driver of Runaway Semi Avoids Fatal Crash by Using Emergency Escape Ramp

December 7, 2009 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Trucking safety requires a combination of professional driving and well-maintained equipment. While the majority of tractor-trailer rigs are serviced correctly and driven by responsible individuals, many are not. Sometimes a mechanical failure can cause a big rig to go out of control, which is one of the most dangerous traffic situations, especially along mountain roads.

As Maryland truck accident lawyers, my office represents motorists and bystanders who have been injured as a result of a semi-trailer collision. Fatal injuries are not uncommon in truck-related wrecks

A recent news article pointed up the quick thinking that truck drivers need to have to avoid fatal results. According to reports, a Virginia driver turned a potentially deadly situation on that state’s Route 135 into a happy ending. The incident occurred at Backbone Mountain after the man’s rig lost the use of its brakes as well as its transmission.

Maryland Trucking Safety News: Teamsters Back Regulations Pertaining to Hazardous Materials Transport

November 28, 2009 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

News out of Baltimore, Maryland, shows great support from the Teamsters Union for new trucking rules regarding the transportation of flammable liquids, specifically the regulations that would ban these liquids from being carried in the relatively vulnerable transfer lines on tanker trucks. This new Congressional legislation would most likely increase the safety of innocent drivers and pedestrians who may be killed or injured in tanker truck-related accidents in the future.

According to news reports, the Teamsters announced that they will support a new law banning the transport of flammable liquids in tank truck loading lines. According to the union, approximately 30 to 50 gallons of flammable liquid, such as gasoline or heating oil, can typically be held in the mostly unprotected loading lines beneath most tanker trucks.

The report quoted a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report that described a recent highway accident in New Jersey involving a tanker truck in which the driver of a smaller vehicle was killed. In that crash, the NTSB concluded, the ensuing fire probably wouldn’t have occurred if the loading lines had been empty. According to reports, there have been 184 accidents over the past 10 years in which loading lines were damaged or ruptured.

Fatal Anne Arundel Country Truck Accident Points to Driver Error

November 21, 2009 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As Maryland truck accident attorneys, over the years my colleagues and I have represented numerous trucking crash victims and their families. Trucking collisions don’t only injure pedestrians and drivers of other cars and SUVs, these kinds of tractor-trailer and delivery truck accidents also cause injury to the truck drivers operating them. A recent article illustrates this one type of truck crash that resulted in the untimely death of a teenage driver and the severe injury of the other passenger of that vehicle.

While the preliminary police report issued at the time of the news article indicated that the single-vehicle accident was a result of driver error combined with less than optimal road conditions, there could also be a chance of defective equipment, such as worn tires or other mechanical failure.

According to news reports, a 19-year-old driver died several days following a single-truck crash on Route 100 in Anne Arundel County. Police reports showed that Dakota Kelly Alder of Pasadena, MD, died from injuries sustained during a crash four days earlier near the Route 100 and Interstate 97 interchange.

Montgomery County Cop Injured in Crash of Tractor-trailer on the Capital Beltway

November 14, 2009 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Even police are not immune to trucking-related accidents. Not long ago, an officer from the Montgomery County Police Department was injured trying to avoid an out of control tractor-trailer rig. As part of our work involving Maryland personal injury suits, my firm also handles a wide range of trucking accident cases. These include injury accidents from truck crashes, fatal collisions with big rigs, and pedestrian deaths and injuries from commercial delivery trucks.

This latest news article tells a story of unforeseen consequences, which the officer in question acknowledged was not foremost in her mind when confronted by a jackknifing tractor-trailer on a bridge along the Capital Beltway in the middle of the night.

Based on news articles, Officer Sarah White received a call just after 2am on October 6 to handle traffic control at the scene of a truck crash. The incident occurred on the inner loop of the Beltway between the Georgia Avenue and U.S. 29/Colesville Road exits. The crash scene was blocking the far right-hand lane.

Edgewood, Maryland, Woman Killed in Semi Tractor Crash in White Marsh

November 4, 2009 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As personal injury and trucking accident attorneys, we at Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers know how over-matched a passenger vehicle is when it comes up against a semi tractor-trailer. Over-the-road rigs weigh many times more than even the largest SUV or pickup truck, much less a small family sedan or compact sport utility vehicle. Like it or not, truck drivers hold the lives of the driving public in their hands when operating these heavy-duty vehicles on public roads. A recent trucking-related crash on the Pulaski Expressway near White Marsh, MD, proves this point.

According to news reports, Linda and Charles Buckland of Edgewood, Maryland, were traveling westbound on the Pulaski Expressway around 1:45am on the morning of Sunday, October 11, when their vehicle collided with a Kenworth tractor that was entering the highway from nearby Stevens Road.

Reportedly, the Buckland’s 2003 Chevrolet Tracker, a compact SUV, was severely damaged in the accident, which fatally injured the driver, 57-year-old Mrs. Buckland. Mr. Buckland, 62, who was riding in the passenger seat, was seriously injured in the early morning wreck, according to police.

Maryland Accident News: UPS Truck Crash Kills Baltimore Sun Editor, Injures Man’s Daughter

October 27, 2009 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Tragedy struck earlier this month when the business editor of the Baltimore Sun newspaper was killed in a trucking accident involving a United Parcel Service delivery truck. The wreck also injured the man’s nine-year-old daughter. Although the accident investigation was not yet completed, it appears that the truck driver may have run a red light. As Maryland trucking accident attorneys, our firm represents victims and their families in cases involving driver negligence and fatal or near-fatal injury accidents caused by drivers of semis and other heavy trucks.

The collision that took the life of Timothy Wheatley in the morning hours of October 1 at the intersection of Corbett and York Road in Monkton also resulted in critical injuries to his young daughter, Sarah. The two were riding in Wheatley’s 1999 Honda Civic when it was broadsided by the UPS delivery vehicle.

Police reports show that the Wheatley was dead at the scene, while his daughter survived and was taken to Sinai Hospital and then Johns Hopkins Children Center. The forth-grader from Sparks Elementary School was still listed as critical several days later.