Posted on January 16, 2024 in Truck Accidents

Determining whether your child’s safety seat needs to be replaced after a car crash is a critical safety decision. The integrity of a car seat can be compromised in a crash, regardless of whether it was occupied at the time of the collision or not.

It’s important to understand that a seat that has been compromised in terms of safety may not always appear damaged to the naked eye. With that said, not all accidents necessitate the replacement of a child safety seat. Keep the following in mind in order to make an informed decision that will help to ensure your child’s safety moving forward.

HOW SERIOUS WAS THE CRASH?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) provides criteria to assess whether a car crash is minor. According to NHTSA, a crash is considered “minor” if all the following conditions are met:

• You could drive the vehicle away from the crash site.

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 Posted on January 06, 2024 in Truck Accidents

If you have been injured in a car accident that wasn’t your fault, you naturally expect the responsible party (or their insurer) to pay up – but the legal process of getting to that point can seem daunting.

Fortunately, the vast majority of personal injury claims are ultimately settled out of court. With the right legal guidance, you can often negotiate a fair settlement and avoid a trial altogether. Settlements are often preferred by both sides of a car accident claim, since trials are costly and unpredictable, as well as invasive and time-consuming.

IS SETTLING REALLY IN YOUR BEST INTERESTS?

Every situation is completely different, but settling “out of court” is not always the appropriate path to take in a car accident claim. Here are some reasons you may want to proceed to trial:

• The defendant denies liability: If the defendant denies responsibility for the crash, that can complicate things. An insurance company may be reluctant to pay a claim at all when their client insists that they did not cause the crash.

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 Posted on December 28, 2023 in Truck Accidents

Being involved in a car crash is a harrowing experience, and it becomes even more stressful when there are children in the vehicle. Knowing what steps to take immediately following an accident can help to better ensure everyone’s safety and to safeguard everyone’s well-being.

The first step is to check if anyone in the car, especially the children, is injured. Even if there are no visible injuries, it’s crucial to be cautious as some injuries, like whiplash or concussions, may not be immediately apparent. The health of everyone involved is the most important concern. Everything else can wait. Therefore, you’ll want to dial 911 as soon as possible. Even when it comes to minor accidents, it’s important to get kids – and adults too – checked out by medical personnel before they’re moved.

WHAT NEXT?

Accidents can be frightening for children. Keep them calm and reassured. If they are very young, try to distract them from the scene. It’s important to stay as calm as possible yourself, as children will often mirror the reactions of adults and their trauma may be compounded if the adults involved are – for lack of a better phrase – freaking out.

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 Posted on December 18, 2023 in Truck Accidents

While a collision between two vehicles in a parking lot is unlikely to be as serious as one out on the open road, it can still result in severe injuries.

It’s not just drivers who are at risk in parking lots either. Pedestrians and cyclists could still be killed if a driver hits them, despite the lower speeds than the road.

DISTRACTION IS THE BIGGEST ISSUE

Drivers get distracted all the time, yet there is a high risk of them being distracted in a parking lot. This is partly because there is so much going on – they need to hunt for a parking space or reverse out while avoiding others entering the parking lane. And it is partly because people think they are safe once they are off the road. People can do things like programming their satnav, calling someone they are set to meet, or reaching for their shopping bags while waiting to park – making it easy to miss something happening around them.

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 Posted on December 05, 2023 in Truck Accidents

A car accident can turn your life inside out. Depending on the severity of the impact, a car crash can leave you with significant damage to property, emotional trauma and life-altering injuries. If you were involved in a car crash that is not your fault, you deserve justice.

Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for a car crash lawsuit filing to be rejected in one way or another. Of course, this can be devastating, to say the least. If this happens, you deserve to know what went wrong so you can figure out your next course of action. These are some of the reasons why a seemingly legitimate car crash claim might fall through the cracks.

MISSED STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

Three years is the allotted time to pursue a legal claim in Maryland. If you don’t sue within the statute of limitations, the court might refuse your right to file a civil claim. The only exception to this rule may come into play if you were a minor when the crash happened. In this case, you may have to wait until you are 18 to file a case.

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 Posted on December 05, 2023 in Truck Accidents

It is illegal in every jurisdiction in the United States to drive with an elevated blood alcohol concentration (BAC). For most adult drivers, the legal limit for their BAC is 0.08%. Anyone over that limit is at risk of drunk driving charges.

Those with high alcohol levels also frequently cause crashes. Many fatal collisions in the Washington D.C. area occur because someone has gotten behind the wheel after having too much to drink. Who is liable for a drunk driving crash that causes injury to others or even someone’s death?

THE JURISDICTION DETERMINES THE RULES THAT APPLY

Every state has slightly different rules regarding drunk driving and liability. In general, people can always assume that the impaired motorist is liable for the crash. Anyone who chooses to get behind the wheel after having too much to drink has responsibility for the impact of their decisions.

The other people involved in the crash could file an insurance claim against the drunk driver’s liability insurance policy. When there isn’t enough insurance, they may have grounds for a personal injury lawsuit. Unfortunately, a drunk driver does not necessarily have the resources required to fully compensate the other people involved in a collision. Occasionally, there will be outside parties with some degree of liability. The ability to file a lawsuit against a business after a drunk driving wreck will depend on the location.

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 Posted on November 17, 2023 in Truck Accidents

Many people become victims of distracted driving. Distracted driving happens when a driver looks away from the road or takes their hands off the wheels. When a driver is distracted, they reduce their ability to process dangers and their ability to control their vehicles.

Cell phone use is one of the biggest causes of distracted driving. Drivers can reduce the chances of distracted driving by being proactive and controlling how they interact with their phones while driving. Here’s how:

1. PUT YOUR PHONE AWAY

One way drivers can reduce distractions from their phones is by putting them someplace where the driver can not reach. For example, the driver may put their phone in a purse or bag. One common place people put their phones is in their vehicle’s glove compartment. If a driver is still struggling with distractions from their phone, they could put their phone in their trunk.

2. TURN ON SILENT MODE

Most phones have a setting that can silence calls and texts. Some phones also have settings that set the phone to silent mode when the phone notices a vehicle in motion.

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 Posted on November 12, 2023 in Truck Accidents

Being a bicyclist or pedestrian in Maryland can be dangerous, and any accident involving an automobile and a bicycle or pedestrian is almost always going to leave the latter party the worse for wear. Collisions between vehicles and pedestrians result in a high percentage of auto-related fatalities.

For decades, American drivers have been used to being able to make right turns at red lights. But ending this practice may significantly decrease motor vehicle accidents and make the roads much safer for everyone.

THE HISTORY OF RIGHT TURNS ON RED

Most countries with significant automobile-driving populations don’t permit drivers to turn right at red lights. The US is somewhat unique in this regard. But for many years, the US didn’t allow it either.

In the 1970s, America went through a major energy crisis, and policymakers saw vehicles idling at red lights as a source of waste. As a result, they tied federal funding to states allowing drivers to turn right at red lights. The practice has continued unchanged since then.

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 Posted on October 26, 2023 in Truck Accidents

Motor vehicle accidents are among the leading causes of fatal and non-fatal injuries in Maryland. Although no two accidents are alike, they usually fall into common categories, producing typical injuries suffered by victims.

EIGHT TYPES OF MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENTS

Although you’ll find no complex category rules for motor vehicle accidents, these collisions exhibit typical patterns. Identifying how accidents happen can help drivers avoid them. These are the eight general categories:

• Single-vehicle
• Multi-vehicle
• Rear impact
• Frontal impact
• Lateral impact or T-bone
• Rotational impact
• Sideswipe
• Rollover collision

Single-vehicle accidents frequently occur when a driver swerves to avoid another vehicle or an animal. They can also occur due to driver drowsiness. Multi-vehicle accidents, sometimes called chain collisions, involve three or more vehicles, with injuries ranging from minor to catastrophic. Rear impact accidents are one of the most common, resulting from driver inattention. While not common, frontal impact accidents frequently result in severe injuries and fatalities. Distracted driving also causes lateral impact accidents, usually occurring at intersections. In rotational impact accidents, vehicles spin around and often hit several others, causing various injuries. Sideswipes happen as initial impacts, frequently leading to head-on collisions. Rollovers happen when a vehicle flips onto its side or roof, sometimes with catastrophic results.

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 Posted on October 11, 2023 in Truck Accidents

Losing a loved one in Maryland because of a wrongful death is a traumatic experience. You might feel grief, hopelessness or several different emotions following the event. There’s no way to erase the pain, but there are ways to overcome the trauma caused by a sudden death.

WHAT IS THE LEGAL DEFINITION OF WRONGFUL DEATH?

The wrongful death statute in Maryland defines wrongful death as a death that occurs due to negligence or a criminal act of another person. It doesn’t matter if the actions were intentional or accidental.

Md. Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 3-904(a)(1) makes it legal for spouses, parents and children of the deceased to bring a sudden death lawsuit against those accountable for the death. There are also ways for the survivors to deal with the emotional aftermath of a wrongful death.

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