Articles Posted in Automobile Accidents

Maryland parents have a lot to think about. There’s the rough economy, job security, the down housing market, and making sure their children get a good education. Then, there’s the daily grind of getting kids to and from school as well as their numerous extra-curricular activities. When teens finally get their Maryland driver’s licenses, it can come as both a relief to schedule-frazzled parents — and another reason for worry.

Parents who think about their children’s safety in motor vehicles on Maryland’s highways, city streets, and rural back roads have cause for concern.

According to the Maryland Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Administration,

The Inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix 2011 IndyCar Series is just around the corner, with Labor Day Weekend coming up fast. If you’ve been following the Maryland news or driving around downtown Baltimore, you may have noticed that the city is being turned into a racing circuit. The Baltimore Grand Prix is a professional street racing event, with a temporary street racing circuit being constructed in downtown Baltimore.

In late July, cornerstone track walls were set up in front of the Inner Harbor Amphitheater. The two mile, 13 turn street circuit will race around Camden Yards and the Scenic Inner Harbor in downtown Baltimore. (See link below to the Maryland Dept. of Transportation’s Baltimore Grand Prix traffic diversion plan.) The 5K pro racing event is sure to be a boon for Baltimore City — attracting visitors and spectators from around Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic states.

There’s something about watching pro race car drivers push their vehicles and their driving abilities to the limit that Americans find exhilarating. Even former Secretary of State General Colin Powell is getting in on the act as the event’s grand marshal. However the Baltimore Grand Prix pro drivers are cautioning fans not to take their “need for speed” behind the wheel of their own cars, trucks, and SUVs.

How many modern safety features does the car you own and drive in Baltimore County, Maryland have? We’ve come a long way in motor vehicle safety features since our parents first herded us kids into the back of the family sedan.

All passenger cars since 1967 are required to have seat belts. Go to an antique car show and you’ll be amazed at the beauty of vintage car interiors — and the absence of seat belts. Dual air bags are a required automotive safety feature to diminish driver and passenger injury in event of a car crash (on cars made since 1998 and light trucks since 1999). Infant and child car seats and restraints — which I didn’t have growing up — are now required by law. In Maryland, children under eight years old must ride in an appropriate child restraint, unless the child is 4’9″ or taller or weighs more than 65 pounds.

Other safety features such as as all-wheel drive and anti-lock brakes are common on many makes and models of today’s cars, trucks, and SUVs. And the automotive innovations keep coming. Manufacturers seek to make their cars studier, smarter, and more crash worthy…to help drivers avoid traffic accidents and minimize motorist injury and fatality, when traffic accidents do occur.

As experienced Baltimore County car accident injury lawyers who’ve served the people of Maryland for decades, we’re well aware of the dangers of driving in the Old Line State. From Baltimore City streets, to our beloved Chesapeake Bay Bridge, to our highways and back roads — all are travelled by dangerous drivers, all fraught with driving hazards. If you live and work here in Maryland, like us, you know driving can be a daily challenge.

Our clients in and around greater Baltimore, Md. have been telling us for years about the incredible antics of local drivers. And we’ve seen our fair share of incredibly bad drivers — the speeders, weavers, tailgaters, lane changers, stop sign runners, pass-on-the-right siders, texters and cell phone chatters, angry/distracted/impaired drivers — you name it. The kind of Maryland drivers who can cause serious and fatal auto accidents.

Now a new study proves what we Baltimore injury attorneys and our clients already knew to be true: Maryland drivers are not at the top of the class when it comes to knowledge of road rules.

Pick up a copy of the Baltimore Sun and you’ll likely find cases of Baltimore County car accidents where the offending drivers were slapped with serious traffic or criminal charges. The State of Maryland has very specific legal language on the books regarding when traffic violations warrant traffic or criminal charges. In the eyes of Maryland law…

Reckless Driving is defined as, “A person is guilty of reckless driving if he drives a motor vehicle: In wanton or willful disregard for the safety of people or property; or In a manner that indicates a wanton or willful disregard for the safety of people or property.”

and…

Earlier this month, we reported on how NHTSA officials working with NASA engineers concluded that the problem with “runaway Toyotas” (i.e., cars accelerating out of control) was mechanical, not electrical. The problem that resulted in numerous traffic accident fatalities was, the report stated, caused by mechanical issues with the gas pedals due to faulty design or ill-fitting carpets and floor mats. The problem was not, the report’s authors concluded, electrical in nature, as some Toyota owners and auto critics theorized.

The sticky gas pedals are back in the news, however.

Toyota is now recalling an additional 2.17 million vehicles to repair problems linked to their Nov. 2009 safety recall for gas pedal problems due to “floor mat entrapment.” Over the last few years, several cases of Toyota drivers unable to slow down their cars resulted in a number of fatal car crashes. The New York Times reports that Toyota is adding Lexus luxury vehicles and popular SUVs to the gas pedal recall list, including the Toyota Highlander and Toyota 4Runner (see link to Toyota recall portal below for full listing of recall vehicle models and years).

Distracted driving is a serious hazard on Baltimore County roads and highways — particularly when cell phones are involved. A few years ago, talking on cell phones while driving was the primary culprit. Now the widespread availability of text and data enabled smartphones means drivers not only talk on their phones behind the wheel, but send, receive, and read text messages. You know the tell-tale signs when you see them: driver’s head is down, cell phone is in their hands, thumbs are typing away — and their attention is not on the road. Cell phone use while driving causes deadly motor vehicle accidents in Maryland and everywhere else in the country.

The National Safety Council reports 1.6 million auto crashes a year in the US caused by talking and texting on cell phones. And the Maryland State Highway Administration estimates that more than 380 people have died in Maryland due to distracted driving auto crashes in the last 5 years. Now a Baltimore County lawmaker wants to add teeth to the Maryland law that restricts cell phone usage while driving.

Delegate James Malone, a democrat from Baltimore County, Md., is sponsoring legislation that would give Maryland police more clout in enforcing Maryland’s cell phone use while driving ban, which is currently a secondary offense. Malone would like to see the ban become a primary offense, which would give Maryland police the right to pull drivers over if they’re observed using their handheld cell phones while driving. Currently in Maryland, the police can only issue a cell phone use citation if the driver is pulled over for a separate violation.

Last year, Toyota drivers in Baltimore County, Maryland and around the country had reason to be concerned. The auto manufacturer that built its reputation on safety and reliability was involved in one of the most massive worldwide consumer safety recalls in history of some 8 million vehicles.

The safety recalls occurred after reports of fatal auto accidents involving “runaway Toyotas” — that is, cars that couldn’t be stopped from accelerating out of control. Drivers reported sticking gas pedals that were slow to rise when foot pressure was removed, and cars that failed to decelerate despite the drivers releasing the gas and leaning hard on the brakes.

The car accidents that prompted the recalls and a subsequent government investigation occurred over a number of years, involving different models of Toyotas. Now U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has released a report on the investigation regarding Toyota’s problems.

Remember when the only people who drove pickup trucks in Maryland were farmers, construction workers, and other working people with loads to haul? That was back when a family-sized vehicle was called a station wagon — and modern innovations such as all-wheel drive, GPS navigation, and onboard entertainment systems weren’t even on the drawing board.

Fast forward a couple decades down the road, where more and more Americans started feeling like they too should be driving a truck, or something of that stature. Something that would be a presence on the road. Enter the sport utility vehicle or SUV. Now seems like practically every other car on the road is an SUV. SUVs of every shape, size, and color. Some the size of tanks (the Hummer, for example). The size is what’s causing headaches for the insurance industry — and for consumers who find even minor fender benders can be costly, in dollars and injuries.

As an experienced Baltimore SUV accident injury lawyer knows from work with injured clients — when an SUV is involved in a traffic accident with a car in Maryland, the smaller vehicle tends to be on the losing end. One of the problems, says the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), is the mismatched bumper heights.