Maryland Injury Attorney Blog

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.