Maryland Injury Attorney Blog

October 7, 2009

Deterring Baltimore County Traffic Accidents: Speed Camera Laws Go Into Effect

The Baltimore County City Council passed an act concerning speed cameras designed to thwart motor vehicle accidents and pedestrian accidents that occur in school zones. Bill 61-09 Speed Monitoring Systems, which went into effect Oct. 1, 2009, authorizes county law enforcement, in consult with other agencies, to use and enforce citations issued by speed monitoring systems in school zones.

The bill defines “speed monitoring systems” as “a device with one or more motor vehicle sensors producing recorded images of motor vehicles traveling at speeds at least 12 miles per hour above the posted speed limit.” Drivers will be subject to a $40 fine. An amendment to the bill limits the number of cameras to 15. The one councilor who dissented felt that more police — not speed cams — was a better way to address the problem.

In addition to the county bill targeting speeders in school zones, a separate state law now allows speed cameras at work zone sites; two have been placed in Baltimore County — one on I-695 at Charles Street and another on I-95 between I-895 and White Marsh Blvd.

September 29, 2009

Baltimore Pedestrian Accident Prevention: Are Hybrid Cars a Walking Hazard?

by Jeff Butschky

Now that students are back to school and working people have all but forgotten their summer vacations, we’re seeing the usual uptick in fall foot traffic. As Maryland pedestrian accident attorneys, we’ve handled many unfortunate cases where someone walking to or from school or work was injured or killed by an errant driver. Now we have to wonder if some technologies are making walking even more dangerous.

A research report from earlier this year noted that Japan is making strides to build hybrid cars that make more noise. Now the U.S. is also looking at the issue of hybrids being too quiet for pedestrian safety. Apparently these energy-saving vehicles are so much quieter than conventional cars and SUVs that pedestrians may simply not hear them coming. This presents a challenge for the motor vehicle industry, which has always strived to make vehicles quieter, the ride “smoother,” and reduce noise pollution.

Researchers suggest auto manufacturers should “add engine noise” to hybrid vehicles to avoid pedestrian accidents. Hybrids running in electric mode on low speeds may be difficult to hear. Older people with hearing loss, vision-impaired people — as well as distracted pedestrians wearing headsets, iPods, or talking on cellphones — may simply not hear a nearly silent hybrid car approaching as they step into the street or intersection.

September 22, 2009

Maryland Workers Compensation Cases and Injury Due to Occupational Disease

by Jeff Butschky

People get hurt at work in the course of performing their jobs, whether it’s unloading cargo on the docks at the Port of Baltimore, working on a factory floor, or performing white collar jobs in downtown Baltimore office buildings. As Maryland Workers Comp lawyers who’ve served the people of Baltimore County and neighboring communities for decades, we’ve seen a wide spectrum of work-injury cases as a result of everything from heavy lifting to heavy typing.

Fact of the matter is, while certain occupations — construction, for example — are more hazardous than others, you don’t have to fall off scaffolding or have an accident as such to suffer injury as a result of your work. We can break down types of work related injuries into two broad categories: Accidents and Occupational Disease. We’ve discussed what to do if you are injured in an accident at work (see our Workers Compensation webpage for more, as well as our Work Comp blog archive). Let’s discuss occupational disease here.

Maryland Law & Occupational Disease / Work Related Injuries

September 16, 2009

Baltimore County, Maryland Hit and Run Traffic Accident Kills Car Driver

by Jeff Butschky

The Baltimore Sun reported that a driver was killed this weekend in a fatal hit-and-run Baltimore County car accident.

According to news reports, the fatal hit and run crash occurred Saturday night at 10 p.m. in Baltimore Highlands at the intersection of Virginia Ave. and Annapolis Rd. The suspect, who was driving a cargo van, allegedly fled the scene of the accident but was later apprehended by police and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. The driver of the car that was struck by the van perished and a passenger suffered personal injury. The Sun reported that the driver was 20 years old and lived on Virginia Avenue, Baltimore. The suspect, age 54, is also from Baltimore.

Baltimore County accident lawyers are familiar with the many hazards of driving on Maryland’s roads and highways. Some regional statistics…

September 2, 2009

Labor Day Weekend Crackdown: Maryland Drunk Driving Accident Prevention

by Jeff Butschky

Labor Day traditionally heralds the end of summer. It’s an opportunity for family and friends to get together one more time before diving back into the fall season’s school-and-work grind. Not surprisingly, this long holiday weekend typically sees a spike in alcohol-related traffic accidents nationwide.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) / National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is ramping up its public awareness safety campaign in an effort to reduce the number of Labor Day car, truck, and motorcycle accident injuries and fatalities. Called “Drunk Driving: Over the Limit, Under Arrest,” the campaign brings together law enforcement and public safety advocates to drive home the message that drunk driving is not an accident, nor is it a victimless crime.

The DOT reports that last year, 40% of all fatal motor vehicle accidents that occurred over Labor Day weekend were due to drinking and driving. Law enforcement will be cracking down on impaired driving this holiday weekend for drivers of all types of vehicles including motorcycles, cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks.

August 25, 2009

Maryland Highway Traffic Accidents Alert: Loading up for Back to College

by Jeff Butschky

We started seeing them around the middle of August: Pickup trucks with open flatbeds overflowing with randomly packed furniture (often an old couch poised precariously). Vehicles with luggage, boxes, and all sorts of things loosely strapped to roof racks and flapping in the breeze. Pieces of all of the above on the side of the highway — and sometimes in the roadway itself.

Then, there are the cars, trucks, vans, and SUVs that go whizzing past you with the backseats, hatchbacks, and passenger compartments filled above the window tops with stuff. It’s amazing there’s any room for the driver.

It’s the start of the annual back-to-school pilgrimage made by students attending college or university in Baltimore, Maryland and across the mid-Atlantic. And you don’t have to be a Maryland car accident attorney to know an accident waiting to happen when you see it. The fact of the matter is poorly secured loads on the outside of vehicles, as well as unsecured cargo inside the car, are a real hazard to motorists on our nation’s highways.

August 18, 2009

Swimming Champ Phelps Hit in Baltimore Car Accident; Other Driver Cited

by Jeff Butschky

A 28-year-old woman driver faces charges of running a red light in a Baltimore, Maryland traffic accident last Thursday involving Olympic gold medal swimming champion Michael Phelps. According to the Baltimore Sun, the accident occurred Thurs. Aug. 13 around 9 p.m. at East Biddle and North Calvert Sts. The woman, driving a Honda Accord, allegedly ran a red traffic light, striking a Cadillac Escalade driven by Phelps.

The woman suffered slight personal injury in the Baltimore traffic accident and was treated for neck and shoulder injuries at Maryland Shock Trauma Center. She must have been even more embarrassed when she learned that she struck the vehicle of one of the world’s most famous Olympic athletes.

Phelps and his three passengers were not injured, though the driver’s side airbag deployed and the front of his Escalade was damaged. Phelps was raised in Rodgers Forge, Baltimore County, and now lives in a condominium in the Baltimore waterfront neighborhood Fell’s Point. The Baltimore Police Department told the Sun that Phelps presented an invalid Michigan driver’s license to officers. Phelps was given a $40 citation and will need to appear in court. He also told police that he had one beer an hour before the accident. No Breathalyzer test was given. A car or truck accident with an outsized SUV like Phelps’ Cadillac Escalade could have been a lot worse. Luckily no one was seriously hurt in this traffic accident involving a driver running a red light.

August 12, 2009

Maryland On Foot: Avoid Pedestrian Accidents with These Safety Tips

by Jeff Butschky

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), of the 614 Maryland car accident deaths that occurred in 2007, pedestrian deaths numbered at 116. That’s 116 people who died trying to get to where they were going on foot — whether it was to school, to work, to the store, to walk the dog, or to visit a neighbor or friend. Maybe some were just trying to get home. They didn’t make it.

For the same year (2007), across the U.S., 4,654 pedestrians died and an estimated 70,000 or more were injured in motor-vehicle related pedestrian accidents. (NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts: Maryland 2003-2007)

As experienced Maryland pedestrian accident lawyers, we know what can happen when walkers find themselves in the wrong place, at the wrong time — in the path of an oncoming vehicle.

August 4, 2009

Maryland Distracted Driving Alert: Texting Ups Car Accident Risk Significantly

by Jeff Butschky

Have you ever traveled on the Baltimore Beltway or another Maryland roadway and noticed your fellow drivers engaging in activities other than steering the 4,000-pound SUV beneath them? Car crashes caused by drivers reading the newspaper, fiddling with the stereo, putting on makeup, and chatting on cell phones — only to lose control of their vehicles or miss a road obstacle and crash — are sadly, nothing new.

Now we traffic-frazzled Maryland commuters can add texting to the list of distracted-driving activities that can cause serious car, SUV, motorcycle and truck accidents. Highways aren’t the only places texting poses a risk — a teenager texting a friend while driving down their quiet neighborhood street could cause a fatal car pedestrian accident.

A recent study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute concluded that texting (i.e., typing and sending messages on a cell phone or wireless hand-held device) while driving is even more dangerous that previously thought, and that texting has indeed become the most dangerous of all distracted-driving activities.

July 28, 2009

3 Critical Steps to File a Maryland Workers Compensation Claim within the State Two-Year Limit

by Jeff Butschky

Last month, we blogged about why employers sometimes discourage injured workers from filing a Workers’ Compensation claim in Maryland (see “The Top 3 Reasons Employers Tell Injured Workers Not to File — And Why You Shouldn’t Listen to Them,” June 8, 2009). Now, let’s look at why documenting your injury and seeking immediate medical attention — coupled with consulting an experienced attorney who knows the system — is so important to your future well-being.

“Causal Connection” and the Maryland Workers Comp Two-Year Limitation

If you’re hurt at work, the good news is you have two years to file a Work Comp case in Maryland. However filing and winning are two different things. Let’s say you bang your knee at work, it swells up, and you go to the emergency room. Your employer says, “Oh God, don’t file a work comp claim, I’ll pay your medical bills and give you some time off.” Doesn’t sound like a bad offer at the time, and you accept.