Maryland Injury Attorney Blog

August 18, 2009

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

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.

July 21, 2009

Baltimore Traffic Accident Prevention: Speed Cameras May Snap Offenders at Schools and Construction Sites

by Jeff Butschky

State and city officials are looking at ways to curb Baltimore, Maryland car accidents caused by speeding. In May, Maryland legislators passed a law which allows speed cameras to be posted within one half mile of schools and construction sites. Now the Baltimore City Council has voted an initial thumbs-up to installing speed cameras in those vulnerable places. If the measure passes, the speed cameras could start going up around Baltimore construction sites and schools by October.

Maryland law requires that signs be posted alerting motorists that the speed cameras are in use. Speed cameras snap photos of license plates of motorists going more than 12 miles per hour above the posted speed limit. A $40 ticket would then be sent to the address connected to the vehicle’s license plate registration. The hope is the cameras will deter speeding drivers, who can cause fatal Maryland traffic and pedestrian accidents.

Baltimore and Maryland Speeding Fatalities

June 29, 2009

Maryland Car Accident on I-70 Kills Two; Police Blame Illegal Street Racing

by Jeff Butschky

A Baltimore County car crash that left two young people dead and another in critical condition is believed to have been caused by illegal drag racing, authorities report.

Two bystanders were killed and two suffered personal injury last Sunday when one car crashed into another on the westbound side of Interstate 70. Witnesses reported that a crowd had gathered to watch drag racers on the eastbound side of I-70 where the highway abruptly ends. Police had been observing this little-used area of the highway, which is tempting to amateur street racers. Cars parked on the roadside began to leave when they spotted the police cruiser. According to news reports, that’s when a 2009 Chevy Impala struck the rear of a 2004 Chevy Cavalier.

The crash set off a chain reaction and two young bystanders on the shoulder of the road — a woman age 22 and a man age 20 — were struck and killed. A third bystander was struck and treated for serious personal injury and released, and a fourth was in critical condition at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.

June 22, 2009

Baltimore Drivers Ranked Among the Most Courteous in the Nation

by Jeff Butschky

A national survey conducted by auto club AutoVantage rates Baltimore, Maryland, as the USA’s no.-3 most courteous city to drive in. Does this surprise you? Or sound about right? The top city was Portland, Oregon, followed by Cleveland, then our beloved city.

The AutoVantage survey was conducted to determine the causes of road rage, which can lead to car and truck accidents, personal injury, and wrongful death on the road. New York City ranked no. 1 for having the angriest and most aggressive drivers, unseating long-time champ Miami, which had topped the list for the past 4 surveys. NYC was followed by Dallas Fort Worth and Detroit as the places with the worst road rage.

The survey found that the top causes of road rage were other drivers driving badly (i.e., speeding, tailgating, failing to use turn signals, cutting each other off, or close-shave lane changing), talking on cell phones, and making obscene gestures. Other causes included bad weather, road construction, or simply people who are tired, angry, stressed, in a hurry, or otherwise “having a bad day.” That pretty much covers just about everyone on the road, wouldn’t you say? Yet Baltimore’s courteous drivers have made the national news. Go Baltimore!

June 16, 2009

Cecil County Man Killed in Hit and Run Traffic Accident

by Jeff Butschky

News sources reported that a man from Cecil County, Maryland, died when he was struck by a truck as he loaded a moped into his parked vehicle.

According to news reports, this Maryland hit-and-run death occurred in the early evening on June 12. The victim, a 44-year-old Elkton man, was crushed between his car and the pickup truck that hit him, driven by a 55-year old man. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Charges may be filed against the driver of the truck, pending a decision by the Cecil County State Attorney. This fatal car truck accident occurred on Elkton, Maryland area roads.

June 8, 2009

Maryland Workers Compensation: The Top 3 Reasons Employers Tell Injured Workers Not to File (And Why You Shouldn’t Listen to Them)

by Jeff Butschky

In our work as Maryland Workers Comp attorneys, we hear this all the time: People who are hurt on the job will say, “My employer said that I don’t need to file for workers’ compensation because we have disability insurance.” Or, “They said they would pay me under the table while I take time off to recuperate.” Or, “They said they would continue to pay me legitimately (i.e., on the books) while I’m off.”

Those are the BIG 3 EXCUSES we hear employers using to discourage injured workers from filing Maryland Workers Comp cases. What happens in those scenarios, inevitably, is the employee gets paid for the time that they’re off, but they really get shorted on the two most important things:

1. They don’t get compensated for any permanent physical problems they’re having.

May 27, 2009

Chesapeake Bay Bridge Accident: Maryland Families File Lawsuit Over Traffic Deaths

by Jeff Butschky

This past Memorial Day weekend, hoards of Baltimore, Maryland, and other Mid-Atlantic residents and visitors traversed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The dual-span bridge is one of Baltimore’s most memorable historic landmarks and the subject of picture postcards. It’s also been the subject of controversy surrounding its maintenance, repair and safety, and the site of Baltimore traffic accidents — some of them deadly.

If you live or work in the Baltimore-Washington Metro area and you use the bridge to get where you need to go, you’ve no doubt been driven crazy time and time again by the bottlenecks that occur on the Bay Bridge. You’ve experienced headaches and frustration due to the ongoing redecking and restoration project, which causes officials to close lanes in spans of the bridge. If you don’t like heights, being stuck in a traffic jam over the water isn’t your favorite place to be. As Maryland personal injury lawyers, we’re aware of the legal cases that arise following traffic accidents on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

For example, a current lawsuit in the news concerns a fatal car crash that occurred on the Bay Bridge in 2007. The families of three men killed in a multi-car accident are suing the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) and a number of drivers for $19 million. The accident occurred when a trailer being pulled by an SUV disconnected, setting off a chain reaction that involved multiple vehicles. Three men were killed and five other people suffered injuries.