Car Accidents

Hagerstown Man Dies After Being Struck by an SUV in Head-On Crash in Maryland

August 3, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A Hagerstown man died on Monday afternoon in Ringgold Pike in northern Washington County when the 2005 Honda Pilot SUV he was riding in was struck by a Ford Explorer in a head-on collision. Paul Allen Vanderford died at the accident scene. The driver of his car was his 15-year-old daughter who had her learner’s permit.

A head-on collision is a frontal impact collision and considered to be a major cause of death in car accidents. The impact can be very violent.

There are several kinds of frontal impact collisions:

• Colliding with an oncoming vehicle (head-on crashes)
• Colliding with the back of a motor vehicle
• Collision with a nonmoving object
• Colliding with the side of another motor vehicle

The kind of motor vehicles involved, whether the vehicles were moving or stationary, going slow or fast, whether the vehicles involved had airbags, and whether passengers were wearing seatbelts are all factors in determining the severity of the accident and the kinds of injuries that can result.

When someone you love is killed in a car accident because another party was negligent, you may be able to file a wrongful death claim against the liable person or persons.

Other kinds of wrongful death cases may stem from medical malpractice incidents, airplane fatalities, other kinds of motor vehicle crashes, criminal attacks, products liability deaths, fatal exposure to toxic substances, and death while involved in a supervised activity or because of exposure to dangerous conditions at work.

In a wrongful death lawsuit, your case goes to a Maryland court. A judge and a jury will rule on the kind and amount of damages that you, the surviving family member, are entitled to. Lost inheritance prospects, funeral and medical costs, and loss of financial support and benefits are some of the factors taken into consideration when determining damage amounts in a wrongful death case.

Parents, children, and the surviving spouse are allowed to bring wrongful death claims in Maryland.

Two die in separate crashes, Herald-Mail.com, July 31, 2007

Related Web Resources:

Head-On Collisions

Summary of Wrongful Death and Intestacy Statutes (PDF)

Seven People Are Hospitalized in Maryland After Route 50 Bypass Motor Vehicle Collision in Salisbury

July 24, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A motor vehicle collision near Naylor Mill Road in Salisbury, Maryland led to several people being sent to the hospital and traffic in the area being delayed for close to an hour.

On Monday afternoon, an SUV and another motor vehicle crashed into each other in the left lane while traveling east on the Route 50 Bypass. One of the motor vehicles had tried to merge in from the right lane.

The collision forced the SUV over the median where it then overturned.

Emergency personnel from fire departments in Hebron, Salisbury, and Delmar all rushed to the scene to take the injured persons to Peninsula Regional Medical Center.

Police have charged the female driver that tried to change lanes with improper lane change. At least one accident victim had to be pulled from the accident scene.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a car accident takes place in the United States at least once every ten seconds. A motor vehicle-related fatality takes place in this country at least once every thirteen seconds. The majority of car accidents are caused by careless or negligent drivers.

Personal injury lawsuits can be filed against a negligent driver in a car accident if it can be proven that the motor vehicle driver acted carelessly and did not conform to the reasonable standard of care required by drivers in order to prevent car collisions.

If the persons who were injured by the negligent party can prove that the negligence or carelessness was the proximate and actual cause for the injuries, then liability in the personal injury case and the obligation to pay the victims compensation may result.

An actual cause finding shows that the motor vehicle victim would not have sustained those particular injuries unless the driver had acted negligently. Proximate cause shows that the personal injuries were naturally caused by the driver’s negligence or carelessness.

Bypass collision sends seven to hospital, Delmarvanow.com, July 24, 2007
Car Accidents Overview, Justia

Related Web Resource:

National Center for Statistics and Analysis of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

School Bus And Car Crash in Baltimore County And 13 Children Are Sent to Maryland Hospitals

July 18, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

1 adult and 13 children were sent to local hospitals this morning after a school bus carrying 33 children to McDonough Day Camp collided with a Cadillac at Windsor Mill Road and Mayfield Avenue in Baltimore, Maryland.

The adult—a woman—was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center for observation. Four of the children were taken to North West Hospital. Nine children were brought to Sinai Hospital. All of the injuries are reportedly not fatal.

2002 statistic from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: 19,000 people were injured in bus accidents. 9,000 school bus-related injuries were reported in 2000. 16 of these injuries resulted in deaths.

Also, in 2002, the NHTSA says that “On average, over the past 11 years, school buses have been involved in over 26,000 crashes, resulting in less than 1,000 incapacitating injuries and slightly more than 7,000 non-incapacitating injuries and possible injuries to passengers.”

If a person is injured in a school bus crash because the bus driver, the bus company, another driver, or another party was negligent, the injured victim may be able to file a personal injury claim or lawsuit against the negligent party. Causes of school bus accidents can include driver negligence, a defective vehicle, improper maintenance, DUI, and inadequate safety.

Accidents involving school buses can be more complicated then injury accidents involving only cars or motorcycles, which is why it is so important to retain the services of an experienced personal injury lawyer.

School Bus Crash Sends 14 to Hospitals, Washington Post.com, July 18, 2007
Youths hurt in Balto. Co. school bus crash, Baltimore Sun.com, July 18, 2007
School Bus Fatalities and Injuries, NCSBS.org

Related Web Resources:

The National Coalition for School Bus Safety

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Maryland Driver Indicted In the Death of Montgomery Police Officer

July 17, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Ruel Dempster, 19, has been charged in the manslaughter death of Montgomery County police officer Luke T. Hoffman.

Dempster is accused of DWI (driving while impaired) on April 25, 2007 in Wheaton, Maryland. Police officers tried to pull him over but he kept driving until he crashed his car in a parking lot. Dempster then got out of the car and ran. The officers pursued him on foot.

Officer Hoffman, who was one of the police officers pursuing Dempster through a dark area filled with trees, was struck by a police cruiser driven by Officer Stephen J. Wolsey. Hoffman died from his injuries related to the car accident.

Dempster is charged with reckless endangerment, failure to stop and provide identification after an accident involving an unattended car, fleeing and eluding police, and driving without a license.

According to police, Dempster says he did not stop when police ordered him to because he does not have a driver’s license. Police officers say that they could smell marijuana in his car. A cigar tube that contained marijuana was later discovered in Dempster’s apartment.

If you or someone you love has been critically injured in a car accident that was caused by another person, you should speak with a personal injury lawyer right away to see if you can hold the other party liable.

Legal liability in personal injury accidents stems from someone acting carelessly or negligently enough that an accident ended up taking place. The law then applies a basic rule: if someone in an accident acted less carefully than another person in the accident, the person who was less careful must pay for at least part of the damages sustained by the more careful person.

In addition to this rule of carelessness, legal liability is determined by at least one of the following simple propositions (Nolo):

• If the injured person was where he or she was not supposed to be, or somewhere he or she should have expected the kind of activity which caused the accident, the person who caused the accident might not be liable because that person had no “duty” to be careful toward the injured person.

• If the injured person was also careless, his or her compensation may be reduced by the extent such carelessness was also responsible for the accident. This is known as comparative negligence.

• If a negligent person causes an accident while working for someone else, the employer may also be legally responsible for the accident.

• If an accident is caused on property that is dangerous because it is poorly built or maintained, the owner of the property is liable for being careless in maintaining the property, regardless of whether he or she actually created the dangerous condition.

• If an accident is caused by a defective product, the manufacturer and seller of the product are both liable even if the injured person doesn’t know which one was careless in creating or allowing the defect, or exactly how the defect happened.

Man Charged in Montgomery Police Officer’s Death, Washington Post, July 14, 2007
General Rules for Proving Fault in Accidents, Nolo.com

Related Web Resource:

Types of Personal Injury Damages, Justia

19-Year-Old Driver Was DUI in Maryland Car Collision that Killed 17-Year-Old Sunderland Teenager

July 5, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Kevin Stavely, a 17-year-old teenager from Sunderland, Maryland, died last Saturday in a single car accident in Huntington. Stavely was riding in a car being driven by 19-Year-old David M. Clark. According to police, Clark was driving under the influence of alcohol when the accident happened at Shelley’s Crossing and Walnut Creek Road.

Authorities say that Clark lost control of his 2000 Subaru, which left the road and hit the edge of a driveway before flying into the air, sliding across the road, hitting a curb, and landing in a ditch. Stavely, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was thrown out the back windshield. He was later declared dead at the accident scene. Clark and another passenger had both been wearing seatbelts and were not hurt in the crash.

Clark was allegedly speeding and intoxicated. He has been charged with homicide by motor vehicle while under the influence, as well as 10 other charges that include failure to reduce speed to avoid collision and DUI.

Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association Offers the Following National Teen Driving Statistics for 2005:

• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers.
• 16 year-olds have higher crash rates than drivers of any other age.
• 16-year-olds are three times more likely to die in a motor vehicle crash than the average of all drivers.
• 3,467 drivers age 15-20 died in car crashes in 2005.
• Drivers age 15-20 accounted for 12.6 percent of all the drivers involved in fatal crashes and 16 percent of all the drivers involved in police-reported crashes in 2005.
• Graduated drivers license programs appear to be making a difference. Fatal crashes involving 15- to 20-year olds in 2005 were down 6.5 percent from 7,979 in 1995, to the lowest level in ten years.
• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates the economic impact of auto accidents involving 15-20 year old drivers is over $40 billion.
• According to a 2005 survey of 1,000 people ages 15 and 17, conducted by the Allstate Foundation:
o More than half (56 percent) of young drivers use cell phones while driving,
o 69 percent said that they speed to keep up with traffic
o 64 percent said they speed to go through a yellow light.
o 47 percent said that passengers sometimes distract them.
o Nearly half said they believed that most crashes involving teens result from drunk driving.
• 23 percent of teen drivers killed in 2005 were intoxicated, according
to NHTSA.

• Statistics show that 16 and 17-year-old driver death rates increase with each additional passenger (IIHS).

Lindsay Lohan Sued For Personal Injury Two Years After Car Accident

June 14, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A man who says that actress Lindsay Lohan was drunk when she drove her Mercedes into his van two years ago is suing her and the Ivy Restaurant for personal injury.

Raymond Ortega says that Lohan, under 21 years of the age at the time of the accident, was eating at The Ivy in Hollywood where she became drunk. She then drove away from the restaurant and crashed into his truck just a few minutes later. The lawsuit blames “The Ivy” for serving alcoholic beverages to a minor, thereby playing a role in the injuries sustained by Ortega.

In his lawsuit, Ortega says that he is suing Lohan for lost wages, pain and suffering, medical bills, and damage to his motor vehicle. Ortega says that Lohan drove recklessly to escape the paparazzi and was watching them instead of the road. He is suing Lohan and the Ivy for more than $200,000.

This is not the first time that Lindsay Lohan has been sued because of a car accident. Grandeur, Inc., is suing the star for $3,624.84 in Small Claims Court for striking a company van in Beverly Hills. She is also being sued by Ilex Harris and Eddie Palmington, who claim that she hit their motor vehicle in an unrelated car accident.

Lohan is currently in rehab. She was recently arrested for DWI after police arrested her and found a substance believed to be cocaine.

Four Drives Are Hospitalized After Five Car Collision in Hughesville, Maryland

June 8, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A multi-car accident in Hughesville at Siesta Fields Place and Maryland Route 231 on Tuesday left four drivers injured. Three of the injured had to be flown to hospitals because the extent of their injuries were so serious.

Robert Charles Hall Jr. was driving his 2005 Dodge truck East on Rt. 231 when he started passing in a no passing zone. As he tried to get back in the right lane, his truck hit a 2002 Lexus that was being driven by Elvis Michael Ward.

Hall’s truck spun out of control and into the westbound lanes, where his car was hit by a 2004 Mazda Tribute driven by Clara Diane Gilley. William Joseph Johnson, in his 1999 Chevrolet Tracker, then rear ended Gilley’s Tribute.

Halls’ vehicle, however, kept going down the westbound lane, where it hit a 2003 BMW X3 being driven by Joseph Leslie Hardin. Hall’s truck caught on fire.

Hall, Gilley, and Johnson were all incapacitated because of the crash, and they were flown via helicopter to P.G. General Hospital. Ward sustained minor injuries and was treated at Civista. Hardin was not injured.

Maryland State Police say that driver error and speeding were likely factors in the multi-car crash.

If you have been seriously injured in a car accident that was caused by a negligent party, it is important that you call a personal injury lawyer immediately. You will very likely need help covering your medical bills, additional recovery costs, or lost wages. You also may be entitled to compensation for your pain and suffering. We can take all of these factors into consideration when assessing your claim for you.

The negligent party’s insurance company will very likely try to negotiate a settlement directly with you, and the settlement amount may be much smaller than what you’d received if you had your own lawyer. If you hire us as your personal injury attorneys, we can deal with the insurance companies for you and make sure that we demand the maximum recovery that you need.

Woman Accused Of Hitting Four School Children In Hit-And-Run Accident In La Plata, Maryland Is Released On Bond

June 7, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The King George, Virginia woman who is accused of hitting four children that were waiting for a school bus in La Plata, Maryland on Tuesday, and then fleeing the accident scene, has been released on $50,000 bond after being charged with failing to stop after an injury accident and DWI (driving while impaired).

Two of the children, boys ages 4 and 10, were seriously injured and were being treated at the Children’s Hospital in the District. A 9-year-old, who was treated at La Plata hospital, has been released. A 17-year-old had also been injured.

Jacqueline Simmonds, 29, was driving toward a methadone clinic when her car went off the road and onto the sidewalk, hitting a group of children who were waiting for their bus at the stop on Glen Albin Road. She didn’t stop her vehicle and instead, kept driving, ran into a stop sign, and stopped 20 minutes later. She failed two sobriety tests.

Simmonds has previous hit and & run and DUI convictions and is currently fighting an addiction to methadone.

In Charles County, parents are calling for greater safety measures at the stop where the accident took place. They are planning to start a petition drive requesting the hiring of a crossing guard, the installation of speed bumps, and the relocation of the bus stop to an area where there is less traffic. This is the second accident at the Glen Albin Road school stop in the last 9 months. A car struck a child who was crossing the street last September.

Injuries to Minors

Children under 18 years of age who have been seriously injured in an accident can only file a lawsuit with the help of a parent, guardian, or another adult.

Serious injuries to minors can be life altering and extremely traumatic. In addition to injuries resulting from a motor vehicle-related accident, common personal injury accidents where minors are injured include:

• Playground accidents
• Amusement part accidents
• Swimming accidents
• Bicycle accidents
• Swallowing cough medicine or cleaning substances
• Pedestrian injuries
• Falls

At Least 40 People are Injured in Washington D.C. After Female Driver Plows Her Car Through the Unifest Street Festival in Anacostia on Saturday

June 3, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A 30-year-old woman has been preliminarily charged by Washington D.C. police with aggravated assault while armed, after the vehicle she was driving barreled through the Unifest church-sponsored festival last night. The term “armed” refers to the 1991 Volvo that she was driving. At least 40 people were injured in the car collision, and seven of the injured persons were children. Fortunately, there are no fatalities and nearly all of the injured persons have been released from hospitals.

As she was plowing her vehicle through the festival, people tried stopping her by throwing strollers and other debris in her path. The vehicle had been moving at about 70mph, and adults had to push children aside in attempt to keep them out of harm’s way.

The driver, Tonya Bell of Maryland, is in police custody and has been treated for an ankle injury. Many have wondered why she wasn’t apprehended after she was noticed driving erratically earlier. She had even collided with an unmarked police car just 20 minutes before the street festival accident occurred.

According to police, they had followed Bell’s car but were ordered to stop because her traffic violation did not pose a threat to the policemen’s safety. Toxicology reports are pending, and witnesses have reported seeing Bell laughing and smoking as she drove through the festival.

A 7-year-old girl who had been riding with Bell at the time of the incident has been taken into Child Protective Services. She was not injured during the accident.

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty is calling the incident one of the “worst serious traffic accidents…in the District of Columbia” history.

More charges against Bell, who struck two police officers (who where thrown off their motorcycles) when they drove in front of her, are pending. The two officers sustained minor injuries from the collision.

Actress-R & B Singer Brandy Counter-Sues Man Suing Her For Personal Injury From Fatal Car Accident

May 31, 2007 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Brandy Norwood, the R& B singer-actress is countersuing for negligence Mallory Ham, a man who is also suing the performer for personal injury. Both Brandy and Ham are facing wrongful death lawsuits from the family of Awatef Aboudihaj, the woman who was killed when her Toyota Corolla was struck by Brandy’s Range Rover on the San Diego Freeway last December. Ham and Brandy are blaming each other for causing the deadly car collision. Brandy is also challenging the other lawsuits that have been filed against her.

The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office is still considering whether to charge the performer with vehicular manslaughter. The California Highway Patrol has filed a report suggesting that she face charges for the collision. They claim that she neglected to slow down, even as the traffic grew thicker, causing her to crash into Aboudihaj’s vehicle, which was then struck by Ham’s vehicle. If Brandy is convicted, she could face a $1,000 fine and up to one year in prison.

Car accidents can lead to serious, life altering, and permanent injuries, including death. If another person or party’s negligence caused the accident, it is important that you speak with a personal injury lawyer who can help you assess the extent of your injuries or recovery and file the claim for you. Often, injury victims do not receive the full amount of damages they could be entitled to because they are unaware of how much they can and should receive for their injuries. It is not uncommon for insurance companies to try to settle accident claims for less than what you are entitled to.

You will also want to file your claim within the statute of limitations period that your state allows for the kind of accident that you have been involved in. A good injury attorney can help you recover compensation for your injuries, medical bills, pain and suffering, and/or any lost wages.

If your attorney is unable to negotiate a settlement for you, he or she will then ask you if you would like to file a personal injury lawsuit. You will want to make sure that your attorney is an experienced trial lawyer who knows how to successfully argue your case in front of a jury. You will also want a personal injury lawyer who has the resources to properly investigate and build your case for you.