Posted on May 27, 2020 in Truck Accidents

Maryland courts have shut down due to the COVID-19 emergency leaving many who were pursuing personal injury claims in dire straits. A person who is litigating a personal injury case is often in serious need of immediate financial compensation to cope with the many expenses that were thrust upon them due to someone else’s irresponsible and negligent acts. A court shutdown has caused their case, and often their health and livelihood, to suffer a damaging halt.

However, the Maryland judiciary has issued plans on how it will reopen courts in the state. Under the five-phase plan, jury trials will recommence in the beginning of October. Currently courts are in phase one of the plan. Phase two will commence on June 5th at 5:00 p.m.

However, courts still have a long way to go. In phase two of the reopening of the civil court system, the court will still be closed to the general public, except for instances that qualify as “urgent matters.” This means that many of those who are seeking the justice they deserve will still have to wait for their day in court.

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 Posted on May 13, 2020 in Truck Accidents

Maryland state law requires drivers to carry car insurance. As a result, in most cases the first step is to attempt to settle with an insurance company. In other cases, you may decide to file a lawsuit against the other driver. Both options progress along a similar timeline.

PREPARING YOUR ACCIDENT CLAIM

The first step of filing an car accident claim generally involves gathering evidence to establish the other driver was responsible for the car accident. This can include photographs of the scene, medical records from resulting injuries, witness testimonies and police statements.

Once you have gathered all of the evidence, the next step is to write a demand letter. This letter states your claim and outlines exactly what you expect from the other party, including which damages, or expenses, you want the other party to cover. Damages can consist of financial expenses like medical bills, as well as non-financial expenses like pain and suffering.

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 Posted on May 12, 2020 in Truck Accidents

Getting into a car accident is a frightening and often expensive event. The crash likely led to expenses to repair or replace the vehicle and may have led to serious injuries. This can result in medical bills and even missed work. What happens after an accident like this? Can you expect compensation? If so, for what?

Whether or not you get compensation depends on who was responsible for the accident. If the accident was the result of another’s negligent or reckless actions, you are likely eligible for compensation. Although the exact answer for the type of compensation will depend on the details of the accident, some examples include:

• Medical expenses. The accident may have been serious enough to warrant an ambulance. If so, you are likely entitled to have the person responsible for the accident cover this expense. Additional examples of medical expenses can include diagnostic tests, additional appointments, physical therapy, medical devices like a wheelchair or crutches and additional in-home services.

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 Posted on May 12, 2020 in Truck Accidents

Rear ended. T-bone. Head on collision. Whatever the type of accident, those who are involved in a car crash will likely experience shock and confusion immediately following the wreck. Getting out of this initial reaction and into a more productive mindset can be difficult. It can help to know these four straight forward steps to follow after an accident.

The exact steps can vary a bit depending on where the accident occurred. Although this piece is pretty widely applicable, there are some portions that focus specifically on how an accident should be handled in Maryland.

Step #1: Call authorities

If possible, move your vehicle so it is not blocking traffic. If the accident was serious, it is important to call authorities. If anyone is injured, call an ambulance.

Step #2: Exchange information

After an accident, all parties involved should exchange insurance information. Get the other driver or drivers names, contact information, license plate, driver license numbers and insurance information.

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 Posted on May 11, 2020 in Truck Accidents

Due to the sudden and unexpected transition to telework for most of the workers in the United States, UBER has reported some significant changes in its operation numbers. While the rideshare business declined steeply, there was a significant uptick in numbers for both UBER Eats and UBER Freight.

In these unprecedented times, restaurants across the country were shuttered to eat-in guests, but were allowed to offer meals for delivery or curbside pickup. UBER Eats is a food delivery service deemed as essential, which made their drivers eligible to pick up and deliver these meals to residences and other essential businesses. Therefore, the company saw a 53% increase in the service usage between the first quarters of 2019 and 2020.

Likewise, UBER Freight has also seen a significant increase in numbers due to the urgent needs of transport for essential items such as food and medical supplies. Within the first two quarters of the same years, the company reported a 57% increase in loads transported and delivered. The UBER Freight sector is operated as a virtual trucking carrier in which the company contracts its drivers who also have CDL licenses to haul loads.

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 Posted on May 06, 2020 in Truck Accidents

The reports of motor vehicle crashes in Washington D.C. metro newspapers and TV news reports tend to be straightforward and brief. Readers rarely learn much more than the age, gender and hometown of those who were injured or killed.

A recent article in EHS Today takes a more personal approach. The author dives into the details and emotions of a fatal tractor-trailer crash that tore a family apart.

EYES CAN SEE PAIN

The story is told through the eyes of Ed Slattery, a father and husband who lost so much in the violent crash. A trucker driving on three hours of sleep dozed off behind the wheel of his big rig and slammed into the small car carrying Slattery’s wife and two sons.

While Slattery lost so very much that day, other losses were even greater: his wife lost her life and his 12-year-old son, Matthew, lost his ability to walk and much of his ability to speak.

Though his 16-year-old son, Peter, suffered serious injuries in the interstate wreck, he had a “quite miraculous” recovery from his injuries and has grown into a healthy young man.

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 Posted on April 27, 2020 in Truck Accidents

There are thousands of large trucks on the roadways in our country at any given time, performing the important task of transporting goods and supplies in commerce. However, as many of our readers in Maryland may know, these large trucks can present a significant danger to other drivers on the roadways. A collision involving a large truck can result in devastating consequences, including severe damage to property and catastrophic injuries for the people involved.

A recent report shows that truck drivers themselves are seemingly quite worried about one of the biggest issues on the roads today: distracted driving. In fact, the report details a survey in which a vast majority of truck drivers are concerned about the distraction they themselves face when behind the wheel.

Our readers may be surprised to find that it isn’t just the draw of the ever-present cellphone and other technology that can distract truck drivers. The survey detailed in the recent report showed that truck drivers are also concerned about distractions from eating and drinking behind the wheel, the use of GPS devices, adjusting the radio and even the various small tasks involved in operating the controls of large trucks.

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 Posted on April 10, 2020 in Truck Accidents

It is a sad reality that every year in Maryland hundreds, if not thousands, of people die in so-called “accidents.” However, the fact is that many “accidents” are actually caused by someone’s negligent or reckless actions. Take car accidents, for example. These “accidents” are usually someone’s fault. A driver probably caused the collision by speeding or driving drunk, or perhaps a driver was distracted or drowsy behind the wheel. Those actions or omissions, even slight ones, may be the direct cause of a fatal accident.

When a loved one dies in such an “accident,” what are the legal options for the family members who are left behind? Well, for starters, one action may be a wrongful death lawsuit against the party responsible for the death.

Legal options are sometimes the last thing that grieving family members are thinking about in the immediate aftermath of a fatal accident. However, a wrongful death lawsuit, if successful, could provide surviving family members with much needed financial compensation such as, for example, an amount that would be equal to the income and wages the deceased person would have earned if not for the death caused by the negligent or reckless party.

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 Posted on April 10, 2020 in Truck Accidents

Regular readers of our Silver Spring personal injury law blog might recall that back in February, we wrote about claims by rideshare companies that their services are safe. We correctly noted then that “ridesharing is a safer option than driving while impaired.”

While a new study confirms that statement, it also points out that ridesharing services such as Uber and Lyft offset a reduction in drunk driving crashes with increases in other types of motor vehicle wrecks that cause injuries to motorists and pedestrians.

The study by researchers at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health was published in the journal Injury Prevention. It notes that vehicle accidents result in around 1.3 million deaths annually around the world. Here in the U.S., more than 33,000 were killed in crashes in 2018 and another 2.3 million suffered injuries.

In the decade since Uber and Lyft launched, ridesharing services have provided more than 11 billion trips in the U.S. Researchers analyzed data from 372 million rides in New York City in 2017 and 2018, determining where in the city vehicle crashes occurred, and then determining how many ride-hailing trips originated nearby at the time of the wreck.

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 Posted on March 26, 2020 in Truck Accidents

When we think of motorcycle accidents, we generally think that it is a distracted, drunk or otherwise negligent motorist who is at-fault. However, sometimes fault in a motorcycle crash doesn’t lie with another motorist — it lies with the manufacturer of the motorcycle itself.

This is the case when the crash is caused by a motorcycle defect. A defect takes place when the motorcycle has an inherent flaw in the way it was designed, making it unreasonably dangerous. The company that designed the motorcycle will be liable if the product had a foreseeable risk when it was manufactured per the design and used for its intended purpose.

If a person is pursuing a product liability claim based on a design defect, in some states the person must show that the risk could have been avoided if there was a reasonable alternative design that was feasible to produce and would not be unduly expensive to produce, all while still meeting its intended purpose.

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