Maryland Accident Law Blog

Maryland Car Accident Fatalities Reduced By Laws Placing Limits On Licensed Minors, According To AAA Report

July 5, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has released a report saying that restrictions imposed on teen drivers by the state of Maryland may be working. According to the report, measures known as “graduated driver licensing” can reduce car accident fatalities involving young drivers by 20%.

Limits for licensed minor drivers in the state of Maryland include:

*Not being able to carry passengers younger than 18 years of age when driving unaccompanied by a qualified supervising driver during the first 5 months of being licensed.

Sample Of A Demand For Jury Trial Document In A Personal Injury Lawsuit

July 3, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

If your personal injury case cannot be resolved during mediation, then you may have to go to court. Below, we have included a sample of a court document that we filed in District Court in the state of Maryland demanding a jury trial for our client, the plaintiff, who was injured in a car accident. We have redacted the names of the parties involved for purposes of confidentiality.

Download Demand for Jury Trial document

This Demand For Jury Trial document is provided by the Maryland-based personal injury law firm of Lebowitz and Mzhen.

Maryland Natural Resources Police Investigate Recent Boating Accidents

June 29, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The Maryland Natural Resources Police have had to turn their attention to local waters where a number of boating accidents have recently taken place.

On June 18, In St. Clement Bay near St. Clement Shores, a 10-year-old boy was injured in the head when an 18-foot boat hit a pound net. The child was flown to Washington DC and treated at the Children’s Hospital National Medical Center.

Just one day earlier, the NRP recovered the bodies of two men from the Potomac River. They had died in a boating accident on June 16. Their boat had been found without anyone on board just south of the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge. A third person who survived the accident was taken to a hospital for treatment. The NRP is investigating the cause of the accident.

Samples Of Auto Tort Complaints Filed In Circuit, District, And Federal Courts For Personal Injury Lawsuits

June 27, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Every year in the United States, about 3 million car accidents result in injuries. According to the US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2 million of these injuries are permanent and approximately 40,000 of them result in death.

Personal injury cases based on car accident claims tend to stem from incidents involving:

-hit and run drivers

Sample Of Designation Of Expert Witnesses Document Requesting Physician To Testify On Behalf Of Plaintiff Injured In Car Accident

June 22, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

If you are the plaintiff in a personal injury suit, you may need to ask a medical expert to testify as a witness on your behalf. This person can verify the extent of your injuries and testify for you in court. Below, we have included a sample of a document that we filed in Circuit Court where we designated a particular physician as an expert witness for our client, the plaintiff, who was injured in a car accident. We have redacted the names of the individuals involved for purposes of confidentiality.

Download Sample Of Designation Of Expert Witnesses Document

This document was filed by the Maryland-based personal injury lawfirm of Lebowitz and Mzhen.

Family Files $5 Million Dollar Wrongful Death Suit Against Delaware-Based Air Ag Inc. For Negligent Use Of Pesticide Spray

June 21, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A Maryland family recently filed a $5 million dollar wrongful death suit against Air Ag Inc. and its owner Robert J. Collins for the death of Edward Louis Brittingham in June 2003. The lawsuit claims that Brittingham died after he was exposed to Warrior, a highly toxic pesticide, when the Delaware-based aerial pesticide application company sprayed it onto a wheat field near a residential area in the city of Berlin.

The suit, filed on June 8 in Worcester County on behalf of Brittingham’s widow and five children, alleges that Air Ag Inc. and Collins were negligent because they “knew or should have known that the pesticide being applied was highly toxic and would cause serious injury including death if improperly or negligently applied.”

Causes for filing wrongful death suits in Maryland include:

Sample Of A Products Liability Complaint For Maryland Courts

June 19, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says that defective products cause more than 29.5 million injuries and close to 22,000 deaths in the US each year.

Some reasons for why a manufactured product might be defective:

– design defects

Issue of Helmet Use Returns To The Spotlight After Pittsburgh Steeler Quarterback Ben Roethslisberger Sustains Injuries In Motorcycle Accident

June 15, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The recent motorcycle accident that left Pittsburgh Steeler star Ben Roethlisberger seriously injured is a classic example of what can happen when a motorcycle rider does not wear a helmet and gets into an accident.

Roethlisberger, 24, had to undergo more than seven hours of surgery after his motorcycle collided with a car at a Pittsburgh intersection. The youngest quarterback to ever lead a football team to a Super Bowl Championship fractured his upper and lower jaws, broke his nose, sustained head lacerations, suffered a mild concussion, and lost two teeth while chipping several others. He also sustained multiple abrasions and contusions.

According to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2003:

Senate Judiciary Panel Reviews Compensation Bill That Could Remove Asbestos-Related Personal Injury Cases From Courts

June 14, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The US Senate Judiciary Committee is discussing changes to the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act. The compensation bill offers a plan that would create a $140 billion trust fund that could end up removing asbestos-related personal injury cases from the courts. The fund would be financed from the revenues of companies facing asbestos litigation and their insurers, but some opponents of the bill worry that the fund might not be able to cover all liability claims and that taxpayers could end up paying for them.

Asbestos injuries result when a person who is exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos inhales or ingests asbestos fibers. Asbestos injuries can sometimes arise years after the incidence of exposure.

Job industries where the risk to asbestos is particularly high:

Hagerstown, Ocean City, and Indian Head Report Recent Pedestrian Accidents

June 12, 2006 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Statistics by the United States Department of Transportation and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration say that in 2002, over 4800 pedestrians were killed and over 70,000 others were injured in vehicle-related accidents.

On June 6 in Ocean City, Maryland, a female woman in her 20’s suffered head injuries after being hit by a car filled with River Hill, Pennsylvania high school graduates. The pedestrian had failed to use a crosswalk.

In Hagerstown, Maryland, police are blaming an 18-year-old teenager for two hit-and-run incidents that took place on June 3. According to police reports, William Guy IV was driving a Ford Bronco in the wrong direction on I-81 South when he hit a pickup truck and later hit a pedestrian. Guy is said to have left both accident scenes. Police finally apprehended him after his Bronco crashed into a road sign. The pedestrian and two other victims were treated and later released at Washington County Hospital.