Trucking Accident Lawyer Blog

Last week, I read a newspaper article that confirmed a suspicion: Nationwide, people are buying less automobile insurance coverage in order to save a few dollars in insurance premiums. My advice: Be careful before reducing your automobile insurance coverage. Here’s why:

First, step back and think about why you buy automobile insurance coverage (in addition to being required at minimum coverage levels in Maryland, and Washington, D.C., and most other states). Your liability insurance coverage protects your assets which include your home, belongings and wages in the event that you cause an accident that injures someone else. If you buy $20,000.00 of automobile insurance liability coverage, but you have $35,000.00 in assets to protect, then you are exposing some of your assets in the event that a judgment is entered against you in an amount exceeding your $20,000.00 policy limit.

Another way you protect your assets is by purchasing adequate uninsured or underinsured motorists’ coverage (UM/UIM). If another driver strikes your vehicle and injures you, and if the other vehicle has no insurance, or not enough insurance, then you need to look back to your own automobile insurance policy coverage to protect you against losses. If you buy minimal UM/UIM coverage, then you place yourself at financial risk that you will be injured by a negligent driver who carries little or no automobile insurance.

In Maryland, another type of coverage, personal injury protection coverage (PIP), is available in amounts of $2,500.00, $5,000.00, $7,500.00 and $10,000.00. PIP coverage can also be waived. PIP coverage is used when you are in an automobile accident, even if the accident is your fault, to cover medical bills and 85% of your lost wages. Because lost wages and medical bills can be significant, this can be very helpful coverage to obtain, and typically the coverage is not that expensive.

The car accident injury attorneys at Lebowitz & Mzhen, LLC suggest that you shop around in an effort to save money on insurance coverage, as opposed to lower the level of protection you buy.

Last week, Motor Vehicle Administration (“MVA”) administrator, John T. Kuo, announced that new applicants for a Maryland driver’s license will have to undergo an updated road test. As many of our readers know, the older version of the driving test required applicants to pass a written exam, navigate a closed road course, and then parallel park. Under the new test, applicants will have to pass a written test, navigate the closed course, and then take their car onto open roads. The new testing procedure is currently in effect in the Waldorf and Frederick MVA locations.

Maryland truck accident attorneys are happy to see Maryland update its driving test procedures and bring them more in line with other states that perform driving tests on open roads. The MVA and parents hope that the new testing procedures will reduce the number of Maryland teenagers involved in auto accidents. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, in 2005, car accidents caused one third of all deaths among 16-19 year olds. In 2007, nearly 5,000 teenagers died in car accidents in the United States and teens within the first months of receiving their license were at a higher risk of being injured in an auto accident.

MVA officials and many parents believe that the new test is a more effective way to test a potential driver’s ability. According to MVA officials, the old test placed too great an emphasis on skills like parallel parking, while the new road test will test a driver’s ability to handle more “real world” situations and will emphasize defensive driving techniques. The MVA expects that by this fall, Baltimore and Washington metro locations will begin implementing the new tests.

Continue reading " In Charles and Frederick Counties New Drivers Face Updated Road Test " »

Maryland truck accident litigators recently read about a truck accident on Davis Drive in Apex, North Carolina that could be repeated on some of Maryland’s smaller roads.

Earlier this week, a dump truck driving down a narrow two lane road that lacked a shoulder, overturned and landed on top of a Honda Civic. The driver of the Civic, Kara Walden Benton, was seriously injured and was flown from the scene to an area hospital. The passenger, Mrs. Benton’s husband, 26 year-old Chad Benton, was less seriously injured.

The driver of the dump truck told investigators that another driver forced the dump truck off the road and onto the grass. According the dump truck driver, his truck overturned when he attempted to get back onto the solid roadway. Other drivers and area residents believe that the lack of a shoulder on Davis Drive poses a safety concern and was the likely cause of this accident. The two lane road is lined by grassy ditches on both sides and if a vehicle’s wheel leaves the roadway, the driver may lose tire traction and be unable to control the automobile. According to residents in the area, this is not the first time the narrow nature of the road has caused accidents. Wake County officials, however, have no plans to widen the road to provide a better shoulder.

Maryland, particularly in rural areas, has a number of narrow roads similar to Davis Drive. Drivers, particularly those in large trucks, have little or no room for error while traveling on these narrow roads and could easily cause similar accidents. Maryland truck accident attorneys suggest that our readers pay close attention when driving near large vehicles on narrow roads particularly in poor weather conditions. A truck whose tire leaves a solid roadway and hit softer earth is susceptible to losing control, and due to its high center of gravity, may overturn, putting drivers near it at risk for serious injury.

External Links

WTVD ABC 11 News Story

Continue reading " In Maryland: Narrow Roads May Put Drivers at Increased Risk for Truck Accidents " »

We recently reported that the Maryland legislature was considering a ban on texting while driving in the state. Recently, both the Maryland House and the Senate have passed versions of the ban and are currently reconciling the bill before it is sent to the Governor’s desk for signature. Governor O’Malley has promised sign the bill into law and to make Maryland one of the growing number of states with text messaging bans.

The House version of the bill prohibits sending text messages while a driver is in travel lanes, even if the driver’s care is stopped at a red light. The Senate version of the law prohibits both sending and reading text messages while on Maryland roads. Under both versions of the bill, texting while driving will be a misdemeanor violation and violators will be subject to a fine of up to $500. Additionally, lawmakers have made texting while driving a primary offense, which means that police officers may pull over a suspected texter even if there is no evidence of other violations.

Although the Maryland Highway Safety Administration has not kept statistics of accidents involving texting while driving, distracted driving has been a factor in a number of automobile accidents in the state. Maryland accident attorneys believe that the texting ban will reduce the ever increasing level of distraction faced by drivers in this state.

External Links

Baltimore Sun Article

On Monday, I met with a new client who was walking across a Baltimore City street. This individual was crossing the street within the cross walk and on a permissible pedestrian “walk” signal when she was struck by a fast moving car that made a right hand turn. She was knocked to the ground, and she suffered broken ribs and a head injury.

In Maryland, it is important to remember that owners of cars who are pedestrians when they are hit by a tractor-trailer, pick-up truck or car still receive the benefits of their automobile insurance coverage available as if they were struck while operating their motor vehicle. In short, a pedestrian does not need to be in his or her vehicle to utilize their own automobile insurance coverage when hit by another vehicle while walking.

The three types of automobile insurance coverage that are typically most useful to someone hit while a pedestrian, are:

1. personal injury protection – this insurance will cover medical bills and 85% of lost wages incurred due to the pedestrian incident, up to the coverage limit. PIP coverage in Maryland is usually purchased at limits of $2,500.00, $5,000.00, $7,500.00 or $10,000.00.

2. medical payment coverage – this insurance will cover medical bills caused by injuries sustained in the pedestrian accident, up to the coverage limit.

3. uninsured or underinsured motorists coverage – this insurance will step in to pay for injuries sustained in the pedestrian incident, such as for broken bones, head injury, muscle and ligament strains and tears, medical bills, and lost wages when the driver of the involved vehicle leaves the scene of the accident and cannot be found, when the other driver has no insurance or when the at fault driver does not have enough insurance to cover the injuries sustained in the collision.

Continue reading " In Maryland, a pedestrian hit by a tractor trailer or car will be covered by his or her own automobile insurance, even when hit while not his own vehicle " »