As a Maryland injury lawyer and trucking accident attorney, I know that the size of these vehicles and the cargo they carry can cause serious harm to the drivers and passengers of multiple vehicles. One of the most dangerous types of truck-related crashes involve tankers carrying flammable liquids such as heating oil, diesel fuel, kerosene or gasoline.

A tanker crash can release thousands of gallons of combustible liquids, which can engulf and burn out of control for hours. Any motorist caught up in a tanker truck crash must have luck on his side to make it through. This kind of traffic accident occurred not long ago on Montross Road above Interstate 270 in Montgomery County, MD.

According to news articles, a fuel tanker carrying 8,900 gallons of gasoline overturned shortly before 5am near I-270 ramp in Rockville setting off a fire that blocked several key arteries in the area just before the morning rush hour. Based on reports, the tanker driver was charged with negligent driving in the accident.

Michael A. Gongola, 45, of Frederick, MD, reportedly said that his rig began to drift to the left side of the highway “for unknown reasons," according to the Montgomery County police. Police say that Gongola tried to correct the drifting condition, which then caused the tanker to overturn on Montrose Road, spilling its contents onto the roadway and then catching fire.

Debris from the truck struck a second vehicle, but fortunately the occupant of the car and the truck driver were not injured. However, had this accident happened at the peak of the rush hour, there could have been some serious injuries and potentially a fatality from the ensuing truck fire.

Overturned fuel tanker fire closes Montrose Road, WashingtonPost.com, January 15, 2010

Repairs underway on stretch of Montrose Road damaged in fire, WashingtonPost.com, January 14, 2010

Earlier this month, a woman was injured in a trucking-related accident when her car was hit by a Garrett County snow plow operated by the county’s roads department. According to reports, Deanna Louise Schroyer, a 46-year-old Friendsville resident, was driving her GMC Sierra pickup truck along Bear Creek Road just before 10am when she apparently drifted into the oncoming lane just as the plow was approaching.

According to Maryland State Police, the Northern Garrett Rescue Squad and the Accident Volunteer Fire Department responded to the accident after being alerted by the Garrett County 911 center. Once on the scene they treated both drivers.

Schroyer was transported to Western Maryland Regional Medical Center in Cumberland following the crash with unknown injuries. The driver of the plow, 50-year-old Ricky Nugent of Grantsville, MD, was unhurt in the accident. He was reportedly driving a county-owned 2000 Sterling dump truck fitted with a snow plow for clearing roads in the area.

News reports indicate that the state police issued a citation to Schroyer charging her with failure to drive right of center.

Woman injured in snowplow crash, Times-News.com, January 7, 2010

This is not to say that truck drivers themselves do not become injured as well. With a dozen or more tons of cargo on the trailer behind the truck cab, an over-the-road trucker can easily be hurt or killed in a high-speed crash or even medium-speed trucking accidents. A news article highlighted what can happen when two trucks collide on the expressway.

According to news reports, there was a double tractor-trailer crash just north of the Maryland border in mid-December that injured the drivers of both rigs. The accident, which occurred around 2am on I-78 in Delaware County, PA, apparently tied up traffic for hours.

Based on police reports, a truck driven by Baltimore resident Joe Craig was parked along the shoulder of the interstate. Craig had reportedly stopped to look at a map when another semi truck apparently lost control and clipped the front of the Maryland man’s trator-trailer. The out-of-control rig then careened down a 30-foot embankment. In the process, the truck tore off about 200 feet of safety guard rail on the roadside before rolling down the hill. It was unknown if the cause was due to defective vehicle equipment.

Before emergency crews arrived, Craig helped the other driver to safety. He reportedly said that he thought the man had died in the accident, which threw debris all around the crash site. Fortunately, neither of the drivers was seriously injured, although the driver who lost control was taken to a local hospital with reportedly non-life threatening injuries.

Double Tractor Trailer Accident Along Interstate 78 Injures One, Closes Right Lane, Fox43.com, December 15, 2009

As a Maryland trucking accident lawyer and personal injury attorney, I understand the dangers awaiting motorists around every turn on our interstates, highways and urban streets. Whether you drive a tractor-trailer rig, panel truck, tanker or delivery vehicle, safety should be your primary concern. Trucking-related accidents can be deadly, not just for the drivers and occupants of relatively small passenger vehicles, but also to truck drivers themselves.

Not long ago, a Maryland tow truck driver lost his life in King George County when his wrecker apparently collided head-on with a pickup truck on Route 206 not far from Indiantown Road, also known as Route 610.

The crash occurred around 1:30pm on December 28 when a 1995 International-brand tow truck driven by 34-year-old Ryan O. Robinson crossed the centerline and hit an oncoming Ford F-250 traveling eastbound. Robinson, a resident of Montgomery Village, Maryland, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police reported that he had not been wearing his seatbelt.

According to police, the driver of the Ford pickup, 37-year-old David L. Warring of Fredericksburg, VA, was injured during the collision. Warring was treated at the scene by emergency workers and transported by ambulance to Mary Washington Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. He was subsequently released from the hospital.

Based on the ongoing police investigation, Warring was reportedly wearing his seatbelt. The cause of the crash was still under investigation at the time of the news report, therefore it is unknown if defective equipment was to blame or if it was solely driver error.

Maryland tow truck driver killed in auto accident, Fredericksburg.com, December 29, 2009

In this case, the operator of the delivery truck has only recently been charged with several traffic offenses. Based on news reports, Baltimore County police charged 28-year-old Kevin Callahan of Owings Mills with negligent driving, failure to stop at a red signal and failure to obey a traffic device.

On October 5, 2009, Callahan was driving north on York Road when his truck broadsided a vehicle at the intersection of York and Corbett roads in Monkton, MD. The collision killed the driver, 48-year-old Tim Wheatley, and injured Wheatley’s 9-year-old daughter who was getting a ride to Sparks Elementary School. The girl was critically injured in the accident and has since been released from the hospital, according to news reports.

Although the accident resulted in a death, law enforcement authorities investigated the accident and determined that there was no intent to harm anyone on Callahan’s part. The UPS driver now has the choice to accept the charges and pay the penalties including points on his license, or he can go to court and fight the citations. There was no mention of whether the deceased man’s family would pursue a wrongful death civil suit against the delivery driver or his employer, UPS.

UPS driver charged in fatal crash in Monkton, ExploreBaltimoreCounty.com, December 21, 2009

As Baltimore, MD, injury lawyers and trucking accident attorneys, our job is to help victims of trucking collisions – as well as their families -- recover damages from accidents caused by another person’s negligence. This can include semi drivers, repair and maintenance facilities, truck manufacturers and even component and parts makers, if the cause is found to be defective or poorly designed equipment.

According to news reports, shortly after leaving a Baltimore recording studio the vehicle that Sigel was riding in was apparently forced off the road during the crash. The entertainer sustained a number of injuries to his arms, legs and face, however police reports indicate that Sigel declined medical treatment and eventually made it to a performance venue in Norfolk, VA on Sunday, December 20.

In Sigel’s case, he can count himself lucky. Many truck-car wrecks result in much more severe injuries including broken bones, lacerations, neck or spine trauma, and even traumatic brain injuries sometimes leading to death or permanent disability. Bumps and bruises are the least of the injuries that such an encounter can cause.

At the time of the reports, it was not known if anyone else in the vehicle was hurt during the collision. The accident investigation was ongoing at the time, but no additional details were available.

Beanie Sigel Injured In Car Accident, RTTNews.com, December 21, 2009

As trucking accident attorneys, the legal professionals at Lebowitz & Mzhen, LLC have the knowledge and experience to represent victims and their families in cases not unlike the one reported here. This time, according to news articles, the state of Maryland has been named as one of the defendants in a lawsuit growing out of a deadly traffic accident.

According to reports, a trucker died during the accident in question, which was allegedly caused by a 19-year-old woman who fell asleep while driving across the Bay Bridge. News articles at the time said that Candy Baldwin had been to a wedding earlier and apparently fell asleep while passing across the bridge. This caused a truck driver to swerve his rig to avoid crashing into the young woman’s car.

The family of the deceased truck driver, 57-year-old John Short of Willards, MD, to crash into a concrete barrier on the bridge. However the barrier could not stop the truck from leaving the bridge’s roadway and falling into the water where Short reportedly died.

The lawsuit, which was originally filed last June naming Baldwin as the responsible party, was amended earlier in December to add the state and the Maryland Transportation Authority. The suit cites deficiencies in the maintenance and the inspection of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge as significant factors in the death of Short.

According to news accounts, Baldwin was only charged with traffic violations; police determined the teen's blood alcohol level as 0.03 percent, which is below the legal limit in Maryland, however that measurement was taken hours after the crash, according to the civil suit against the teen. The trucker's family claims the young woman was drunk.

The suit also claims two-way traffic on the bridge at the time of the crash was inherently dangerous and had already led to numerous other fatalities. Since the accident, the state has reportedly spent $3 million inspecting and making repairs to the sidewalls of the bridge.

Md. Named In Fatal Bay Bridge Crash Suit Reporting, WJZ.com, December 12, 2009

Family Names State In Md. Bay Bridge Crash, HometownAnnapolis.com, December 12, 2009

As Maryland trucking accident and personal injury lawyers, we have the ability to represent the families of victims killed as a result of another person’s negligence. In this case, police who were investigating the accident said that the tractor-trailer rig was hauling an empty tanker trailer at the time.

According to early reports, state troopers could not immediately give a reason as to why the deceased pedestrian was on the Beltway to start with, nor if weather conditions may have been a factor in the fatal accident. Initially the man’s identity was not provided, but following notification of his next of kin he was identified as 57-year-old Joseph Mark Scannell.

The Maryland State Police Crash Team and Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division were charged with investigating the accident. They determined that the truck driver, Jerry Lyn Brooks, 46, of Ellicott City, was not injured in the incident.

The Inner Loop was shut down briefly around the accident scene with a number of lanes being closed for several hours while the investigation took place. Police also said that alcohol was not a factor in the accident.

Pedestrian killed on I-695, ExploreBaltimoreCounty.com, December 7, 2009

As Maryland truck accident lawyers, my office represents motorists and bystanders who have been injured as a result of a semi-trailer collision. Fatal injuries are not uncommon in truck-related wrecks

A recent news article pointed up the quick thinking that truck drivers need to have to avoid fatal results. According to reports, a Virginia driver turned a potentially deadly situation on that state’s Route 135 into a happy ending. The incident occurred at Backbone Mountain after the man’s rig lost the use of its brakes as well as its transmission.

Bonzell Garland, 32, had apparently left Mountain Lake Park in his 1997 Kenworth tractor pulling a 2006 Cherokee trailer loaded with conveyor belt equipment. The rig, which is owned by Legacy Express Inc., in Richmond, was traveling down a steep nine-percent descent on Route 135 at around 12:30pm with 78,000 pounds of truck and machinery. Garland wad headed from Garrett County to Interstate 68 and eventually to his destination in Norfolk.

According to news articles, that steep stretch of Route 135 runs for about four miles from Swanton to Bloomington. Police reports indicate that the truck’s brakes and transmission failed along the decline, during which event the driver saw the lights flashing on the advance sign that signals an upcoming escape ramp, which he decided to utilize.

Reportedly, Garland told police that his transmission and brakes failed as he was traveling 45 to 50 mph when he ditched the rig into the escape ramp. Police investigators estimated that the rig was traveling close to 65mph when it hit the runaway ramp where a 3-foot deep mixture of sand and pea gravel finally brought the tractor-trailer to a halt -- more than 550 feet into the 1,800-foot runaway ramp.

According to the article, Backbone Mountain has been the scene of numerous fatal accidents over the last 30 years involving big rigs that failed to stop before slamming into the rocky embankment at the base of the mountain. Twenty or more crosses commemorating drivers who have died there are painted on the rocky hillside where Route 135 flattens out and abruptly makes a 90-degree turn past the NewPage paper mill.

Driver saved by escape ramp, Times-News.com, November 10, 2009

According to news reports, the Teamsters announced that they will support a new law banning the transport of flammable liquids in tank truck loading lines. According to the union, approximately 30 to 50 gallons of flammable liquid, such as gasoline or heating oil, can typically be held in the mostly unprotected loading lines beneath most tanker trucks.

The report quoted a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report that described a recent highway accident in New Jersey involving a tanker truck in which the driver of a smaller vehicle was killed. In that crash, the NTSB concluded, the ensuing fire probably wouldn't have occurred if the loading lines had been empty. According to reports, there have been 184 accidents over the past 10 years in which loading lines were damaged or ruptured.

An accident involving a tank truck loaded with gasoline, diesel fuel or heating oil, can cause severe burn injuries to the truck driver, occupants of other vehicles, and even pedestrians. Frequently, injuries such as third-degree burns can result in death.

According to news reports, the Teamsters director of Safety and Health, LaMont Byrd, said the requirement would be worth the cost -- $2,000 to $4,000 on vehicles worth $80,000 to $100,000 -- for equipment to purge the loading lines, known as "wet lines."

"It is clear that these wet lines present a real danger when tank haul trucks are involved in accidents to not only the traveling public, but to the drivers of these vehicles," Byrd said.

Teamsters Support Comprehensive Hazmat Regulation, PRNewswire.com, November 16, 2009

While the preliminary police report issued at the time of the news article indicated that the single-vehicle accident was a result of driver error combined with less than optimal road conditions, there could also be a chance of defective equipment, such as worn tires or other mechanical failure.

According to news reports, a 19-year-old driver died several days following a single-truck crash on Route 100 in Anne Arundel County. Police reports showed that Dakota Kelly Alder of Pasadena, MD, died from injuries sustained during a crash four days earlier near the Route 100 and Interstate 97 interchange.

The accident report stated that the driver lost control of the vehicle around 2:30 in the afternoon p.m. and lost control of the truck. The initial police investigation stated that the truck was likely traveling at a higher rate of speed than the wet road conditions would have allowed. The young driver apparently lost control of the vehicle which then struck the guard rail and flipped over.

Rescue crews arriving on the scene administered first aid to both the driver and passenger then transported them to local hospitals. According to police, Alder was taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center where he was treated but died several days later. The only passenger, 19-year-old Jordan Joshua Swick, also of Pasadena, was taken in critical condition to the Baltimore Washington Medical Center.

19-year-old driver dies days after Arundel crash, BaltimoreSun.com, November 16, 2009

This latest news article tells a story of unforeseen consequences, which the officer in question acknowledged was not foremost in her mind when confronted by a jackknifing tractor-trailer on a bridge along the Capital Beltway in the middle of the night.

Based on news articles, Officer Sarah White received a call just after 2am on October 6 to handle traffic control at the scene of a truck crash. The incident occurred on the inner loop of the Beltway between the Georgia Avenue and U.S. 29/Colesville Road exits. The crash scene was blocking the far right-hand lane.

According to reports, White arrived and parked her cruiser in the right lane, behind the disabled truck. Another officer had laid down about a dozen roadway flares to illuminate the scene. As White was patrolling the area on foot she noticed another semi-tractor coming around a curve toward the accident scene.

That truck had also just lost control and was heading directly for her. Skidding and jackknifing, it was obvious to the officer that the 18-wheeler was about to ram her cruiser and likely shower her with deadly debris. As a result, White took action and jumped out of the way.

Unfortunately, in trying to avoid the impending collision she jumped right off the side of the bridge. The 5-foot-tall female officer fell 24 feet to a grassy area beneath the roadway overhead. As a result, she experienced some back and hip pain, but was described as being in generally good condition considering having fallen more than two stories.

While this is a work-related accident, the reason is due to a truck driver losing control and causing a dangerous situation. Although White's X-rays and CAT scan results were reportedly negative, her back was still very sore. At the time of the news report, she was scheduled for an MRI and some other tests; there couple possibly be some long-term injury that is not yet apparent to the officer. This is why I always recommend that people injured as a result of a trucking accident seek professional legal advice as soon as possible to learn about their options.

With Seconds To React, Officer Leaps And Lives, WashingtonPost.com, October 15, 2009

According to news reports, Linda and Charles Buckland of Edgewood, Maryland, were traveling westbound on the Pulaski Expressway around 1:45am on the morning of Sunday, October 11, when their vehicle collided with a Kenworth tractor that was entering the highway from nearby Stevens Road.

Reportedly, the Buckland’s 2003 Chevrolet Tracker, a compact SUV, was severely damaged in the accident, which fatally injured the driver, 57-year-old Mrs. Buckland. Mr. Buckland, 62, who was riding in the passenger seat, was seriously injured in the early morning wreck, according to police.

Emergency medical services (EMS) transported both husband and wife to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center where Linda Buckland was treated by doctors and hospital staff. Charles Buckland was listed as critical condition, however his wife was declared dead by medical personnel later that morning.

The truck driver, Irvin Jones of Dublin, Virginia, was apparently uninjured in the fatal accident. According to reports, Maryland police have pressed charges against Jones for multiple violations in connection with the wreck.

In an accident of this type, with the disparity in size between the individual vehicles, the outcome is not surprising. If you or someone you love has been injured as a result of another driver’s negligence, you should by all means consult with an experienced personal injury lawyer to learn about your options. Medical expenses, lost wages and other financial costs to you or your family may be at stake.

One killed in truck-SUV crash in White Marsh, BaltimoreSun.com, October 12, 2009

The collision that took the life of Timothy Wheatley in the morning hours of October 1 at the intersection of Corbett and York Road in Monkton also resulted in critical injuries to his young daughter, Sarah. The two were riding in Wheatley’s 1999 Honda Civic when it was broadsided by the UPS delivery vehicle.

Police reports show that the Wheatley was dead at the scene, while his daughter survived and was taken to Sinai Hospital and then Johns Hopkins Children Center. The forth-grader from Sparks Elementary School was still listed as critical several days later.

Police received and accident call just before 9am. According to witnesses, the Civic was pulling out of Corbett Road to go southbound on York Road when it was hit by the truck. Deborah Curtis of Glen Rock, Pennsylvania, was two cars behind the UPS truck as it drove northbound on York Road. Curtis told police that she believed the traffic light was red for York Road traffic. According to reports, Curtis had begun to slow down as she approached the light, looked over at her son, and when she looked up again, the UPS truck had already hit the car.

After smashing into the Wheatley’s vehicle, the UPS truck then plowed through two rows of painted wooden fences and came to rest in the field of Marathon Farm, a horse farm owned by Peter Angelos. Police identified the UPS driver as Kevin Callahan, 28, of the unit block of Wellhaven Circle, in Owings Mills. He was not injured in the accident, Toohey said.

Crash claims life of Monkton man, injures 9-year-old daughter, ExploreBaltimoreCounty.com, October 1, 2009

According to new accounts, fire rescue workers from Baltimore City’s fire department rushed to the scene of a truck-car crash on the southbound side of I-95 near I-396 North in the early afternoon of September 26. First responders found a small car enveloped in flames having been struck by a tractor trailer.

After suppressing much of the flames, fire department personnel worked to free three trapped family members from the wrecked and smoldering vehicle. Names were not released at the time of the incident, however police reports show that one adult male, an adult pregnant woman and male child were all caught inside the burning vehicle.

The child who was found trapped in the rear of the car apparently suffered serious second and third degree burns to his torso, neck and face along with other injuries. Rescuers determined that the boy still had had vital life signs. He was rapidly extricated from the car, treated with advanced trauma life support procedures and quickly transported to Johns Hopkins Children's Center for further assessments and treatment.

According to the report, the driver of the tractor trailer reportedly suffered minor injuries and was transported to an area hospital. Police officers from the Maryland Transportation Authority could not immediately determine what caused the accident. An investigation was ongoing at the time of the report.

Family Rescued After Crash with Tractor Trailer, ABC2News.com, September 26, 2009