Motor Vehicle Accidents

January 25, 2024

Maryland Car Crash Fatalities on Track to Surpass 600 Deaths in 2023

The Maryland Department of Transportation reports the number of motor vehicle accident fatalities on our state’s highways and roadways continues to grow. According to Zero Deaths Maryland, a public safety program of the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA), car crash deaths are expected to surpass 600 fatalities for 2023 — the highest number of roadway fatalities in decades.

Zero Deaths Maryland reports that most Maryland car crash deaths are caused by the following driving behaviors:
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January 26, 2023

Why is Maryland seeing more traffic accidents during the COVID-19 pandemic?

by Jeff Butschky

Last year, our Maryland personal injury law practice saw an increase in motor vehicle accident cases. This is in spite of people still working from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, when we’d expect fewer motorists crowding highways commuting to and from their workplaces.

Zero Deaths Maryland reported 544 motor vehicle crash fatalities for 2022, including 339 drivers, 64 passengers, 128 pedestrians, 11 bike or pedacyclists, and 2 unknown. This figure is down from 563 traffic accident deaths in Maryland in 2021. However, in 2020, more people died in automobile crashes here (573 deaths) than in previous years, resulting in an overall 7.1-percent increase in traffic accident fatalities for Maryland.

Nationally, motor vehicle accident fatalities since the start of the pandemic have increased to levels not seen in many years, reversing a positive trend toward fewer deaths on our roadways. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that 42,915 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2021 — a 10.5% increase from the 38,824 fatalities in 2020 and the highest number of U.S. motor vehicle accident deaths since 2005.

So what is going on here? Traffic safety experts aren’t entirely sure.

November 11, 2022

Maryland Move Over Law Expands to Protect All Vehicles on the Roadside

by Jeff Butschky

Graphic: Maryland Department of Transportation, Maryland State Police

Beginning October 1, 2022, the Maryland Move Over Law expanded to include all vehicles pulled over on the side of the road with hazards on and/or road flares displayed. In doing so, Maryland becomes the eighth state in the nation to expands its move over traffic law to cover all types of vehicles — not only emergency responders, law enforcement and tow trucks.

The original Maryland Move Over Law went into effect in 2010 as a way to protect police officers on the roadside from deadly traffic accidents. The original law established a buffer between moving traffic and those broken down or pulled over on the roadside by requiring oncoming vehicles to slow down and move over from the right lane into middle or left lanes, if safe to do so. In the following years, the law expanded to include other types of vehicles….

January 31, 2022

Maryland Courts System – COVID-19 Updates for January 2022

by Jeff Butschky

I think we’d all agree that 2021 was a very challenging year for many individuals and families. The team at Butschky & Butschky worked hard to provide the personal injury law services our clients expect and deserve — despite the many challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, motor vehicle accident fatality rates have increased in Maryland and across the U.S. Our work to advocate for accident injury victims does not take a break, despite the coronavirus.

Over the past two years, we’ve kept pace with the often changing public health guidelines and restrictions put in place by the Maryland Courts in an effort to keep everyone safe. Some courthouses were open, while others remains closed. We’ve dealt with backed-up caseloads in the courts, slow mail services, and even slower insurance claims processing. And while the courts resumed some normal operations, including criminal and civil jury trials, in April 2021, they’ve now stepped that back again due to the highly contagious Omicron variant.

Here are some of the recent changes to operations posted by the Maryland Courts for January 2022:

September 23, 2021

Auto Accident Deaths Rise During COVID-19 Pandemic, Despite People Driving Less

by Jeff Butschky

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that despite people driving less during the COVID-19 pandemic, motor vehicle accident fatalities have actually increased.

NHTSA estimates for 2020 show that 38,680 people died in U.S. motor vehicle traffic crashes — the largest projected number of fatalities since 2007. This figure represents an increase of about 7.2 percent over the 36,096 crash fatalities reported in 2019.

This rise in traffic accident deaths is in contrast to the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) report that overall vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in 2020 decreased by about 13.2 percent, compared to miles traveled in 2019. The decrease in driving during the 2020 coronavirus crisis can be attributed to a number of factors, including…

June 29, 2020

Maryland Motorists: Are Your Driving Skills Rusty Due to COVID-19 Isolation?

by Jeff Butschky

Many residents of Maryland kept their cars in park the last few months, due to statewide shutdowns of businesses and schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that restrictions are being lifted as the state slowly gets back to business, some motorists may find their driving skills have become rusty.

If you’re one of those Maryland drivers who’s feeling a little out of sorts behind the wheel, you’re not alone. The last few months of coronovirus restrictions saw a vast reduction in daily commutes and road travel. Now, with Maryland businesses reopening and people moving about more freely, drivers getting back behind the wheel may fall into old, bad driving habits. This, combined with sharing the road with new teenage drivers, could lead to increased motor vehicle accidents this summer.

What’s worse? A majority of motorists admit to knowing dangerous driving habits are wrong, but too many engage in them anyway. The AAA Foundation has released its findings from a national survey on the top dangerous driving offenses for 2019. To learn more about those—and the percentage of motorists admitting to them—read on….
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