Maryland Injury Attorney Blog

September 25, 2013

Maryland Drivers Won’t Catch a Break if Third Brake Light Is Out, High Court Rules

“I didn’t see her brake lights.” “I didn’t think I was going that fast.” “I thought I could make it through the intersection in time.” Baltimore County car accident injury lawyers like us have heard all the possible reasons (and then some) for why Maryland drivers get in traffic accidents — and why they think they aren’t at fault in any way.

As we blogged about in July, Maryland is not a victim-friendly state if you’re in a serious motor vehicle accident with injury, and you’re even a fraction to blame. The Maryland Contributory Negligence Law, which was recently upheld in the high court, can make it difficult in many traffic accident injury cases for victims to collect compensation or damages — unless they have an experienced accident injury attorney to advocate for them. (See link to related blog article below.)

Now the Maryland Court of Special Appeals has given police one more good reason to pull over Maryland drivers. On Sept. 10, the Court ruled that driving with a broken third brake light is inherently unsafe — and sufficient grounds for law enforcement to pull the vehicle over.

August 31, 2013

Distracted Pedestrian Accidents on the Rise Due to Texting While Walking

by Jeff Butschky

Another summer in Maryland draws to a close, way too soon. This means streets in Baltimore and other Md. cities and towns are filling up with kids and teens heading back to school. What’s different about today’s youth compared to when we grew up is most have a cell phone in their hands. Texting friends is a way of staying constantly connected. It’s also a way for parents to keep tabs on their tech-savvy children.

Unfortunately, there’s a serious downside to texting. The well-documented hazards of texting while driving have prompted many states, including Maryland, to make the practice illegal. (FYI: Maryland lawmakers closed a legal loophole in Oct. 2011 that allowed drivers to text at stoplights.) It’s easy to see how texting while driving can lead to serious and fatal motor vehicle crashes. Taking one’s eyes off the road for a few seconds to read and send text messages is more than enough time for a serious auto accident to occur.

Now texting while walking is getting more media attention, as pedestrian accident injuries and deaths are up nationwide. Too many people are walking around with their heads down, paying more attention to their cell phones than the traffic racing around them.

August 15, 2013

Maryland Highway Hazard: Unsecured Loads Cause Serious and Fatal Traffic Accidents, GOA Reports

by Jeff Butschky

A few years ago, we wrote about how the fall migration of students back to Maryland colleges brings with it a certain, hard-to-miss road hazard — unsecured loads. This year will likely be no different.

We’ll see them careening down Maryland interstates and highways: Mattresses strapped precariously to car roofs, their edges flapping in the breeze. Pickup trucks stacked willy-nilly with sofas, chairs, and other furniture, just a rope snap away from potential disaster. Suitcases, boxes, and other cargo that didn’t stay put litter the Maryland roadsides.

Such amateur efforts at loading cargo make us slap our foreheads and shake our heads in disbelief. But it’s no laughing matter when unsecured cargo comes loose and becomes a dangerous projectile and obstacle on Maryland highways. Baltimore County auto accident lawyers like us see the results of bad driving and risk taking on Maryland roadways. Poor decisions can lead to bad accidents.

August 7, 2013

Maryland Medical Malpractice : Complications from Procedures Performed in Doctors’ Offices May Be Underreported

by Jeff Butschky

Many Maryland medical malpractice lawsuits stem from cases of medical error, surgical error, or medical negligence that occur in a hospital or ambulatory surgery setting.

But now a news report suggests that complications resulting from medical procedures performed in doctors’ offices may in fact occur more frequently than is reported. An estimated 83,000 procedures are performed in U.S. doctor’s offices every year. A news report out of Boston states that “the number of complications that occur secondary to these procedures is unknown.”

The report states that in a recent study, 886 patients who underwent procedures to treat their basal or squamous cell cancers were asked if they experienced any type of problem. Twenty-seven percent of patients surveyed reported they did have a problem during or after the treatment, with 14 percent reporting medical problems such as bleeding, infection, pain, swelling, poor wound healing, or allergic reactions to the bandage or antibiotics. However complications were noted by doctors in only 3 percent of the patients’ charts.

July 11, 2013

Maryland Personal Injury Law : Court Upholds Contributory Negligence Law in Soccer Player Accident Case

by Jeff Butschky

Last fall, we reported on a Maryland case involving a seriously injured soccer coach — a case that called into question the state’s contributory negligence law. As Baltimore, Maryland Personal Injury lawyers, we’re very familiar with the nuances of this law and how it can affect our clients’ cases.

The gist of the law is this: If you are injured or killed in an accident in Maryland — and you’re found to be even 1 percent at fault — your insurance claim may be denied and you may lose your accident injury case in court. That means you will not collect any compensation. (The Maryland Contributory Negligence Law applies to nearly all types of accidental injury and death cases, including motor vehicle crashes.)

Now, the Maryland High Court has upheld the contributory negligence law as it relates to the story of the injured soccer coach, first reported late last year. According to newspaper reports, Kyle Coleman, age 20, a part-time soccer coach, sustained serious head and facial injuries when a bar from a collapsed soccer goal fell on him. Coleman sued the Soccer Association of Columbia, Md., which was running the practice when he was injured.

May 31, 2013

Maryland Work Safety : Falls the Leading Cause of Construction Accident Deaths

by Jeff Butschky

Look around your Baltimore County, Maryland neighborhood. How many roofs are being repaired or replaced? How safe are those construction workers who are up there walking around and balancing on our rooftops, hammering and replacing shingles for long hours in the sun?

Many of the Maryland Workers’ Compensation injury cases we handle involve fall accidents. It may be a construction work related fall from a roof, scaffolding, or other elevation. We’ve also had cases where clients were injured by falling from a large vehicle (e.g., a tractor trailer truck or crane), or by having a fall when they stepped on a slippery or broken surface at a job site.

A recent article posted by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) confirms what we as Baltimore County work injury attorneys encounter working on behalf of injured clients in Maryland: Falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry. When someone is injured or killed in a construction fall accident in Maryland or any other state, the toll on the family is significant. Not only are wages lost, but life as that family knew it is never the same.

May 25, 2013

What Is Drunk Driving in Maryland? NTSB Wants to Lower Legal Limit to Reduce Alcohol Related Accidents and Deaths

by Jeff Butschky

All 50 states, including Maryland, define drunk driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above .08 percent as a crime. Now the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) wants to lower that threshold to .05 BAC to further reduce the number of drunk driving accident injuries and deaths. Currently about 10,000 people in the U.S. are killed every year in alcohol related motor vehicle crashes. The NTSB feels those are 10,000 good reasons to re-examine the nation’s legal definition of drunken driving.

In the early 1980s, public safety awareness groups brought more attention to the issue of drunk driving, with many states establishing a rate of .15 BAC to demonstrate intoxication. Over the next two decades, Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) brought more attention to this deadly traffic safety problem, with all states adopting a .08 BAC by 2004.

According to CNN.com, “The number of alcohol-related highway fatalities…dropped from 20,000 in 1980 to 9,878 in 2011, the NTSB said.”

May 21, 2013

Memorial Day Weekend Driving in Maryland : Stay Sober, Avoid Alcohol Related Motor Vehicle Accidents

by Jeff Butschky

Long holiday weekends statistically rack up more fatal drunk driving crashes than normal weekends. According to national traffic accident data, Memorial Day Weekend is the deadliest of all holiday weekends on U.S. roads and highways. Statistics showing holiday weekend traffic crash fatalities in order of most people killed are as follows:

Memorial Day: 473 killed (42% alcohol impaired driving)

New Year’s Day: 468 killed (40% alcohol impaired driving)

April 16, 2013

Maryland Observes Work Zone Safety Month, as Road Construction Swings into Gear

by Jeff Butschky

The sight of orange cones and barrels marking work zones on Maryland highways is so common, drivers don’t think too much about them. That’s part of the problem. The Maryland Department of Transportation estimates that an average 2,237 traffic accidents occur in or around Maryland work zones every year, resulting in 1,250 people injured and 11 people killed.

Nationally, some 700 people die each year in motor vehicle crashes occurring in road work zones. The road construction workers are themselves at risk, often operating machinery just a few feet from speeding traffic. (Sad case in point: Two Pessoa Construction Company workers were killed in a work zone crash in Cecil County, Maryland earlier this year.) Police on detail are also at risk of being struck by passing vehicles.

But the national figure of 700 people killed in roadside work zone crashes are mostly drivers or passengers travelling in motor vehicles on roads and bridges under construction. An estimated four of five people killed in work zone accidents are motorists, not highway workers.

March 30, 2013

Maryland Workers Rights : Family and Medical Leave Act Turns 20, But Sick Employees Still Fighting an Uphill Battle

by Jeff Butschky

When an employee suffers an injury or work-related illness, their lives literally may be at stake. As Maryland Workers’ Compensation lawyers, we work with hurt and sick workers to obtain the compensation they need while they’re recovering from their work injury or illness. This means promptly filing a Maryland Work Comp claim and sometimes, taking the employer to court if they refuse to honor the claim in a timely manner.

One law that provides workers who become seriously ill with some protection is the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which Congress passed 20 years ago under the Clinton administration. The Act ensures job security by providing workers *who meet certain requirements* (this is significant) with 12 weeks of unpaid leave, to care for a family member (including maternity/paternity care) or to care for themselves in the event of injury or illness. The law was designed to protect sick workers from losing their jobs or medical coverage.

Some employee rights advocates heralded the FMLA as the beginning of a “Workers’ First” attitude in the U.S. However, others have criticized the Act as not going far enough, as it does not require all employers to provide the unpaid-leave benefit for all employees (see link to terms of the law below) — and some people simply can’t afford to take 12 weeks off without pay. Considering how exorbitant medical expenses rack up quickly, this is significant for sick workers in Maryland and everywhere else.