Maryland Injury Attorney Blog

Last year, Toyota drivers in Baltimore County, Maryland and around the country had reason to be concerned. The auto manufacturer that built its reputation on safety and reliability was involved in one of the most massive worldwide consumer safety recalls in history of some 8 million vehicles.

The safety recalls occurred after reports of fatal auto accidents involving “runaway Toyotas” — that is, cars that couldn’t be stopped from accelerating out of control. Drivers reported sticking gas pedals that were slow to rise when foot pressure was removed, and cars that failed to decelerate despite the drivers releasing the gas and leaning hard on the brakes.

The car accidents that prompted the recalls and a subsequent government investigation occurred over a number of years, involving different models of Toyotas. Now U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has released a report on the investigation regarding Toyota’s problems.

Remember when the only people who drove pickup trucks in Maryland were farmers, construction workers, and other working people with loads to haul? That was back when a family-sized vehicle was called a station wagon — and modern innovations such as all-wheel drive, GPS navigation, and onboard entertainment systems weren’t even on the drawing board.

Fast forward a couple decades down the road, where more and more Americans started feeling like they too should be driving a truck, or something of that stature. Something that would be a presence on the road. Enter the sport utility vehicle or SUV. Now seems like practically every other car on the road is an SUV. SUVs of every shape, size, and color. Some the size of tanks (the Hummer, for example). The size is what’s causing headaches for the insurance industry — and for consumers who find even minor fender benders can be costly, in dollars and injuries.

As an experienced Baltimore SUV accident injury lawyer knows from work with injured clients — when an SUV is involved in a traffic accident with a car in Maryland, the smaller vehicle tends to be on the losing end. One of the problems, says the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), is the mismatched bumper heights.

As experienced Baltimore car accident injury lawyers will attest — winter driving in Maryland can be mighty challenging. This is true for any Baltimore County resident who commutes to work on Maryland highways and roads, maybe over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge or into Baltimore City on a daily basis. Snow and ice make the experience that much more interesting.

Winter weather is often cited as a contributing factor in serious Baltimore County car accidents. Sometimes, it’s a challenge just to get out of the driveway.

Which explains why, after Mother Nature dumps a snowy load on Maryland, we see the inevitable “moving igloos” chugging down our streets and cruising down our highways. By that we mean cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs driven by people who didn’t clean the snow and ice off their vehicles. You know the ones…where the driver is peering out a tiny hole in an icy windshield that hasn’t been fully defrosted. If you’ve been behind one of these mobile snow cones when the 10-inch cap of snow or 3-inch sheet of ice on the car roof lets go–you know what a driving hazard this problem can be.

When was the last time you had a heart-to-heart talk with an elderly parent or grandparent about their driving abilities? As uncomfortable as that might be, it could be a life saver. A Baltimore news source reported that the AAA found that on average, more than one Maryland senior citizen is killed weekly in an auto accident. One a week.

That statistic might be surprising to some. However Baltimore traffic accident injury lawyers know what can happen when elder drivers lose their ability to safely helm an automobile on Maryland roads, highways, and city streets.

Too often, we hear a Baltimore, Maryland area news story about a senior citizen who lost control of their vehicle and caused a serious or fatal pedestrian accident or car crash. The AAA urges families to have those frank discussions about when it’s time for seniors to stop driving. Other factors to consider for senior driving safety:

This past August, Ford Motor Company and the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) issued a safety recall for the Windstar minivan. Windstar model years 1998-2003 manufactured and sold in Canada and several cold-weather states — Maryland included — are at risk for axle cracking, corrosion and failure, which could lead to serious and even fatal auto accidents.

Ford stated that Windstar minivans sold, owned and operated in snow belt states like Maryland are at greater risk for axle corrosion and failure, due to rock salt used to treat slippery roads. As anyone who’s driven on Baltimore County, Maryland roads on bad winter days knows — the rock salt and sanding truck is a welcomed sight. But that salt can accelerate rust and corrosion on the undercarriage of a motor vehicle, which is the problem Ford describes on Windstars manufactured with “heat-treated axles.” The initial recall of more than half a million Ford Windstar minivans has been expanded by several thousand, bring the total number recalled to 612,000.

Baltimore County auto accident injury lawyers stay current on automotive safety recalls such as this one from Ford. Experienced Maryland traffic injury attorneys are aware of laws surrounding automotive product liability and consumer protection. If you live in Maryland and drive an older Ford Windstar minivan, you’d best contact your local Ford dealer and get the vehicle inspected, to avoid a possible traffic accident.

If you’re a parent in Maryland with a teenage driver on the road, you might be interested in a study about teen driving safety and supervision.

The journal Pediatrics reports that teen car accidents are less likely to happen in families where parents lay down ground rules before the kids take to the road.

The study was conducted by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which surveyed 5,500 teenagers. The results showed that young drivers are less likely to be involved in car accidents when parents restrict access to the car keys. Researchers concluded that requiring teens to ask for the car keys gives parents more opportunities to supervise their driving habits and set rules for safety.