Maryland Injury Attorney Blog

May 15, 2009

Cecil County, Maryland Truck Driver Dies in Conn. Highway Accident

A trucker from Cecil County has been killed in a commercial truck accident on Connecticut’s Interstate 95. According to news reports, Woodrow Phelps Jr., 68, of Elkton, Maryland, was killed May 13 when his tractor-trailer rig, heading northbound on I-95 in Milton, Connecticut, around 5:30 a.m., struck an SUV, setting off a chain-reaction.

News reports say six vehicles were involved in the chain reaction accident, including one other tractor trailer. According to State Police, Phelps, who had been driving a 2005 Freightliner for Penske Truck Leasing, struck an SUV that was merging onto the highway from a right-lane on-ramp. Phelps was pronounced dead at the scene. The SUV driver, who complained of leg pain, was taken to an area hospital.

The Associated Press reported that stretch of highway where the fatal motor vehicle crash occurred was undergoing work by the Department of Transportation, with traffic reduced to one lane. Police reported that the work crew was picking up from an overnight project when the accident occurred. Highway traffic was closed for eight hours following the crash. State police are investigating this fatal highway accident.

May 8, 2009

Baltimore County Single-Vehicle Accidents: Causes and Fatalities

by Jeff Butschky

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that single-vehicle traffic deaths in Baltimore County, Maryland have declined in recent years — 45 deaths in 2007, as compared to 51 deaths in 2003. (Source: NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts for Baltimore County 2003-2007).

Single motor vehicle crashes may be caused by a number of factors, including

driving under the influence

April 28, 2009

Maryland Construction Accidents: Stricter Crane Regulations May Save Lives

by Jeff Butschky

With the goal of reducing Md. construction injuries and deaths, the state has added teeth to what are already among the strictest crane regulations in the country.

New regulations went into effect for Maryland earlier this month following several serious construction crane incidents, such as a fatal Anne Arundel County accident that occurred in April 2008. According to a Baltimore news report, workers in Annapolis Towne Centre were dismantling an end section of a crane when an accident occurred, crushing a construction worker between two sections of the crane 200 feet up. Another worker was injured.

The new regulations will require all construction workers operating cranes as well as those who load and signal them to receive intensive training on the equipment, to avoid serious and possibly fatal Maryland construction accidents. Employers are now required to carry out daily inspections and to keep training records. Maryland Labor and Industry Commissioner Ronald Julius told a local news outlet that state inspectors will be checking on projects where construction cranes are in use.

April 14, 2009

Baltimore County Motor Vehicle Accidents: Fatalities Down for Cars & Trucks (But Up for Motorcycles and DUIs)

by Jeff Butschky

Last week, NHTSA announced that projected numbers of motor vehicle fatalities across the U.S. in 2008 will fall to a near 50-year low (the actual counts will be released this August). A continued drop in Maryland traffic accident deaths is expected, in keeping with trends across the country. Let’s look at some Maryland car crash statistics available today:

In 2007, a total of 614 people died in motor vehicle accidents in Maryland, down from 650 fatalities in 2003.
Of those 614 fatalities, 179 involved alcohol-impaired driving and 216 involved speeding.

April 7, 2009

Maryland Car Accident Statistics: NHTSA Reports Fatalities Down to 1961 Level

by Jeff Butschky

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) predicts that the nation’s motor vehicle traffic fatalities for 2008 will have declined to a level not seen since 1961. NHTSA projects that the total number of traffic-related fatalities for the U.S. in 2008 will be 37,313 deaths — down 9.1 percent from the 2007 statistic of 41,059 fatalities. (NHTSA will report the actual numbers in August 2009.)

NHTSA attributes the decline in car crash deaths to a number of factors, including…

improvements in motor vehicle technology

March 31, 2009

Maryland Workers Comp Eligibility: Hurt at Work? “Report and Record”

by Jeff Butschky

Earlier this month, I talked about how the Maryland Workers Comp system is tilted in the employer’s favor, and how important it is for injured workers to take charge of their situations right away. (See “Maryland Personal Injury Lawyer on Maryland Workers Compensation System,” March 18, 2009, below.)

My partner and I have handled personal injury cases for injured workers in Maryland for more than two decades. We’ve seen all kinds of work comp cases, from people who throw their backs out lifting something heavy, to typists who develop carpal tunnel syndrome, to a client who got bit by a mosquito and contracted malaria while on a sales call to a foreign country. We’ve seen industrial accidents resulting in burns and other serious injuries, and people who suffer shock and psychiatric problems as the result of a traumatic event at work, like a robbery.

Advice for Injured Workers in Maryland

March 25, 2009

Maryland Motorcycle Helmet Law Debate

by Jeff Butschky

Some Maryland motorcycle riders would like the state to relax its mandatory helmet law, which was enacted in 1992 to decrease the rate of Maryland motorcycle crash fatalities. Senator John Astle (D-Annapolis), who is himself a biker, is behind the latest push in the General Assembly to allow exemptions to the helmet law for some cyclists.

Sen. Astle presented a proposal to the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee in Annapolis, Maryland, earlier this month which would allow a helmet law exemption for motorcycle riders aged 21 or older who have been licensed to operate a motorcycle for at least two years, or who have completed a safety course approved by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation or the Motor Vehicle Administration.

Maryland Fatal Motorcycle Crash Statistics

March 18, 2009

An Introduction to the Maryland Workers Compensation System

by Jeff Butschky

Unlike a lot of states, the Maryland Workers’ Compensation system is very adversarial. In some states, the hurdle injured workers have to get over to receive compensation is ridiculously low. They basically just need to prove that they were hurt at work — or anything remotely close to work. If they were injured driving to or home from work, they’re covered. Even if they were goofing around and got hurt at work, they’re covered. In Maryland, it’s different.

Maryland is an “at will” employment state, meaning you can be fired at will by your employer, providing they’re not violating any Federal laws against discrimination for age, gender, race, etc. The playing field is not level — it’s tilted in the employer’s favor. And that goes for the Maryland Workers Comp system, too.

The bright spot is if you’re injured on the job in Maryland, your employer is required by law to carry workers’ compensation insurance. Even if they don’t have it — which I’ve seen a dozen times or so in 20 years of helping injured workers in Maryland — the Uninsured Employers’ Fund will step in and pay. So the good news is if you’re hurt at work in Maryland and if you have a compensable claim, your employer has insurance to cover it.

March 5, 2009

Maryland Teen Driver Safety and Accident Statistics

by Jeff Butschky

The AAA has a new report on the hazards of teen driving, not only for the young drivers behind the wheel but to their passengers, people in other cars, and pedestrians. The report states that in fatal auto accidents involving teenage drivers, the majority of people killed are passengers and others involved besides the young drivers themselves.

As Baltimore Maryland injury lawyers, my partners and I are aware of what can go wrong when a young driver makes a mistake in judgment or loses control when operating a motor vehicle. Some national statistics from the AAA report:

In the U.S. between 1998-2007, crashes with drivers aged 15 to 17 resulted in the deaths of 28,138 people.

February 26, 2009

Will Proposed Labor Law Affect Maryland Workers Comp?

by Jeff Butschky

The laws and regulations governing Maryland Workers Comp cases are in place to protect people who are injured at work or in the course of doing their jobs. But what happens if you’re employed as an “independent contractor,” as are so many plumbers, electricians, carpenters, painters, and other trades people in the construction industry, where serious and fatal accidents can and do happen?

Do you have the same rights to Maryland Workers Compensation benefits if you’re injured on the job in Maryland? A bill before Maryland lawmakers is tackling the issue of independent contractors’ rights. As the law stands now, employers who classify workers as “independent contractors” are exempt from paying Social Security and Medicare taxes, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation premiums. So if you’re injured on the job and you’re classified as an independent contractor — you’re on your own.

According to a report in The Washington Post, state officials believe as many as 20 percent of Maryland’s blue-collar workers are wrongly classified as independent contractors. The Maryland Governor is calling on the General Assembly to make it illegal for employers to misclassify workers as independent contractors. Building industry representatives object to the proposed law, which would fine business owners $5,000 for each worker they knowingly misclassified. Repeat offenders would receive additional fines and could be debarred and put out of business.