The internet has been in a furor over Progressive’s treatment of a Maryland family following the wrongful death of young woman in an auto accident. Is the furor justified? Check out our Generation J.D. blog post to find out: Evil Insurance Company? Following the Law? Both?
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Should You Hire A Lawyer For Your Maryland Auto Accident Case?
This post won’t go into detail about whether you can or should handle a Maryland auto accident lawsuit by yourself–that’s a post for a different day (for information about filing a lawsuit on your own, see the legal Self-Help section of our website).
Instead, this is to help answer whether you should settle your case on your own, or whether you should hire a lawyer to do it for you. The analysis will depend on where you are in the process:
I Was Recently In An Accident And I’m Not Finished With Medical Treatment
Early on after an automobile accident, there are a few good reasons to hire a lawyer:
- You need medical treatment, but you either have no health insurance, insufficient PIP insurance, and you can’t pay a doctor to treat you
Auto Accident Cases While On Vacation
We’ve had a spate of referrals from out-of-state lawyers lately that involve Maryland auto accidents, usually Maryland defendants, but out-of-town plaintiffs. The scenario is that an out-of-towner is traveling in Maryland, perhaps even on vacation, and is hit by a negligent driver here in Maryland. Some of these are Ocean City auto accidents, others are for less traveled destinations in our state. Those people may treat here in Maryland while they are here, usually an emergency room visit or two, and then they finish out their medical treatment in whatever state they come from. They contact a lawyer in their home state, and that referring attorney may attempt to settle the case on his own; if that doesn’t work, he needs a Maryland lawyer to file and litigate the lawsuit here in a Maryland court.
There are a couple of other of permutations–Maryland drivers visiting a vacation spot in Maryland, and hit by a negligent out-of-town driver. Out-of-town driver visiting Maryland hit by another out-of-town driver in Maryland. In each case, the lawyer should consider the best place for the lawsuit if it doesn’t settle.
Maryland Auto Accident Settlement Calculator
How do lawyers determine the value of an automobile lawsuit? Check out the Maryland Auto Accident Settlement Calculator, on the Charm City Lawyer Blog.
Health Insurance and Auto Accidents
In Maryland auto accident claims, the victim of a negligent driver is entitled to recover the cost of all reasonably related medical expenses. For example, if a driver runs a red light and hits another vehicle, the emergency room visit for the other vehicle’s occupants should be paid by the negligent driver’s insurance company.
Sometimes, however, the injured person’s medical care is paid for by health insurance, or by personal injury protection (PIP) insurance. Maryland has a law called the collateral source rule, which says that the negligent driver cannot benefit from other payments made to the victim.
Under the collateral source rule, even if a victim’s medical bills are paid by insurance, the negligent driver must pay the value of those bills directly to the victim. In some cases (notably, PIP), the victim gets to keep the money. This is something like a double-recovery in some cases. However, it helps many smaller accident victims by making them whole, when the attorneys’ fees are factored in.
Increasing Penalties For Distracted Driving
Given the prevalence of cell phones and smartphones, the likelihood is that many if not most automobile accidents are caused by distracted driving. The NHTSA estimates about 3,000 fatal distracted driving auto accidents in 2011. One study suggests that cell phones may be the cause of 1.6 million accidents per year, which is 28% of all auto accidents. Maryland has been improving the laws year after year, but some research questions whether existing laws around the nation are good enough.
As far as punishment, some believe that higher fines will increase compliance, just as it did for seatbelt laws. New Jersey is considering a $200 fine for the first offense with a license suspension for 90 days for the third offense. Connecticut has already increased fines to $125 for a first offense. In Maryland, the fines are relatively light. Talking on a cell phone can cost $40 for a first offense and $100 for subsequent offenses. Sending or reading e-mails or texts is punishable by $70 fine for the first offense and $110 for subsequent offenses.
Winning your trial in front of jurors who don’t want to be there
The vast majority of people don’t want jury duty. As a lawyer, I’ve always hoped for the opportunity to serve and experience “our civic duty” firsthand. I’ve been called twice, but have not been selected. Still, hanging out with the throngs of “potentials” has verified for me that some people will say anything to try and get out of jury duty, but most people will just hunker down and go through the process. But, they might not be happy about it.
Baltimore City lawsuits require Baltimore City jurors, and until recently, most people were called once every 18 months if not selected for a trial, and once every three years if they were selected for a trial. That is changing. Baltimore City residents are now being called every year.
The source for our jurors is voting records and driving records. Baltimore Sun writer Michelle Alston correctly observes that many Baltimore City residents neither vote nor drive, so there should be another way to identify those residents. The number of non-drivers in the City is especially disproportionate, where many people rely on buses and light rail. She suggests using social security numbers. There are, in fact, any number of ways to do it. Most residents pay taxes–any resident who files a return should be subject to the rigors of jury duty.
What If The Negligent Driver Was Not The Car Owner?
Insurance is complicated business, and many of our auto accident clients get a crash course in coverage only after the collision. One common question from people involved in Baltimore auto accidents is whether there is insurance coverage for their automobile accident. Sometimes, this is in context of a negligent driver who was not the owner of the vehicle. There are three typical situations:
Auto Accident With Permissive Car Use
When the accident is caused by a non-owner, but the driver had permission of the owner to drive the car, the owner’s insurance will cover the accident and all injuries related to it. In that case, any lawsuit filed will be against the driver, but the insurance company will step up to defend the case. The lawsuit can also include the owner of the car if that owner knew or had reason to know that the driver was a dangerous driver. That is a very high bar, and requires a clear showing that the negligent driver had a history of accidents that the owner should have known about.
New Regulations to Prevent Truck Accidents
Heavy Duty Trucking Magazine published a fantastic review of a new highway agreement. Here are the important points:
- Trucking interests were denied their requested increase in truck weight restrictions to 97,000 pounds (see more on this at our earlier post: Cutting Bigger Big Rigs Off At The Pass)
- Electronic driving logs will be required
- the FMCSA will conduct a study of the 34-hour restart rule
Electronic driving logs, if implemented correctly, will ensure accuracy, can prevent tampering, and can foster accountability. Driving logs are one of the most important sources of information in Maryland truck accident lawsuits–we obtain those records and comb through them in order to find rest and sleep violations, which are frequently the cause of serious or fatal truck accidents.
Dead Man’s Curve: Jarrettsville Pike, Auto Accidents and Road Defects
One small stretch of road in Baltimore County is claiming more lives than it should. Auto accidents on Jarrettsville Pike in Phoenix, Maryland are averaging two per week, with 73 injuries in three years. There was one death in 2008, and four deaths this year. The Baltimore Sun discussed the history of this stretch of road in a recent article.
Local residents know it as “Dead Man’s Curve.” The ominous nickname has been in place for many years, even before the government sent engineers to alleviate its most dangerous characteristics. Even now, the sharp turn, steep hill and obtrusive vision-limiting trees form equal parts of the injury equation. Inexperienced drivers, drivers unfamiliar with the layout of the curve, and drivers who should know better fall victim to the sudden turn and the inability to quickly slow down on the hill.
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1404 Front Ave, Timonium, MD 21093
From our office in Timonium, the team at Posner & Cord, LLC provides legal help to individuals and families throughout Baltimore, Howard, Harford, and Carroll counties. We serve clients in Lutherville, Towson, Cockeysville, Hunt Valley, Parkville, Pikesville, Owings Mills, Reisterstown, Catonsville, Perry Hall, White Marsh, Dundalk, Essex, Columbia, Ellicott City, Elkridge, Clarksville, Bel Air, Aberdeen, Havre de Grace, Abingdon, Edgewood, Westminster, Eldersburg, Sykesville, Hampstead, Manchester, and surrounding communities.
Results listed are not a guarantee or indication of future case results.
Posner & Cord, LLC
1404 Front Ave, Timonium, MD 21093
410-252-0600
1404 Front Ave, Timonium, MD 21093
410-252-0600
