Maryland Trucking Accident Lawyer Blog

Truck Accident Victim Permitted to Name Trucking Company and Vehicle Owner in Personal Injury Lawsuit

February 18, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this year in a California appellate court, a plaintiff’s case was allowed to continue over objections from several defendants after the plaintiff was involved in a serious tractor-trailer accident. According to court documents, the plaintiff was riding in the sleeper cabin of the tractor-trailer when the driver got into an accident. The plaintiff suffered serious injuries as a result.

The plaintiff then sought financial damages from the driver of the truck, the truck’s owner, and the owner of the trailer that the truck was towing at the time.

At Trial Two Defendants Are Excused Based on a Lack of Vicarious Liability

The trial court accepted the argument of both the trucking company as well as the trailer owner that they should not be held vicariously liable for the actions of the truck driver. This was based largely on the fact that the actual driver of the truck was merely an independent contractor, rather than a benefited employee.

Baltimore County Accident Between Car and Box Truck Results in Vehicle Crashing into Nearby Building

February 11, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in Baltimore County, an accident between a box truck and a car sent the truck into a nearby building. According to an article by the Baltimore Sun, the accident occurred on Hanover Pike near Emory Road in Upperco at around 10 in the morning.

Evidently, the truck was heading north and the car was heading south on Hanover Pike when the two collided. After the collision, the box truck careened into a nearby building. Thankfully, the building was abandoned, and no one was inside at the time. Hazmat crews did survey the scene and ended up removing some potentially hazardous fuel from the scene.

It is not clear what caused the two vehicles to collide, but both drivers were trapped in their respective vehicles until emergency responders arrived and were able to extricate them. Both of the drivers were injured and flown to Maryland Shock Trauma after they were removed from their vehicles.

Woman Loses Control of Vehicle, Crashes into Dump Truck

February 4, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in Jarretsville, Maryland, a woman was killed after she lost control of her vehicle and crashed into an oncoming dump truck. According to a news report by the Baltimore Sun, the accident occurred while the woman was traveling westbound on 439 and took place near the intersection of Route 23. At the time, the roads were wet and partially covered in snow.

Evidently, shortly after 11 in the morning, the woman’s Honda Civic crossed the center median after she briefly lost control of the vehicle. As she entered the lanes of oncoming traffic, she was struck by a large Mack dump truck head-on. By the time emergency responders arrived at the scene, the woman had died. The driver of the truck was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police are still conducting an investigation into how the fatal truck accident occurred. A preliminary investigation indicates that poor road conditions due to the inclement weather were at least partially responsible.

Tractor-Trailer Accident Claims Four Lives Near Wye Mills

January 27, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month near Wye Mills, an accident between a 2006 Suzuki Forenza and a tractor-trailer resulted in four fatalities in the same family, including a pregnant woman. According to a report by one local news source, the accident occurred on Route 50 in Queen Anne’s County around 1:15 in the morning.

The wreckage was so bad that police do not know exactly what happened. However, it seems that the family was in the Suzuki heading westbound on Route 50. As they approached the intersection with Route 213, the semi-truck, which was traveling southbound on Route 213, struck the side of the family’s vehicle. Both vehicles traveled across the intersection before the semi-truck overturned on top of the Suzuki.

Tragically, all five of the occupants in the Suzuki died of injuries they sustained in the accident. Four of the passengers were pronounced dead at the scene. A 30-year-old pregnant woman was transported to Easton Memorial Hospital, where both the woman and her unborn child were pronounced dead by hospital staff.

Several Inmates and Correctional Officers Killed in Fatal Bus Accident

January 20, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this week in West Texas, several inmates and correctional officers were killed when the bus that was transporting the inmates slid off an icy road and crashed into a passing train. According to a report by the local Fox affiliate, the fatal accident occurred on Interstate 20 about 16 miles southwest of Odessa at around 7:30 in the morning.

Evidently, the bus was carrying a total of 15 people: 12 inmates and three correctional officers. Ten people died in the accident, eight of whom were inmates and two of whom were correctional officers. Those who were injured in the accident remain in critical condition.

According to the report, the road conditions were very icy that morning, which caused the bus to slide off an overpass, down an embankment, and then into the passing train. The two employees on the train were not injured in the accident.

Several Students Hospitalized after School Bus Crash

January 13, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in Marbury, about 30 miles south of Washington DC, a school bus accident sent several students to the hospital as well as several others. According to a report by Reuters, the accident occurred about a mile away from school, when the school bus rear-ended another vehicle.

After the initial accident, a series of chain-reaction accidents ensued, causing the total number of vehicles involved to increase to five. In all, 16 students were taken to the hospital, and two adult drivers were also taken in with various injuries. The driver of the school bus was one of those taken to the hospital.

Only three of the students reported having any kind of injury, and the rest of the students were taken in merely as a precaution. The exact cause of the accident remains under investigation.
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Hazmat Truck Rolls Over on I-95, Slowing Traffic for Hours

January 6, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in Baltimore, a truck accident on the Inner Loop shut down traffic for hours as hazmat crew members cleaned up the scene. According to one local news report, the truck flipped over on the ramp between I-95 southbound and I-695 westbound.

Evidently, the truck was fully loaded with hazardous cargo, including filled trash bags and other potentially hazardous materials. Hazmat crews worked diligently to clean up the mess caused by the accident and upright the truck. However, it was still several hours before the highway was able to reopen for regular traffic.

Hazmat Truck Accidents

As if a semi-truck accident isn’t serious enough, the accident above involved an overturned truck that was carrying hazardous materials, or hazmat as it is often referred to. Luckily, no one was seriously injured in the single-vehicle accident described above. However, with these types of accidents, that is rarely the case.

Box Truck Discovered on Side of Road, Flipped Over

December 24, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in Hollywood, Maryland, police and rescue workers responded to calls of an overturned box truck on the side of the highway. According to a report by one local news source, the accident occurred on Three Notch Road, a bit north of Airport View Drive, in Hollywood.

Evidently, the driver of the truck told responding authorities that there was some kind of mechanical failure that forced the truck off the road. Luckily, there were no other vehicles involved in the accident, and no one was seriously injured as a result of the truck overturning. It is unclear if the driver of the truck was cited for any traffic violation.

Overturned Trucks

One of the many dangers of large trucks is their propensity to flip over easily. It appears from the driver’s statement in the accident above that mechanical failure was responsible for the roll-over in that case. However, there are myriad other reasons that a truck may roll over, including:

Truck Wreck Results in Spilled Fuel on Maryland Highway

December 17, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this week in Maryland Heights, a tank truck flipped over on the highway, spilling thousands of gallons of fuel onto the road. According to a report by one local news source, the accident occurred around 9:30 in the morning on Maryland Heights Expressway north of Creve Coeur Mill Road.

Evidently, another tank truck overturned at around the same time on Highway 270, requiring emergency responders to triage the two accidents. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured in either of the two potentially catastrophic accidents. Police are still conducting an investigation into how the accidents may have occurred.

Trucks with Dangerous Loads

Trucks carry almost anything one can imagine across the country. On occasion, a trucking company will have the need to transport hazardous, flammable, or otherwise dangerous materials on the nation’s highways.
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Four-Vehicle Wreck in Howard County Injures Six

December 10, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this week in Elkridge, a semi-truck, an ambulance, and two other vehicles were involved in a serious car accident that left six people injured. According to one local news report, the accident occurred around seven in the evening near the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Kit Kat Road, in Elkridge.

Evidently, the semi-truck was stopped in the middle of Washington Blvd., taking up three lanes because it had just been involved in an accident. As the ambulance approached the traffic jam created as a result of the accident, it crashed into a Hyundai and then bounced into the semi-truck, colliding with the rear portion of the truck. The force from the ambulance hitting the Hyundai sent the Hyundai into another vehicle.

The driver of the ambulance needed to be extricated from the vehicle when emergency crews arrived. This process took about an hour, and afterwards the driver was sent to Shock Trauma in Baltimore. He is currently listed in critical condition. The remaining people involved in the accident suffered less serious injuries and have since been treated and released.