Maryland Trucking Accident Lawyer Blog

Maryland Residents Forced to Evacuate After Propane Tanker Accident

May 9, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier last month in Garret County, a propane tanker was involved in an accident that resulted in it toppling over on the side of the road. In an abundance of caution, officials in the city of Oakland decided to reroute school bus service and evacuate a part of the town. According to a report by a local ABC affiliate, that accident occurred in the small town of Oakland, which is about 60 miles south of Somerset. Evidently, the accident occurred shortly after 10 a.m.

The local hazmat team was called in to investigate and clean up the accident. Luckily, there were no lives lost, and injuries were kept to a minimum. In addition to rerouting school bus routes, the county jail and 911 center were also evacuated. It is not clear at the moment how the accident occurred, and who was at fault for it. However, an investigation is underway. Currently, police do not believe that drugs or alcohol were involved in the tanker accident.

Truck and Tanker Spills

On occasion, trucks and tankers carry dangerous chemicals, gases, or other cargo. When these trucks and tankers get into an accident, there is an additional danger, namely that the hazardous cargo will cause harm above and beyond the physical harm caused by the accident.

Tractor-Trailer Runs Stop Sign and Crashes into School Bus

May 2, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this week in New York, a tractor-trailer rolled through a stop sign and collided with a school bus. According to a report by a local news source, the accident occurred shortly after 8:30 a.m. Thankfully, the bus driver had just dropped off the students at school, leaving the bus empty except for the driver.

Evidently, the tractor-trailer did not stop at a stop sign and collided with the school bus, which was traveling on a road that did not have a stop sign. The immense force of the crash actually pushed the school bus in the opposite direction and caused incredible damage to the vehicle. So much, in fact, that the driver of the bus needed to be extricated from the wreckage by emergency personnel. The driver was taken to the hospital in stable condition. The driver of the tractor-trailer was uninjured in the accident.

At this point, police do not believe that drugs or alcohol had anything to do with the accident; however it is still under an ongoing investigation. Residents in the area told reporters that the intersection where the accident occurred is a dangerous one, pointing to a 2009 fatal car accident that took the life of a 33 year-old man.

Ten Dead in Tragic California Bus Accident

April 22, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Last week, ten people lost their lives in Orland, California, when a Fed Ex truck crossed the center median of the highway and got into a head on collision with a bus full of high school students on their way to visit a northern California university. According to a story by the Huffington Post, the bus was head north from Los Angeles to Humboldt State University, when it was involved in the tragic truck accident.

Once the two vehicles collided, students, counselors, and chaperones all tried to escape the bus before it caught fire and eventually exploded. Most of the 44 aboard made it out of the bus alive, however, nine aboard the bus did not. The driver of the Fed Ex truck was also killed in the accident.

The bus was taking low-income, high-achieving high-school seniors on a trip to visit the college campus. Two other busses from the Los Angeles area arrived safely at Humboldt State.

Two Dump Truck Accidents Across Maryland Send Two to the Hospital

April 15, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Last week, in a series of dump truck accidents, several were sent to the hospital with injuries and several roads were closed as a result of the accidents. The first accident occurred in Towson at the intersection of Towson Blvd and Charles Street. According to a report by the local NBC affiliate, the accident trapped one person in their vehicle and sent another to the hospital. All victims are expected to recover. At the time of the article’s publication, police were still looking into the cause of the accident.

The second dump truck accident was in Anne Arundel County and, according to a report by the same NBC affiliate, occurred when the driver lost control of the truck. The dump truck crossed the center median and entered the oncoming lane of traffic. It continued off the other end of the road where it collided with a tree. The driver was the only one to sustain injuries in the accident. He was taken to University of Maryland Shock Trauma with serious injuries. He is, however, expected to recover. Police are currently investigating the cause of the accident.

Dump Truck Accidents in Maryland

When most people think about an accident involving a big truck, they think of a semi-truck, big-rig, or a tractor trailer. However, as these two accidents show, accidents involving dump trucks consist of a large portion of big truck accidents in Maryland.

Two Semi-Trucks Collide on the Bay Bridge, Resulting in Spilled Fuel and Delayed Traffic

April 8, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this week, two tractor trailers got into an accident in one of the westbound lanes of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. According to a report by the Baltimore Sun, the two trucks were “wedged” into one another, although luckily both trucks remained upright throughout the incident.

Traffic was delayed for about three hours while emergency crews cleared the bridge of the two trucks. A team was also called out to clean up some spilled fuel from one of the trucks. One of the truck drivers was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, and he is expected to recover.

Shortly before the accident officials instituted a wind restriction on the bridge due to winds that were gusting up to almost 50 mile per hour. The restriction was aimed at semi-trucks and tractor-trailers without heavy loads, because the wind could potentially blow the large, lightweight vehicles into guard rails or out of their lane of travel. It is unknown whether either of the trucks involved in the accident were subject to the restriction; however, at the time of the articles publication, authorities were still investigating the accident.

Woman Killed When She’s Struck By Semi Truck While Changing Her Tire on the Highway

April 1, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this week in Utah, a young woman was killed when she was struck by a semi truck as she was on the side of the highway changing a flat tire. According to a report by the local CBS affiliate, the woman was on the side of a major highway in the emergency lane when both her and her friend were struck by a semi truck. Apparently, there was no damage to the car, which led some to the conclusion that the two friends were pulled towards the semi truck by the suction created as it passed at a high rate of speed.

Police are currently investigating the accident, trying to determine how far the woman had pulled off to the side of the road and also how far into the emergency lane the truck driver crossed.

The young woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Her friend, who was also hit by the semi truck, is still in the hospital in critical condition. The latest update is that doctors are trying to save his arm, which was broken in three places.

Improper Passing Leads to Fatal Semi-Truck Accident

March 26, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this week in Utah, a man died when he was involved in a head-on collision with a semi truck. According to a report by the Standard Examiner, the accident occurred on State Road 40 shortly after 5 p.m. Apparently the driver of the semi truck was driving east when he pulled into the westbound lane, attempting to pass a slow moving SUV. However, as he did pulled into the other lane, he pulled right into the path of a pickup truck that was traveling west. The semi and the pickup truck collided head on.

The semi truck, which was hauling crude oil, did not lose its cargo, but did lose one tire. The driver of the semi truck was not injured. However, the driver of the pickup truck, who was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident, suffered fatal injuries. There was a passenger in the pickup truck who also suffered some minor injuries, as did the driver of the SUV that the semi truck was trying to pass. All injured are expected to recover.

Head On Collisions with Semi Trucks

It’s hard to imagine a more dreadful kind of accident than a head on collision with a semi-truck. With their enormous size and weight, semi trucks can level anything in their path, and that is very often what happens when a semi truck and a smaller vehicle collide head on. It is for this reason that semi truck drivers are required to have special permits that allow them to operate commercial vehicles.

Semi-Truck’s Tire Blows Out, Causing Serious Accident on I-70

March 19, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Last Month, Maryland State Troopers responded to an accident on I-70, caused by a semi-truck a tire blowout. According to a report by WUSA9, the accident occurred on I-70 at Route 63 just before 7 a.m. on a Saturday morning. Apparently, the semi-truck was heading eastbound on I-70 when one of the truck’s tires blew out, causing the driver to lose control of the truck. The truck then crashed into a construction barrier on the right side of the road before crossing all lanes of traffic and smashing into the guardrail separating east- and west-bound traffic. Ultimately, the truck came to a rest on its side in the center median of the highway. Thankfully, no other vehicles were involved in the accident.

The driver, a 37-year old man from Odenton, MD, was taken to Meritus Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries; he is expected to recover fully. As of the time the article was published, police were still investigating the cause of the accident.

Semi-Trucks and Tire Blow Outs

When a semi-truck loses a tire to a blow out, the results can be fatal. Luckily, in the accident described above, there were no other vehicles involved. However, this is not always going to be the case. In many cases, the semi-truck careens out of control and crashes into other motorists, inflicting serious damage.

New Maryland Law Acts to Protect Tow-Truck Drivers from Passing Semi-Trucks

March 12, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

If you have ever seen a tow-truck driver on the side of the road working on getting a disabled vehicle on the bed of the tow truck, you know what a dangerous proposition it can be. There they are, perched on a few-foot-wide piece of pavement between the disabled vehicle and semi-trucks whizzing by at seventy-plus miles per hour.

A new law pending in the Maryland legislature will help protect tow-truck drivers while they are working on the side of the road. The bill, sponsored by David D. Rudolph (D-Cecil) and James E. Malone Jr. (D-Baltimore County), would require motorists to move into an open lane away from tow-truck drivers who are tending to disable vehicles. Currently the law requires motorists move into an open lane for emergency vehicles such as police cars and fire trucks, this would be an extension of that law.

A recent article by the Washington Post details the story of a tow-truck driver who was killed when he was hit by driver while tending to a disabled vehicle. He was changing the tire on a vehicle when a car side swiped him, killing him on the spot. The driver failed to stop and render aid, and the man died as a result of the injuries he sustained in the accident.

Truck Driver Indicted on Five Counts After Causing an Accident that Killed Three

March 5, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this week in Anne Arundel County, a truck driver was indicted on five counts, including negligent manslaughter and negligent and reckless driving. The charges stem from an August 2013 accident that occurred on Route 3 when the truck’s driver rear ended a Toyota Camry, causing a chain-reaction accident that involved six vehicles in total.

According to an article by the Capitol Gazette, the driver was traveling at around 50 miles per hours when he rear ended the Toyota. An investigation uncovered that the truck’s driver did not slow down as he approached the slowed traffic at the overpass near Route 32.

The Camry had five passengers in it, three of which were pronounced dead at the scene. The driver and the front-seat passenger were both taken to the University of Maryland’s Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore with life-threatening injuries, but eventually recovered.