Maryland Accident Lawyer Blog

Our lawyers handle serious personal injury accident claims. Although we do not charge a fee for handling property damage claims for our injured clients, we almost invariably are drawn into property damage claims, many of which involve total loss to the vehicle.

What exactly is the insurance company obligated to pay for a total vehicle loss in Maryland, i.e., when the car is totaled?

Maryland Insurance Regulation COMAR 31.15.12.04, titled “Cash Settlement” is on point. It requires that:

If an insurer elects to make a cash settlement for the total loss of a motor vehicle pursuant to Regulation .03 of this chapter, the insurer's minimum offer, subject to applicable deductions, shall be:

A. The total of:

(1) The retail value for a substantially similar motor vehicle from a nationally
recognized valuation manual or from a computerized data base that produces
statistically valid fair market values for a substantially similar vehicle as defined
in Regulation .02B(7) of this regulation; and

(2) Regardless of whether the claimant retains salvage rights, the applicable
taxes and transfer fees pursuant to COMAR 11.11.05; or

B. The total of:

(1) A quotation for a substantially similar motor vehicle obtained by or on behalf
of the insurer from a qualified dealer at a location reasonably convenient to the
claimant; and

(2) Regardless of whether the claimant retains salvage rights, the applicable
taxes and transfer fees pursuant to COMAR 11.11.05.

Unlike personal injury claims where insurance companies are remarkably prone to unreasonable positions as to value, most insurance companies play the value of a totaled car or truck pretty straight and pay the bluebook and associated costs. Do they all?

• Negotiating settlement value on a totaled vehicle or other property damage claim


• How to get into a rental car


• What is the value of your case?

New Maryland Workers' Compensation rates were posted on line today.

Obviously, the larger problem on our highways is speeding truckers. But truck accident lawyers should keep in mind that there can be a negligence component to driving too slow. Most states have laws that require truck to travel fast enough so that they don't impede or block the normal and reasonable flow of traffic. Because of the nature of the cargo and/or the truck driver's lack of comfort/qualifications to drive the truck, some trucks drive unsafely low speeds. Many truck accidents and car accidents are caused by a speed deferential

I heard a radio advertisement this morning for OnStar vehicle security service. Specifically, the advertisement was for the service in Chevy vehicles but many GM vehicles have the service available (for an additional cost), as well. The advertisement was all about the Automatic Crash Response feature and how it could “help save your life” in an accident.

We all know the OnStar representatives will tell the police where you are and whether or not there is airbag deployment. But did you know OnStar also provides the police with maximum velocity at impact; direction of impact; whether or not there were multiple impacts; and/or vehicle rollover. Fantastic, right? From the perspective of a accident lawyer? I just wonder if OnStar always gets this stuff correct. How reliable is the technology?

Is this a reason not to get OnStar? Of course not. OnStar could save your life in an accident. Safety is more important than potentially screwing up a personal injury auto accident case.

Section 392.14 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations requires truck drivers to use extreme caution driving a commercial truck in snow, ice and other inclement conditions including rain. Accordingly, if the weather conditions are not perfect, truck accident lawyer in Maryland should argue that federal law preempts state law and that the standard is not longer what the reasonable prudent truck driver would do but instead whether the truck driver used "extreme caution."

"Jury awards $89 million against drunk driver for fatal crash," was the headline of a recent St. Louis Post-Dispatch article. What do 99% of the people exposed to this article now believe? Someone just got a huge verdict. But his was a one day trial and the likelihood of the Plaintiffs collecting a penny approaches zero. The article does not say the case was even defended by a lawyer.

I think it is great that the victim's family gets some measure of pleasure from the verdict. The man killed in the accident was returning from a shopping mall where they had registered for gifts for their upcoming wedding. His fiancee was pregnant. The defendant was drunk out of his mind. Awful facts.

Selfishly and for my clients, I think there is a benefit when future jurors here big numbers. It makes the numbers our lawyers usually ask juries for to be far more reasonable. Still, I worry about the impact on jurors who see an article like this and assume that jackpot justice is what we have in personal injury cases. Because far more people are getting big verdicts like this than are collecting big verdicts like this very large verdict in Missouri.

The most serious car or truck accident is a head-on collusion. A recent Jury Verdict Research study found that 79% of plaintiffs involved in a head-on truck accident – defined as a truck accident where at least one of the vehicles traveled across the centerline, with a truck received damages – received a damage award. The median damage award in a head on truck accident case is $ 242,150. I did not see the average truck accident jury award but I suspect it is well over a $1 million.

• Average Rear End Truck Accident Verdict (average national verdict)


• Truck Accident Settlements and Verdicts (more Jury Verdict Research data)


• How Truck Accident Cases Are Valued (who lawyers and insurance companies put a settlement value on a truck accident case)


• Truck Accident Verdict Data (even more data)


• Truck Accident Cases (general overview)