Maryland Accident Lawyer Blog

The Baltimore Sun has an article about a police officer who has been suspended after giving chase to a motorcyclist which resulted in an accident that killed the fleeing motorcyclist.

The Sun reports that Baltimore police are instructed to chase a vehicle only if the driver or passengers are believed to have committed a violent crime or pose a risk to public safety,

It has to be frustrating for police when motorcyclists drive by police at excessive speeds, thumbing their nose at law enforcement. The question is where to draw the line between trying to apprehend suspects and keeping reasonably safe the general public, the police officer and, yes, even the fleeing suspect. Personally, I have no idea where that line should be drawn or whether the police officer acted appropriately in this case.

Red light/green light cases are maddening to take to trial. Sometimes, an accident lawyer just knows the defendant is lying... but can't prove it. Often, there is no solution to this problem in red light/green light or other liability dispute car and truck accident cases. There are no witnesses and all you have is the police report. But in some cases there is proof out there that the defendant is lying because the light sequence report is mutually exclusive of the defendant's version of how the car accident occurred.

The solution by now for Maryland accident lawyers is obvious: if you have a liability dispute where light sequencing is an issue, get a copy of the traffic sequence report from the state of Maryland.

• Sample Light Sequence Report
• Sample Request Letter for Sequence Report
• Maryland accident claims: an overview

Maryland motorcycle accident deaths are down approximately 20%, from 83 deaths in 2008 to 63 deaths in 2009. While that is 63 deaths too many, it reverses the trend of increasing motorcycle deaths in Maryland in the last decade. Maryland's move toward better motorcycle safety mirrors the rest of the country. There were approximately 500 fewer fatal motorcycle accidents nationally in 2009 than in 2008.

Why the sudden decline in fatalities? No one knows for sure. The optimists argue that motorcycle safety and easier to handle motorcycles are the reason for the decline in the death rate. The pessimists argue that economic meltdown means less discretionary income which means less motorcycles on the street. Some have also suggested bad weather played a paradoxically positive role - less good days to ride equals less motorcycle accidents. Let's hope the optimists are right and this new trend forebodes a shift to decreasing the overall number of motorcycle accidents.

There are two fundamental things we need to do to reduce auto accident injuries. First, we have to decrease the number of accidents. Driver inattention is a tough problem to fix, but real gains can be made with drunk drivers and drivers using their cell phones or text messaging.

The second is reducing the severity of injuries after an accident occurs. This means safe cars, trucks and motorcycles that can withstand an impact and occupants wearing seat belts. With respect to the latter, John Day's Day on Torts reports that seat belt use in 2009 stood at 84 percent, a gain from 83 percent use in 2008.

The Baltimore Sun reports on a fatal motorcycle accident involving a Baltimore County police officer, the second fatal accident involving a motorcycle and a Baltimore County police officer in less than a month.

It is an incredible and tragic coincidence. The article reads as though this accident was the result of the negligence of someone else. I just wonder if people are going to be driving motorcycles twenty years from now. Because regardless of who is at fault, motorcycles are just not well equipped for accidents with cars on relatively immovable objects.

Most of our country's fatal car, truck and motorcycle accidents occur on rural roads, according to statistics released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Fifty-six percent of 37,261 traffic deaths occurred on rural roads during 2008. Researchers say that the higher death rate on rural roads stems from a combination of faster driving speeds, poorer road engineering, behavioral influences and slower delivery of acute medical care.

I would think you would have to add more single lane, curvy roads where vehicles are traveling at excessive speeds.

Maryland accident lawyers should not be discussing the value of the client's accident claim in accident lawyer's first conversation with the client. Why? Because no accident lawyer knows the value of any accident claim until the lawyer reviews the medical records. This is true in 99.99% of the cases. A lawyer cannot even begin to estimate the value of the claim until all of the facts are evaluated. The facts in an accident case aer not in until the bills, reports, and other documents are received and evaluated.

Accident lawyers are often told never to ask your client’s opinion of value. I appreciate the point but there can be a benefit to it because you can compare the client’s view with your own with an eye toward managing client expectations. If you see the case value very differently than the client, you need to have a frank discussion about the merits of the case, the damages that may be claimed, and any pertinent legal issues.

• Value of Accident Cases (what is the value of your client's case?)
• Sample Demand Letter (sample claim for damages)
• Values of Specific Injuries (fractures, disc injuries, fatalities, etc)