Maryland Accident Lawyer Blog

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)