Maryland Accident Lawyer Blog

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."

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)

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.

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.

Forklift truck accidents frequently cause catastrophic, life-altering injuries. But the risk is not just to forklift truck drivers. As many as two-thirds of forklift accidents - at least in some areas - involve pedestrians or otherwise innocent bystanders. Many forklift claims involve: caught limbs, running over pedestrians' feet, and entering or exiting the vehicle improperly.

Here are some disconcerting forklift accident statistics:

• OSHA's statistics indicate that forklifts are involved in about 68,000 accidents each year, resulting in 95,000 injuries
• 10% of forklifts are involved in an accident
• Two-thirds of all forklifts in use will be involved in some sort of accident during the life of the forklift
• Operator training can improve forklift truck performance by approximately 70 percent.

Continue reading "Maryland Forklift Truck Accidents" »

In the late 90s, Europeans figured out that thousands of fatal truck accidents occur every year as the result of head-on collisions between cars and large trucks. The EU did something about it and required European truck builders (Volvo, Renault, Scania, and Mercedes-Benz) to develop a front underride bar connected to the bumper and the chassis to prevent the underride effect in truck accidents. Our country, regrettably, has done nothing to impose the same requirements here in the United States.

You can learn more about the problem of underride truck accidents here.

In the late 90s, Europeans figured out that thousands of fatal truck accidents occur every year as the result of head-on collisions between cars and large trucks. The EU did something about it and required European truck builders (Volvo, Renault, Scania, and Mercedes-Benz) to develop a front underride bar connected to the bumper and the chassis to prevent the underride effect in truck accidents. Our country, regrettably, has done nothing to impose the same requirements here in the United States.

You can learn more about the problem of underride truck accidents here.

Maryland accident lawyers will find of interest the my cross examination of the defendant driver in a Baltimore City truck accident case tried last month in which the Plaintiff received a verdict of over $1 million. The case has since settled. You can find it here.

This truck driver cross examination underscores that truck accident lawyers need to know the applicable trucking regulations inside and out. As you will see if you read the cross-examination, this red light/green light truck accident case was arguably won based on an obscure trucking regulation. If you are a Maryland accident lawyer and you think, "Gee, car, truck, it is all pretty much the same thing," you are going to miss a ton of angles that could make or break your accident case.

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)