Maryland Auto Accident Lawyer
Explains . . .

Unfortunately, Auto Accident Law is applied thousands of times a year, in Maryland and across the country.

There is an auto accident every 10 seconds of every day in America, over 6 million every year. Car accidents cause over 40,000 deaths and 3 million injuries each year. That's a death every 13 minutes!

Before an accident occurs, you should prepare yourself and know what to do if you are in an accident.

What are the 6 critical things to know about auto accidents that have occurred in Maryland?

Let's go through them.

What does "liability" mean? It means "Who caused the accident?"

Maryland Auto Accident Law is based on a fault system. To have a good claim, you have to be able to prove that the other driver's fault caused the accident.

Technically, the correct term for this type of claim is "negligence" which basically means carelessness. Therefore, you have to be able to show that the other driver caused your accident by acting carelessly such as by . . .

** driving too fast,

** not paying attention,

** making an unlawful turn,

** following too closely,

** running through a red light or a stop sign

** or the like.

Especially if you expect that the cause of the accident will be challenged, your first concern is to nail down the facts of what happened. Write down the facts. Get a copy of the State of Maryland Motor Vehicle Accident Report, if one was written. Make pictures of the scene and of the vehicles involved. Identify witnesses and get statements from them.

Maryland auto accident lawyers are experienced and skilled at gathering the necessary facts. If you hire a Maryland auto accident lawyer who concentrates on auto accident cases and has a history of success, your lawyer will investigate the facts of your case and gather the necessary proof of liability.

One reason that injured people hire Maryland personal injury lawyers is to "even up the fight," to get someone on their side who is as committed to seeing that they are treated fairly as the "Bad Guys" are committed to giving the injured person as little of their money as possible.

One thing is for sure. The "Bad Guys" will immediately investigate the facts of a case, looking for an excuse to "deny liability" so that they can refuse to pay you anything.

If you decide to hire a Maryland auto accident lawyer to help you, you should do that as soon as possible, to give your lawyer time to thoroughly prepare your case.

Unfortunately, Maryland is one of only 4 states to have a very harsh rule called "contributory negligence." If it exists, contributory negligence defeats your claim.

This means that if you contributed in any way to causing your auto accident, you have no claim. In theory, if you are only 1% responsible for causing an accident and the other driver is 99% at fault, under Maryland Auto Accident Law you are not entitled to any recovery from the other driver!

Incidentally, the alternative to contributory negligence that exists in most states is called "comparative negligence," a much better and more fair rule. You might want to contact your state legislators and encourage them to adopt it.

Under comparative negligence, which varies slightly among the states that have this rule, the fault of the two drivers is compared and the one who is more at fault pays while the one who is less at fault has his or her claim reduced by the percentage of their fault. For example, if Jones is 90% responsible for causing an accident and Smith is 10% at fault, Smith can recover from Jones for her injuries, but Smith can only recover 90% of full compensation. She loses 10% of her recovery because she was 10% responsible for causing the auto accident.

So, under Maryland Auto Accident Law, if you can prove that the other driver caused your accident and that you did nothing to contribute to causing the accident, there is 'liability' and you are entitled to recover damages.

"My serious accident was devastating and I didn't know where to turn for help. After another lawyer referred me to you, you guided me through the process to a great result, much better than I expected. You were always there for me... You always made me feel like I was your only client."*

Deborah Morton
Frederick, Maryland

Under Maryland Auto Accident Law, what are "damages?"

Damages is the term that refers to the consequences of the other driver's carelessness. In other words, "What harm did the carelessness cause?"

There are two main categories of damages in Maryland Auto Accident Law, property damage and personal injuries.

Property damage, or "P.D." as it is sometimes called, refers to the damage to your property, mainly your vehicle. The at-fault driver must pay to have your vehicle repaired. The concept underlying Maryland Auto Accident Law is that the careless driver has to give you back what s/he took from you -- in this context, an undamaged vehicle.

If it would cost more to repair your vehicle than the vehicle is worth, your vehicle is a "total loss." In other words, if you have a car that was worth $5,000 before it was damaged, and it would cost $10,000 to repair it, your vehicle is totaled. In that case, the careless driver has to pay you what your vehicle was worth before the careless driver destroyed it. In my example, that is $5,000. The underlying theory here is that the $5,000 you are given will make it possible for you to get another vehicle just like the one that was destroyed. Unfortunately, that is almost never a realistic possibility.

Under your P.D. claim, the other driver must also give you a replacement vehicle -- a rental car -- while your vehicle is being repaired. Or, if your vehicle was totaled, the other driver must give you a rental car until you are paid for your destroyed vehicle.

Here's a tip about an overlooked property damage claim. If your vehicle has been badly damaged, it may be that even after it is repaired it will be worth less than it was before it was damaged. The common sense notion here is that as between two similar vehicles a knowing buyer would pay less for the one that has been badly damaged and repaired than s/he would pay for the one that has not been badly damaged. In this situation, you may be able to prove a diminution of value as part of your P.D. claim.

Identifying often overlooked claims and elements of damages are some of the things that a Maryland auto accident lawyer can do for you.

"Damages" also include injury claims. Some insurance companies call these personal injury claims, or "P.I." claims. Others call them bodily injury, or "B.I.," claims. By whatever name, this is your claim to be compensated for the injuries that the other driver's carelessness caused.

Under Maryland Auto Accident Law, P.I. (or B.I.) damages include economic losses and noneconomic losses.

The economic losses that you can recover include . . .

** reimbursement for all of your medical bills for treating injuries that result from the accident,

** reimbursement for any loss of employment income and

** any other economic losses that result from the accident.

If Maryland Auto Accident Law merely required the careless driver to pay for your financial losses, you would not be fully and fairly compensated.

The economic losses are not what you will remember years later about this experience. What you will remember more is the pain of your injuries, the mental uncertainty, the sleepless nights (or whatever your symptoms were) and the disruption to your life that the careless driver caused.

Because you did nothing to cause these losses, fundamental fairness -- and Maryland Auto Accident Law -- require the one who caused your injuries to compensate you in money damages for such noneconomic losses as . . .

** physical pain,

** mental anguish,

** disfigurement,

** inconvenience,

** physical impairment,

** damage to your marital relationship.

To be able to prove these losses, keep a diary which answers this question: How has this accident affected my life?

If you hire a Maryland auto accident lawyer, your lawyer will help you gather and develop the evidence of your noneconomic losses.

"We had a complicated case, but your guidance and the way you thoroughly prepared us for each proceeding gave us confidence. Things happened just the way you said they would... We were very pleased with the great result."*

Louise and Mike Hotovy
Walkersville, Maryland

How much compensation you are entitled to receive for your injuries depends on the circumstances of your case. Obviously, that determination will depend on such things as . . .

** how seriously you are injured,

** how long you suffer with your injuries and

** whether you recover fully from them.

What you want is a full and speedy recovery from your injuries. If that happens, you will still have a claim against the careless driver, but it will be for less than the claim that you will have if you do not recover quickly or completely.

Fair compensation for your injuries under Maryland Auto Accident Law includes the full amount of the medical bills that were caused by your auto accident, the full amount of the income that you lost as a result of your auto accident and an additional amount for pain, suffering, inconvenience and the like.

The end result could be as little as about 1 1/2 times your out-of-pocket losses for your medical bills and loss of income to an amount 10 times your financial losses, or more, if your injuries are very severe and permanent.

Here's a rule-of-thumb to keep in mind: the more seriously you are injured, and therefore the more you are entitled to recover as damages, the more the "Bad Guys" will resist you. If you have been seriously injured and have large damages, you should have an experienced Maryland auto accident lawyer on your side, protecting your interests.

One final, but important, point about Maryland Auto Accident Law injury claims.

Everything that I have told you so far about injury claims concerns your claim against the careless driver that caused your accident. (Actually, in almost all cases you will deal with that driver's insurance company who will pay the claim under the other driver's liability insurance coverage.)

However, under current Maryland Auto Accident Law, you probably have another injury claim that you can make after you have been involved in an auto accident, under your own insurance policy.

Unless you specifically rejected it when you purchased your auto insurance, you have a kind of coverage called "PIP" -- which rhymes with "sip" -- and which stands for personal injury protection. Actually some insurance companies have other names for it -- such as economic loss protection -- but everyone in the industry knows this coverage as PIP.

Most auto insurance policies are preprinted forms, but they include a page which is not part of the preprinted form. That page, called the Declarations Page -- or in the lingo of the industry, the "Dec Page" -- shows what coverages you have and the policy limit for each coverage. So, look at your Dec Page to see if you have PIP coverage. If you do, check the maximum amount that you can receive under this coverage.

PIP covers your medical bills and (85% of) your lost wages, up to the policy limit. The policy limit is at least $2,500, and some insurance companies will sell you up to $10,000 of PIP coverage.

The real value of PIP -- in fact, the reason that it came into existence -- is that it can provide benefits much sooner than your liability claim against the at-fault driver. As I discuss elsewhere, you should not even present your liability claim until you fully recover from your injuries (or, at least, recover as much as you are going to), but you can submit your PIP claim without delay. Then, if you have additional medical bills or lost wages, you can send a supplement to your PIP claim. In fact, you can keep submitting supplements until your medical bills and lost wages stop or until you have received the policy limit of benefits.

Here's an insurance tip. I recommend that you purchase as much PIP coverage as your insurance company will sell you. It doesn't cost much, and it is awfully handy if you are in a serious auto accident that disables you for a lengthy time.

You can safely make a PIP claim without fear that your insurance rates will increase or that making the claim will affect or limit in any way your claim against the careless driver. It won't.

To learn more about Maryland Auto Accident Law, contact us.