Maryland Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Blog

Can a Motorcyclist’s Failure to Wear a Helmet Prevent a Successful Lawsuit?

March 11, 2016 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Motorcyclists should always take all precautions against getting seriously injured or killed while riding. However, the question often arises: if a motorcyclist is not wearing a helmet and is in an accident caused by another motorist, can they still recover compensation for their injuries? The answer, as with many questions in the law, is “it depends.”

While it is not possible that a motorcyclist will be completely prevented from filing a lawsuit because he or she was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident, there is a possibility that the defendant in the lawsuit will argue that the plaintiff’s failure to wear a helmet should come into play at some point in the litigation.

Generally speaking, a victim of a motorcycle accident may seek compensation for their injuries through a negligence lawsuit. In any negligence lawsuit, the plaintiff must prove four elements. These are duty, breach, causation, and damages.

Accidents Caused by a Driver’s Inability to Gauge the Speed of Motorcycles

March 4, 2016 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The vast majority of vehicles one encounters out on the road are passenger cars and trucks. Since drivers see these vehicles day in and day out, hundreds of thousands of times, drivers begin to feel comfortable assessing the speed at which these vehicles are traveling. Drivers make these assessments at any time they need to gauge how much time they have to complete a turn or clear an intersection.

However, motorists are notoriously bad at assessing the speed of oncoming motorcycles. This is likely because drivers see motorcyclists less often and are not as familiar with gauging a motorcycle’s speed. In addition, their smaller profile often leads a driver to assume that a motorcycle is actually moving more slowly than it really is. This can have drastic consequences when a motorist is waiting at an intersection to make a turn and incorrectly estimates the amount of time they have to clear the intersection.

In these situations, the motorist may be at fault for the accident, as long as the motorcyclist is not traveling in excess of the posted speed limit. If the motorcyclist is speeding, he or she may be deemed to be at fault. In the alternative, even if the motorcyclist is not “at fault” in the accident, the fact that the motorcyclist contributed to their own injury may act to bar the motorcyclist from financial recovery in Maryland or Washington, D.C. This is because both jurisdictions apply the strict doctrine of “contributory negligence,” which denies an accident victim the ability to recover compensation for their injuries if they are at all at fault for the accident.

Driver High on Marijuana Strikes and Kills Bicyclist

February 25, 2016 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Marijuana has been all over the news over the past few years. With efforts to legalize the medicinal – and even recreational – use of the drug cropping up all over the country, the number of accidents caused by marijuana intoxication will likely increase as more and more states loosen regulations on the drug. However, it is important for all to keep in mind that the drug being legal under some circumstances in a state does not give motorists the right to drive while under the influence of marijuana.

Marijuana, like alcohol and other drugs, affects a driver’s ability to safely operate their vehicle. According to one United States government source, marijuana use can affect a driver’s judgment, motor coordination, and reaction time. Some studies have linked marijuana use to a decrease in concentration and an overall decrease in a driver’s ability to safely operate a car or truck. In fact, according to the same U.S. government source, marijuana is the most commonly found illegal drug in the blood of those who have caused serious or fatal traffic accidents.

Bicyclist Struck and Killed by Driver High on Marijuana

Earlier this month in Staten Island, New York, one man was killed when he was struck by a driver who was allegedly high on marijuana at the time. According to one local news source, the victim had recently gotten off work and had borrowed a friend’s bicycle to make a quick trip to a nearby deli to pick up some food for dinner. On the way to the deli, however, a driver attempting to make a left turn out of a strip mall struck the bicyclist.

A Motorcyclist’s Liability to His or Her Passenger

February 18, 2016 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Motorcycle accidents can be especially tragic, given the speeds involved and the high likelihood that riders will be ejected from the vehicle. The reality is that, while many motorcycle accidents are not caused by the motorcyclist themselves, some are. And motorcyclists, like all other drivers on the road, owe a duty to other motorists around them. This includes a duty that arises to those riding as passengers on the motorcycle who are legally in the driver’s care.

When a motorcyclist is involved in a serious or fatal accident, and a passenger of theirs is injured as a result, that passenger (or the passenger’s family if the passenger does not survive) may be entitled to compensation from the person operating the motorcycle or that person’s insurance company. To be sure, these lawsuits can be emotional, since the parties often know each other. However, it is important to keep in mind that it is most often not the motorcyclist himself who is paying out any award amount, but the motorcyclist’s insurance company. Indeed, this is exactly the reason Maryland state law requires that motorcyclists maintain adequate insurance on their vehicles.

In tragic cases in which the driver of the motorcycle is killed as a result of the accident, an injured or dead passenger does not necessarily lose their ability to recover compensation. These lawsuits are not uncommon in Maryland courts.

Serious Bicycle Accidents Are More Common than Most Believe

February 11, 2016 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Over the past few years, the number of bicyclists has skyrocketed for a number of reasons, including a more urban-centered population and an increased importance placed on “green” modes of transportation. With this increase in the number of bicyclists on the road, local governments should be quick to add more bike lanes in order to allow safe travel. However, due to the slow-moving nature of government, the necessary bike lanes have yet to sprout up in most urban areas, and they are still no doubt years away in suburban areas.

This creates a situation in which bicyclists and motorists must coexist on the same road. Of course, this creates its difficulties for bicyclists and motorists alike. However, ultimately the duty will fall on both parties to ensure that everybody remains safe.

A bicyclist can do his or her part by wearing a helmet and following all posted traffic laws. It is important to remember that when a bicyclist is on the road, he or she is expected to obey all traffic signals and laws as though he or she were driving a car. The flip side of that requirement is that motorists are in turn required to treat bicycles as vehicles. This means giving bicycles ample room when passing, respecting a bicyclist’s right of way, and keeping an eye out for bicyclists on a daily commute.

Aggressive Driving and Maryland Motorcycle Accidents

February 4, 2016 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The position of a motorcyclist on a Maryland highway is often a precarious one. With cars traveling at high rates of speed, switching lanes with only a moment’s notice, and coming to quick stops in the face of approaching traffic, motorcyclists are presented with their fair share of dangers. However, few things are more dangerous to a motorcyclist than an aggressive driver.

In fact, aggressive driving is one of the leading causes of fatal Maryland motorcycle accidents. Aggressive driving can take many forms, including:

Speeding;
Quickly changing lanes;
Swerving in and out of lanes;
Failing to signal when making a turn;
Making illegal turns;
Failing to yield the right-of-way;
Making obscene gestures;
Excessively using the horn; and
Making verbal threats.

Motorcycle Accidents Caused by Poor Road Conditions

January 28, 2016 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Motorcycle accidents have a variety of causes, ranging from drunk or distracted drivers in cars or trucks to speeding motorcyclists and dangerous roadways. All too often, the motorcyclist himself is seen as the at-fault party, especially in single-vehicle motorcycle accidents. However, that is a gross oversimplification, and while there certainly are irresponsible motorcyclists who cause accidents that result in their injuries, most motorcycle accidents require a deeper look to determine what is going on.

One instance in which a single-vehicle motorcycle accident may not be the fault of the motorcyclist is when the accident is caused by poor road conditions. This may mean that a construction crew didn’t adequately clean up the road and left debris that is dangerous to motorcyclists. It could also be that the roadway was not repaired after a particularly harsh winter that caused cracks in the roadway to expand and become dangerous to riders. In any event, the city or county government that is in charge of maintaining the roadway may be held liable in some circumstances when an accident is caused by a failure to maintain the roadway.

These claims differ from those alleging that the road is dangerous due to a flawed design. Those claims are less often successful because the government’s immunity to tort lawsuits attaches as long as the government agency properly researched the design of the road.

Roadside and Shoulder Accidents in Maryland

January 21, 2016 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Accidents that occur when a moving vehicle strikes one or more vehicles that are pulled off to the side of the road have unfortunately become a familiar sight. As much as we’d like to think otherwise, sometimes cars or motorcycles break down and end up on the side of the road until help arrives. Other times, an officer pulls over a motorist for a violation of the motor vehicle code, and the officer and motorist are on the side of the highway for a short time while the officer writes the citation. In either case, those on the side of the road are extremely vulnerable because they are only feet from cars and trucks sometimes passing at speeds upwards of 60 miles per hour.

Maryland’s “Move Over” Law

To limit the dangers to those stuck on the side of the road, the Maryland Legislature passed a bill to protect roadside emergency workers, commonly dubbed the “Move Over Law.” The Move Over Law requires that drivers approaching an emergency vehicle with its lights or sirens on must move one lane over or slow down to a safer speed as they pass. Currently, the law applies to police, fire, and emergency medical vehicles, as well as other government vehicles.

There is also a related law that protects bicyclists and electric personal assistive mobility devices. This law requires that drivers give these operators a berth of at least three feet as they pass them.

Hit-and-Run Bicycle Accidents on Maryland Roads

January 14, 2016 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Any accident involving a motorized vehicle and a bicycle has the potential to result in tragedy. And there are no more tragic bicycle accidents than those that result in the death of the bicyclist. Perhaps the only thing that can make a fatal accident worse is when the driver involved in the accident decides to flee the scene rather than stop to see if the bicyclist they just hit needed medical care.

While hit-and-run accidents may shock the conscience of some, they are more common than most believe. In fact, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration estimates that approximately 1,450 fatal hit-and-run crashes occur each year. Due to the reprehensible nature of a hit-and-run accident, the Maryland state legislature has enacted strict penalties for those who are found to have fled the scene an an accident resulting in serious injury or death.

Not only can a hit-and-run driver face criminal liability, but also they may be sued in a civil court of law by the injured party or the injured party’s family. These lawsuits are based on the legal theory of negligence and require that the plaintiff prove to the court that the defendant’s negligent actions resulted in the plaintiff’s injuries. The fact that a defendant fled from the scene of an accident can be a basis for liability, even if the cause of the original accident is not certain.

The Importance of an Independent and In-Depth Investigation after a Motorcycle Accident

January 7, 2016 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

After a serious or fatal motorcycle accident, the road to recovery is a long one. The victim or the victim’s family will likely have to deal with the emotional impact of the accident as well as having substantial medical costs to recoup. This is normally done through a negligence lawsuit brought against one or more of the other parties involved. However, in order to be successful in such a lawsuit, the victim or their family must show that the defendant was legally at fault for the accident.

In some cases, a police investigation is sufficient to determine who caused the accident. For example, in cases involving a drunk driver who causes a motorcycle accident, the police will likely criminally charge the drunk driver. The accident victim can then benefit from the investigative work of the police department and use the department’s findings to further their own case. However, in some cases, a police investigation is not all that fruitful.

On occasion, an investigating police department will not file criminal charges because they believe the accident to be one in which no single party is at fault. Unlike the example above, this does not help the injured accident victim at all. It is in these situations that an independent, third-party investigation into the accident may be warranted to determine if there was anything that the police investigators overlooked.