"auto accidents"

Published on: August 4, 2012

Auto Accident Cases While On Vacation

Ocean City Postcard.jpg We’ve had a spate of referrals from out-of-state lawyers lately that involve Maryland auto accidents, usually Maryland defendants, but out-of-town plaintiffs. The scenario is that an out-of-towner is traveling in Maryland, perhaps even on vacation, and is hit by a negligent driver here in Maryland. Some of these are Ocean City auto accidents, others are for less traveled destinations in our state. Those people may treat here in Maryland while they are here, usually an emergency room visit or two, and then they finish out their medical treatment in whatever state they come from. They contact a lawyer in their home state, and that referring attorney may attempt to settle the case on his own; if that doesn’t work, he needs a Maryland lawyer to file and litigate the lawsuit here in a Maryland court.

There are a couple of other of permutations–Maryland drivers visiting a vacation spot in Maryland, and hit by a negligent out-of-town driver. Out-of-town driver visiting Maryland hit by another out-of-town driver in Maryland. In each case, the lawyer should consider the best place for the lawsuit if it doesn’t settle.

In Maryland, the rules about where lawsuits can be filed are usually clear. Maryland Rule § 6-201 provides that lawsuits can typically be brought in a county where the defendant lives (if a person), or where a defendant has its principal place of business (if a corporation). Rule § 6-202 provides that a lawsuit can also be filed in the county where the accident occurred.

Published on: July 18, 2012

Maryland Auto Accident Settlement Calculator

By Posner & Cord, LLC

How do lawyers determine the value of an automobile lawsuit? Check out the Maryland Auto Accident Settlement Calculator, on the Charm City Lawyer Blog.

Published on: May 21, 2012

Pre-Impact Fright: Fear of an Impending Collision is Compensable in Maryland

By Posner & Cord, LLC

Skid Marks.JPG The 1998 Court of Appeals decision in Beynon v. Montgomery Cablevision ruled that pre-impact fright is compensable in Maryland auto accidents. We all know what pre-impact fright is–those brief moments before an impending collision when you realize that another car is going to hit you. This is the moment that causes you to freeze, to shut your eyes, to pray, to hold your breath. It’s that moment that the adrenaline shoots through your system.

The old rule was that damages could be recovered for injuries like fright only with physical impact, but that rule was done away with in 1909. For the run of the mill auto case though, a better case is made with some element physical impact or injury–a close call doesn’t usuallycut it. The Beynon case was about whether pre-impact fright was compensable in a wrongful death case where the driver was killed in the collision. In that tractor-trailer collision, a driver collided into the rear of a truck. The allegations against the truck driver were that the truck did not have proper lighting in the rear, making it difficult to see. Leading to the point of impact were over 71 feet of skid marks–a clear indication that the driver knew what was coming. He died on impact. The trial jury decided that $1,000,000.00 in pre-impact fright damages were sufficient (according to Maryland law applicable at the time, that figure was reduced to $350,000.00).

A primary concern of the court was to prevent fabricated and speculative claims. Particularly in wrongful death cases, the family could claim that there was pre-impact fright, but it can be a difficult thing to prove. Unless you have over 71 feet of skid marks.