Large truck accidents, although statistically less frequent per mile than passenger vehicle wrecks, can be the most damaging. Research conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) revealed that the majority of deaths in large truck crashes are passenger vehicle occupants. In 2019, 4,119 people died in large truck wrecks, and 67% of those people were passengers of other cars involved in the crash. So while driving a large commercial truck is an implicitly dangerous occupation, the risk can be even more substantial for drivers who share the road with these tractor-trailers weighing 20-30 times more than a car.

Although it is well-known that drunk and impaired driving causes thousands of unnecessary deaths and injuries each year, many people still choose to ignore the consequences and get behind the wheel when they are unfit to drive. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), roughly 28 people die every day in the U.S. in crashes involving drunk drivers. And in the state of Maryland alone, the statistics are tragically high. State law makes it illegal to drive with a blood alcohol content (BAC) at or above 0.08%, and there is a zero-tolerance policy for drivers under the age of 21. However, between 2009 and 2018, there were 1,515 people killed in crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver in Maryland.

In the United States, unlike many parts of the world, civil and criminal cases are handled under two separate and distinct areas of jurisdiction. Civil laws are in place to resolve disputes between individual parties, while criminal law deals with offenses that have occurred against the government or state. The type of law that applies to a situation depends on the circumstances. Knowledge of the difference between civil and criminal jurisdiction will help you know how to proceed, should you face a situation which calls for legal action. It is always beneficial to seek the guidance of an accomplished personal injury lawyer if you are unsure whether your situation falls under civil or criminal jurisdiction.

Substantial research has shown that cell phone use while driving is one of the leading causes of accidents on the road. Some studies have even concluded that the impairments associated with mobile phone use behind the wheel can be as extreme as those associated with drunk driving. Drivers who neglect their duty to keep themselves and others safe on the road put everyone at risk. In the state of Maryland, it is illegal to use a handheld phone while driving.

According to research conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), crashes involving stopped or disabled vehicles have been responsible for hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries over the past several years. Today, on average, 300 people are killed each year as a result of stopped-vehicle accidents. This statistic is particularly alarming in light of the fact that there has been an over 25% increase in stopped-vehicle accident-related deaths since 2014.

For those who have been injured at work, it is a relief to know that workers’ compensation can provide help in the form of payment for lost wages or medical expenses. Nevertheless, most people who have been involved in a workers’ compensation case know that the process of claiming your benefits is not always an easy one.

When you are injured on the job, your medical information becomes legal evidence. One of the most important aspects of your workers’ compensation case is making sure that your injury is clearly and accurately documented in your medical records. Workers’ compensation exists in order to provide much-needed benefit to employees who experience injuries or diseases directly related to their work. But if your medical records, a key component of your case, are not obtained or considered, you may suffer serious consequences. This may mean that you are not able to receive the best treatment options as recommended by your doctor, or that your claim may be denied.

In the aftermath of a work-related injury, it can be discouraging to learn that your initial claim to receive workers’ compensation benefits has been denied. Fortunately, there are structures in place that allow those whose claims have been denied to take legal action. By working with an experienced lawyer through the appeal denial process, you can be confident that you are taking all the right steps toward being justly compensated.

Tunnel vision, also known as peripheral vision loss (PVL), impairs your peripheral vision capability, or your ability to see to the side. People who are experiencing tunnel vision may say that they feel as though they are looking at the world through a tube. For this reason, tunnel vision is sometimes referred to as tubular vision. Like highway hypnosis, another visual phenomenon which may occur while driving, tunnel vision can come on suddenly and seemingly without cause, creating a dangerous situation and increasing the likelihood of a car accident.

Mental health care facilities are psychiatric institutions which serve the needs of individuals experiencing severe mental, behavioral, or emotional disorders. These facilities often provide residential as well as hospital inpatient and outpatient services. Due to factors such as patient residency and the vulnerability of patients, problematic patient care, if it occurs, can be both deeply serious and perpetuated unnoticed.

When a healthcare provider in any field neglects the standard of care and injures the patient as a result, there has been an incident of medical malpractice. Standard of care, in this usage, refers to the level of skill and attention that it is expected would be offered by the average doctor in this particular situation. While this can be a difficult term to explicitly define, doctors who act outside of the expected and recognized norms of medical care can be shown to be in disregard of the accepted standard. In short, the harm you sustained would not have happened under another physician’s care. Under these circumstances, a victim is well within their rights to bring legal charges against the healthcare provider.