Most of us have done it. You pull up to a red light, your foot goes on the brake—and your hand reaches for the cell phone beside you. But next time you start to text or check your messages at a stop light, you may want to think twice about the laws for using a mobile device at a traffic light. Is texting at a red light really illegal? And what happens if you use your phone at a red light in Maryland?

After you’ve been in a car accident, you might turn to social media to update your friends and family about what happened so that you can alert everyone in one place. This makes sense—you just want to get the message out there so that you don’t have to update everyone individually and let them know you’re okay. But actually, this could end up hurting you in the long run.

Conversations about car accidents usually revolve around distracted driving or drunk driving, but what about drowsy driving? Fatigue and exhaustion behind the wheel can be just as dangerous as distractions and intoxication. Considering that when you’re sleepy and trying to do any other task it can be more difficult to concentrate, the same thing happens when you’re behind the wheel, and it’s incredibly more dangerous.

We’ve known the rules since childhood—red means stop and green means go. Yellow means the light is about to turn red. But what does a flashing yellow light mean? According to the Maryland Department of Transportation, a flashing yellow traffic light at an intersection means you should slow down and proceed with caution. Drivers facing a flashing yellow light are permitted by law to proceed through the intersection without stopping. But defensive driving is good practice, especially in situations like these when other drivers can’t always be trusted to adhere to traffic safety rules.

Car accidents happen every hour of every day in the United States. Many of them are fatal. According to the National Safety Council, over 40,000 people died in motor vehicle accidents in 2020. In Maryland alone, we see more than our share of car accidents—both fatal and non-fatal.

When you’re driving, you expect the road to be in good condition so that you don’t have any unexpected problems. But roads aren’t always properly maintained, or sometimes other factors have caused wear and poor conditions, like bad weather. These poor road conditions could lead to serious accidents.

In this article, we will look at the T-bone accident—what it is, how it’s caused, what injuries can result, and what to do if you’re involved in one. After reading, we invite to reach out to an attorney with experience in car accident law at Belsky, Weinberg & Horowitz, LLC with further questions.

According to the most recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports, nearly 7 million motor vehicle crashes are reported to police in the United States each year. By way of comparison, this number is higher than the total number of arrests each year in the U.S. for murder, robbery, theft, arson, fraud, vandalism, drug abuse, gambling, embezzlement, and prostitution combined. Chances are, you will be involved in a car accident in your lifetime. In fact, statistics show that most people are involved in a vehicle crash multiple times during their life, roughly once every 18 years.

If you’ve never been involved in a collision before, it’s good to familiarize yourself with what to expect after a car accident. And even if you have been in a vehicle crash of some kind in the past, you may have questions that would best be discussed with an attorney with experience in car accident law. Every car accident case is unique, and our legal team at Belsky, Weinberg & Horowitz, LLC is available to answer any questions you have regarding the specifics of your car accident case.

There are plenty of reasons you could be driving in Maryland, just like any other state. Whether you live here or were just visiting, a roadside emergency can take you by surprise at any time. Even if you knew your car wasn’t in the best shape, it’s still incredibly frustrating and worrisome when you’re stuck on the side of the road with a broken-down car or another emergency.

Since you likely weren’t prepared for this situation, you need to know what to do. Whether you’re trying to figure out what you need to do right now on the side of the road, or you’re reading up as a preventative measure, it’s crucial to know what to do during a roadside emergency in Maryland. Let’s take a look at some of the most important steps.

Assessing Your Situation in a Roadside Emergency

The first thing you need to do when you’re in a roadside emergency in Maryland, as with anywhere, is to get out of harm’s way. As best as possible, you’ll need to move your vehicle out of the way so that you are not in harm’s way or in traffic. Once you’re safe and have your hazard lights flashing, you can start to assess your situation, which is also crucial.

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.