Work-Related Car and Truck Accidents

Work Accidents: Car and Truck Accidents

Motor Vehicle Crashes and Maryland Workers’ Compensation Claims

The work accident attorneys at Butschky & Butschky, LLC have represented injured workers in Maryland and grieving families for nearly three decades. We know from experience what labor accident injury and death statistics prove to be true: One of the leading causes of employee injury and fatality is being involved in a car or truck accident while performing one’s job.

This is true in Maryland and across the country. Of the 60 people who died on the job in Maryland in 2008, approx. one-third were involved in work-related motor vehicle accidents. (Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation)

In 2010, some 25 percent of U.S. worker deaths were due to “transportation incidents” (i.e., of the 4,547 people who died as a result of work-related injuries, 1,766 died while driving autos or trucks for work, or they were struck by vehicles at work). The study defined these incidents as “highway, nonhighway, air, water, rail fatalities, and fatalities resulting from being struck by a vehicle.” (Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Tens of thousands of U.S. workers are injured every year in car and truck related accidents. As experienced Baltimore County, MD work accident injury lawyers, we know how critical the hours following a work accident are to injured workers and their families.

Why Choose Use as Your Maryland Work Accident Injury Attorneys?

A car or truck accident with injuries that occurs on the job is bad enough. Sales people, real estate agents, delivery people, construction workers, and others whose jobs involve driving for work may have a work-related auto accident. Unfortunately, if an injured worker doesn’t hire a seasoned attorney to guide them through the insurance claims and legal process — they can make mistakes that may impact the amount of compensation and damages they may recover.

Maryland Workers’ Compensation laws are very specific about what does and does not constitute a work related car or truck accident injury claim.

• Auto accidents that occur while you are commuting to and from your job are not considered work-related motor vehicle accidents in the eyes of the Maryland Workers Compensation Commission.
• If you’re driving a car or truck (including large commercial trucks) in the course of your job for your Md. employer, and you’re involved in a vehicle accident with injury — you may have a legitimate Workers’ Compensation claim and injury lawsuit (if someone else may be held liable) in the state of Maryland. This may also hold also true in pedestrian accidents where police officers, emergency workers, highway workers, and construction site workers are struck by vehicles while performing their jobs.
• However, if you detoured at all from driving in the course of your employment, e.g., to grab a bite on your lunch break or to pick something up at the store — your claim could be denied before you’re even out of the gate. Commuting and driving on personal errands do not constitute work-related driving accidents under Maryland law.
• Maryland also has a Contributory Negligence Law that can shift the scales against the injured victim, if he or she is found to be even a fraction responsible for causing the work related car, truck, or pedestrian accident.
• Injured workers may be pressured to make formal statements to their employer’s attorney or insurance company attorneys, before they’ve had a chance to consult with their own legal representation. This could put any possible compensation the injured worker may be entitled to in jeopardy!

This is why it is so important to contact our experienced work injury lawyers if you’re hurt while driving a car or truck, or struck by a vehicle, while performing your job in Maryland.

To schedule a complimentary consultation, please call us at our law offices in Sparks, Md. at (410) 472-3651, in Baltimore at (410) 625-1121, or toll-free at (800) 722-6616. Or contact us online today. We look forward to helping you recover from your work injuries and move on with life.

See our related article on Maryland Car Accidents While at Work : How MD Workers’ Compensation Works with a Motor Vehicle Accident Liability Claim.