Car Accidents

No one would deny that driving has become more challenging. Vehicles are bigger, highways and roads are more congested, and everyone seems in a hurry. Driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs remains a leading cause of fatal traffic accidents, as does speeding, aggressive driving, and other reckless driving behaviors.

Distracted driving accidents due to cell phone usage and texting while driving continue to claim thousands of lives each year. Failure to use a seat belt is another risky, and unfortunately, deadly motorist behavior.

And while people drove less during the COVID-19 pandemic, traffic accident fatalities continued to rise. That troubling national trend has continued across the U.S., as people resume their work commutes and pre-pandemic routines.

So it comes as no surprise that the majority of personal injury claims in the U.S. are due to car accidents.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) projects an estimated 42,795 motor vehicle accident fatalities in 2022. (Source: NHTSA Press Release, NHTSA Estimates for 2022 Show Roadway Fatalities Remain Flat After Two Years of Dramatic Increases, April 20, 2023.)

Maryland auto crash fatalities have increased in recent years as well, with 564 traffic accident deaths in 2022, up one from 563 fatalities in 2021. These traffic crash deaths include drivers (350), passengers (67), pedestrians (129), and those riding a bicycle or other pedicycle (10). Crashes involving a motorcycle accounted for 73 deaths in 2022.

Non-fatal Maryland traffic accidents still leave many thousands with serious and often debilitating injuries.

Maryland Law and Auto Accident Injury Claims

Butschky & Butschky, LLC is a small legal practice based in Sparks, Maryland with offices in Baltimore representing clients injured in car accidents throughout the Mid-Atlantic area.

We handle many kinds of Md. traffic accident injury and death cases, including those caused by livestock and animals in the road and farm vehicle accidents. As experienced personal injury attorneys, we ensure that you receive the proper medical care, document your injuries properly, prove liability, and receive the compensation you are entitled to by law.

If you’ve been injured in a traffic accident in Maryland, you are not alone. Zero Deaths Maryland reports 108,365 total crashes in 2022, with 532 fatal crashes, 28,015 injury crashes reported and 40,707 people injured in those accidents. The group also reported 79,818 property damage crashes in 2022. (Source: Zero Deaths Maryland, Fatal Crash Dashboard 2022.)

The main causes of motor vehicle accidents in Maryland are as follows:

• Aggressive drivers are involved in an average of 4,195 crashes on Maryland roads each year.
• Distracted driving caused more than 55,000 crashes yearly on average on Maryland roads and highways from 2015 to 2019.
• While only 5.9 percent of crashes on average involved a driver impaired by drugs or alcohol from 2015 to 2019, driver impairment was a factor in nearly one-third (32.2 percent) of all fatal crashes during that time period.
• Though Maryland’s annual seat belt use rate typically exceeds 90 percent, too many of our citizens are dying due to failure to buckle up: From 2015 to 2019, an average of more than 2,300 unbelted passenger vehicle occupants were injured or killed in automobile crashes in Maryland.

Source: Zero Deaths Maryland, Maryland Highway Safety Office, Annual Report 2020.

Important Note: Maryland is one of the few states that still upholds a “contributory negligence” law — meaning if you are found to be even 1/100th of a percent responsible for the auto accident where you sustained injuries, your insurance claim can be denied.

This is why it is critical to retain a personal injury attorney who understands the intricacies of Maryland law and the insurance system. We are experienced experts in both. In fact our founder, Attorney Roger Butschky (ret.), was in the insurance business before he became a lawyer.

Under the leadership of Roger’s son, Attorney Jeffrey R. Butschky, the Law Offices of Butschky & Butschky, LLC only represents plaintiffs who have been hurt in auto accidents — not those at fault. This allows us to focus entirely on relieving our clients of the burden of pursuing an insurance claim or litigating by themselves for compensation for their injuries.

Our goal is to help our clients recover from their injuries with the peace of mind that comes from knowing an experienced personal injury attorney is handling legal matters.

If You’ve Been Injured in an Auto Accident

1. Seek immediate medical attention and document your injuries.
2. Get all the information you can about the other party.
3. Note the details on the circumstances surrounding the accident.
4. DO NOT speak to the insurance company! This is very important, as injured people can be misled into giving statements that will be used to deny their claim.
5. Contact us for a free consultation to see if you may have a legitimate claim.

To schedule a complimentary consultation, please call us at (410) 472-3651 or (800) 722-6616, or send us an email.

For more information on Maryland traffic laws, motor vehicle accident statistics, public traffic safety issues and other related topics, please see our Maryland Injury Attorney Blog.