Drivers in Baltimore need to be aware of other vehicles on the road and various hazards at all times to avoid a car accident. With any kind of auto accident, there is always the chance that serious injury will result. These types of accidents are made worse for the victims when there is a child involved in the crash. No matter the cause of the accident whether it's negligence, misfortune or drunk driving, it's imperative that those who suffered damages be aware of their rights.

A late-afternoon crash between a 2014 Dodge Ram and a 1999 Toyota Sienna sent a 9-year-old boy to the hospital in critical condition with injuries that are considered life-threatening. The accident investigation revealed that the Sienna was exiting a parking lot when the Ram crashed into its driver's side. The driver of the Ram waited for police to arrive. The Sienna's driver and two other children, ages 12 and 11, were all injured and taken for treatment. The injuries to the 12 and 11 year old were minor. The driver was treated and released.

A car accident with injuries can result in numerous expenses and alterations to one's life and schedule. Hospital expenses can be astronomical and there is the chance that an injured person will require an extended hospital stay followed by rehabilitation and long-term care. With a child, these issues can be much harder to deal with. Insurance companies are focused on keeping costs reasonable and are likely to make a settlement offer early in the process to prevent the family from filing a lawsuit seeking damages and to be compensated. While the settlement offer might sound substantial, it's rarely enough when all the costs from serious injury are accounted for. It is also important that an accident be investigated and evidence accrued soon after it has happened.

The 9-year-old child who was hurt in this crash might require significant care and treatment to return to normal if and when his life-threatening status improves. With that in mind his family needs to know that financial concerns won't stop them from getting him the best possible care. In order to ensure that he's receiving all the help he needs, they would be well-advised to consult with a qualified legal professional to consider litigation.

A central part of many Baltimore area residents' lives is their job. Individuals depend on having a steady source of income from their job in order to provide for themselves and their family, and earn a living. Accordingly, when individuals are not able to work for extended periods of time, it can cause a hardship on their finances, with devastating results to follow if they cannot make up that lost income.

Unfortunately, this is often the case for those who have been injured in an auto accident, because their injuries may make it near impossible to go back to work for a significant period of time. For instance, a Maryland State Trooper recently returned to work after months of being cared for after she was hurt in an auto accident. The accident, which occurred last fall, was caused by a passing car who struck the officer.

The police officer suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of the incident, causing her to spend more than a month in the hospital. The officer is still hesitant about driving again, and she experiences lingering effects from the injury. Meanwhile, the driver involved in the crash was cited for the crash, including for being a negligent driver.

For many individuals, an extended period away from work can cause severe financial troubles, particularly after the person exhausts all of their leave policies. Fortunately, through a personal injury lawsuit, injured persons can recover damages for the lost wages they suffered as a result of an injury.

Through the lawsuit, the person will be able to show the wages they lost from the date of the injury until the conclusion of the case, and what those wages would have been if they had been able to work during that time. The recovery of damages can be an essential element of getting the person's finances back in order and moving on from the incident.

When tragic accidents happen, individuals often want answers immediately as to what caused the incident and how it can be prevented from happening again in the future. While this desire is natural for Baltimore residents, oftentimes in reality these answers do not come immediately, but only after some time and effort.

For instance, Maryland State Police are currently conducting an accident investigation after a fatal car accident occurred on Interstate-270. The accident occurred after a vehicle suddenly swerved off the road, only to come back onto the road to be struck by a truck in another lane. After the vehicle hit an embankment, it turned over and killed the driver, while the other driver was sent to the hospital.

The accident left officials perplexed as to what caused the vehicle to swerve off the road. While the area is a high-volume area of traffic that has been known to be prone to accidents, police were conducting an investigation to determine what caused the accident, as well as what caused the person's death.

When individuals are injured in accidents like this, police investigations can be helpful in determining what caused the accident. A police report will often detail the circumstances of the crash, as well as reports from witnesses around the scene. While a report itself might not be admissible in a trial based on the injury, the report can be a valuable source of information for the injured individual to use in the case to gain a tactical advantage.

Other experts can also aid in the case, such as accident reconstruction experts who can help recreate what caused the crash, or experts who can describe how certain injuries are suffered in crashes. Together, this information can be used not only to answer the questions of how the crash occurred, but to obtain a recovery of damages against the negligent driver

Many Maryland drivers are aware of the need to be defensive drivers. No matter how safe someone drives themselves, they are always subject to the unsafe driving of others on the road.

Take, for example, a recent auto accident that occurred in the early morning hours in Maryland after a vehicle crossed the center line of the road and started driving into oncoming traffic. The vehicle struck another car in a head-on collision, which left a passenger of one of the vehicles dead. The drivers of both vehicles were taken to the hospital, although both were said to have non-life threatening injuries.

Police still have not yet uncovered what caused the car collision. They are looking into whether alcohol or seat belt usage could have played a part in the accident, however.

Needless to say, the cause of the accident will be very important, not only for police as they wrap up their investigation, but for injured parties who might seek compensation against the other party at fault. Injured parties in a car accident can bring a cause of action against the other driver for negligence, which is another way of saying the other driver did not exercise the amount of care he or she was required to on the road.

Each negligence case will differ, however, and these different facts can play a big part in determining the amount of compensation an injured person may receive in a lawsuit. For instance, if a person does not wear a seat belt at the time of the accident, that might be said to be negligence itself. This does not necessarily mean the person cannot recover compensation if he or she was hurt in that accident, but it can reduce the amount of compensation that might otherwise be available.

Indeed, some states reduce compensation for damages where individuals were not buckled up in an accident, although other states do not. Accordingly, it is essential that individuals meet with a qualified attorney to learn what the law is of their state on these issues, and how it might affect a personal injury lawsuit.

It can be difficult for Baltimore residents to focus and concentrate during a stressful incident. Perhaps the only thing more difficult is trying to remember minor details of the incident at a later time, as the person may not have been focused on these minor details in the first place. This is particularly true when a person is injured in an auto accident, which can be a life-changing experience.

The number one concern in any auto accident is making sure that the people involved in the crash are safe and healthy afterwards. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

For instance, a woman and her child were recently hospitalized after they were involved in a multi-vehicle collision. The accident left one person trapped inside a vehicle, which required rescue crews to use the "jaws of life" in order to remove the woman from the vehicle. Ultimately, the woman and her minor child were brought to the hospital in an ambulance, and were said to be in serious condition.

In many car accidents, individuals are able to remain at the scene afterwards, where they can take pictures, write down their reflections of the crash or otherwise preserve some evidence of what happened. However, in accidents like above, with a person's health being the utmost concern, it is not possible to preserve evidence in this way. Indeed, a person may not even be conscious until much later after the accident.

There are other means of obtaining evidence of the crash, however, which might be later used to help the person recover damages in a personal injury lawsuit. For instance, individuals can obtain a police report of the incident, which can reveal the circumstances of the accident and how it occurred. There may even be preliminary indications of which driver was at fault for the accident. The individual can also work with a personal injury attorney to determine what other evidence might be collected and how to best use it to recover damages.

When Baltimore residents are on the road, tragedy can strike when individuals least expect it. This was the case recently for a couple of Maryland police officers who were struck by another driver while on the job.

The officers were in the process of investigating an armed robbery at a convenience store when a woman failed to go around their stopped patrol car that had its emergency lights on. When the woman's car struck the rear of the vehicle, one of the officers was injured, while the other was injured after he had to jump down an embankment to avoid being hit by the woman's car.

Both troopers were sent to the hospital with their injuries, as well as with the woman who struck the officers. An accident investigation is currently underway to determine the cause of the car collision.

The above case illustrates how individuals can be injured in an auto accident with little to no warning. In these circumstances, the person may not even realize what hit them, or how the accident occurred.

Fortunately, other evidence can help demonstrate the other driver was negligent, which allows the injured person to obtain compensation in a personal injury lawsuit. There may have been other witnesses to the accident, for example, who can pin down what happened in the moments leading up to the crash.

There may also be details left at the scene of the crash that can provide clues as to what happened, including skid marks and damage assessments that show how the accident played out. Expert witnesses can use this information to reconstruct the accident and determine how it occurred. Ultimately, with the evidence in hand showing the other driver was negligent, the injured party may get back on their feet with an award of damages.