Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings Code Ann. §10-1101 to §10-1105 (2011) outline the new requirements for a Maryland accident lawyer or individual injured in an accident to obtain information about the maximum amount an insurance company may be required to pay to satisfy all or part of a claim.

After written documentation is provided about the circumstances surrounding a Maryland accident and the injuries sustained, an insurance company must fully disclose the extent of the insurance policy limits within 30 days so long as the claim involves a death or injuries that resulted in at least $12,500 in bills or lost wages.

According to the requirements of the statute, the lawyer or claimant must provide written documentation including the date of the accident, the name and last known address of the driver or tortfeasore, a copy of any accident report, the insurance company’s claim number, lost wage documentation, medical bills and copies of medical records for injuries caused by the accident. If the accident resulted in death, a copy of the death certificate, letters of administration for the estate and the name and relationship of each beneficiary of the deceased must also be provided.

Previously, a lawyer or claimant was only able to Maryland accident insurance policy limits information once a lawsuit was filed. However, obtaining this information prior to a complaint being filed may provide valuable information to assist individuals injured from an automobile accident in Maryland when deciding how to proceed with their claim and whether to accept a settlement offer.

According to a statement issued on September 13, the NTSB is urging the federal government to enact new regulations that would make it illegal for commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers to use handheld electronic devices while driving.

These efforts come on the heels of a NTSB investigation into a Kentucky truck accident that killed 11 people in March 2010. According to the board, a truck driver was making a cell phone call when he crossed over a median and struck a passenger van containing 12 people. The truck’s driver and 10 of the van’s passengers were killed in the accident.

Investigators determined that the truck driver had made 69 calls and texts while driving in the 24 hours leading up to the accident. His last call coincided with the time the truck crashed through southbound I-65′s cable barrier system and across a 60-foot wide median. It was his fourth call within minutes.

There is mounting evidence that links an increased risk of traffic accidents to driving distractions. Commercial drivers pose a particular risk due to the amount of damage that can be caused by large buses, trucks or other vehicles. In addition, these commercial vehicles often require additional reaction time to safely maneuver the vehicles.

According to a Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study released in the fall of 2009, heavy vehicle and truck drivers were 23.2 times more likely than a non-distracted driver to have a truck accident if they were texting, 6.7 times as likely to crash while reaching for, or using, an electronic device, and 5.9 times as likely to have an accident while dialing on a cell phone.

Drivers of light vehicles and cars were at much less risk of having an accident, but still faced a 2.8 times greater risk of crashing while dialing a cell phone than a non-distracted driver and were 1.4 times more likely to crash while reaching for an object and 1.3 times as likely to have an auto accident while talking on the cell phone.

The NTSB does not have the power to promulgate new traffic rules, but it can and does make recommendations to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. If such a ban were enacted, it would affect an estimated 3.7 million commercial drivers, who would not be allowed to use electronic devices while driving except in emergency situations.

The Maryland bus and truck accident lawyers at Saiontz & Kirk, P.A. urge consumers to support the complete ban on the use of mobile phones or other handheld electronic devices by commercial drivers.

The study, conducted by the Governors’ Highway Safety Association (GHSA), found that 15 to 30% of all crashes included reports that the driver was distracted. While true numbers are hard to ascertain, the study determined that cell phone use and typing text messages are likely large contributors to those numbers.

Distracted driving occurs when a driver voluntarily takes his or her attention off of the road. It could involve looking down to read a text message, trying to put on make-up using a rear-view mirror, trying to fit a cup of coffee in a cup holder or even a cognitive distraction, like thinking about a big project at work.

Most of those distractions are hard to measure, but the study was able to come up with some data on electronic device use that is troubling. According to the researchers, drivers are distracted from one-quarter to one-half the time they are on the road. One out of every three drivers regularly uses a cell phone while driving and one-eighth of all drivers admit to having been texting while driving.

Maryland is one of 34 states, plus the District of Columbia, that have texting bans in place, and researchers are encouraging more states to follow suit. However, the bans are difficult to enforce and there is no conclusive evidence yet that the bans reduce the number of crashes.

Regina Cabrales, the daughter of Raymond Veloz, 70, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court, saying that Araceil Beas, who struck Veloz on December 7, was texting an update to the popular social media website at the time of the accident. Veloz had got out of his car after being in a minor accident when Beas struck him shortly before 8 a.m. Veloz’s leg was partially severed and he bled to death, the lawsuit claims.

Beas told police that she had been momentarily blinded by the sun; however the lawsuit claims that Beas’ Facebook page shows that she updated it by mobile phone at the same time that Veloz was standing outside of his car making an emergency 911 phone call, according to a Chicago Tribune story.

According to researchers at the National Safety Counsel (NSC) there are approximately 1.6 million accidents every year related to the use of mobile technology, with 1.4 million due to cell phones and 200,000 crashes caused by text messaging. Another study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) showed that texting could increase the chances of having a traffic accident by a factor of 8.

Unlike this case, where the plaintiffs allege that they are able to establish that the defendant was updating her Facebook page at the time of the accident based on the 911-call that the victim was making at the time of the crash, pinpointing the exact moment of the accident is not possible in most instances. Therefore, it is likely that the true number of auto accidents from mobile phone use is substantially higher.

A growing number of states are passing laws that are outlawing the sending of text messages and the use of hand-held cell phones while driving. Maryland outlawed text messaging in October of 2009, and made the use of hand-held cell phones while in control of a motor vehicle a secondary traffic offense last year.

Maryland had a seatbelt compliance rate of 89.6% in 2008, according to the latest report on seatbelt use by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That is nearly 5% higher than the national average of 85%.

According to the CDC, a large part of that may be attributable to the Maryland’s primary seatbelt enforcement laws, which allow police to pull over vehicles for carrying unbelted occupants.

The study found that overall, states with primary seatbelt laws performed better, with more people buckling up, as compared to states with secondary seatbelt laws.

Police are prohibited from stopping a vehicle for a secondary violation, but can issue a citation if they notice a secondary violation in a vehicle that was pulled over for another reason.

The top ten states for seatbelt compliance all had primary seatbelt laws. Oregon had the best rate of compliance with 93.7% of its population wearing seatbelts. This was followed closely by California, which had a 93.2% compliance rate. Maryland came in 9th. The state with the worst seatbelt compliance was North Dakota, where only 59.2% of the population regularly wears a seatbelt.

The CDC noted that it is now the social norm in the U.S. for vehicle occupants to wear their seatbelts. By comparison, in 1982 only 11% of the populace buckled up.

The increased use of seat belts have likely contributed in continuing declines Maryland auto accident injuries, as the CDC has determined that seatbelt use reduces the likelihood of a serious injury in a car accident by about 50%.

There is still room for improvement. The U.S. lags behind a number of European countries in seatbelt use. In France, 98% of occupants buckle up. Sweden, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands and the U.K. all report nationwide compliance above 90%. All of those countries have primary seatbelt laws.

Every motor vehicle registered in Maryland is now required to carry a minimum of $30,000 coverage for each claimant and a $60,000 combined total for any one accident or incident. This not only protects motorists in the event that they cause an accident that result in a personal injury or wrongful death to another person, but also ensures that individuals injured in Maryland motor vehicles have additional coverage through uninsured motorist coverage in the event the accident was caused by a vehicle that does not have insurance.

The legislation was approved in March 2010, rising the minimum Maryland auto insurance requirements for the first time since 1972, despite dramatic increases in the average costs of medical care for personal injuries from Maryland accidents over the past thirty years.

While $30,000 of insurance coverage will still be insufficient compensation for a large number of Maryland accident injuries, raising the floor from 20/40 to 30/60 is a step in the right direction. In addition, motorists can (and should) purchase higher insurance for Maryland cars to protect themselves, their riders and household family members in the event they are involved in an accident with a vehicle that only has minimal limits.

A study published in August in the journal Traffic Injury Prevention by government investigators, calculates the cost of medical care and productivity loss for the year 2005, the most recent year with the most complete data available. Researchers found that motorcycle accidents and pedestrian accidents often result in the most expensive injuries, and that teens and young adults account for a far greater proportion of the injuries and deaths than their actual population.

People riding in motor vehicles made up 71% or about $70 billion of the annual cost of auto accident injuries and fatalities. Motorcyclist accidents made up $12 billion, or about 12% of the cost, even though they only account for 6% of the collisions. A similar situation exists with pedestrians, whose accident injuries and fatalities cost the economy $10 billion, although they only make up 5% of the people injured.

Teens and young adults between the ages of 15 and 24 only make up 14% of the population, but accounted for 31% of the costs and 28% of all fatal and non-fatal motor vehicle injuries.

“Every 10 seconds, someone in the United States is treated in an emergency department for crash-related injuries, and nearly 40,000 people die from these injuries each year,” said Dr. Grant Baldwin, director of CDC’s Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention, at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. “This study highlights the magnitude of the problem of crash-related injuries from a cost perspective, and the numbers are staggering.”

The CDC released a fact sheet on auto accident prevention (PDF) to coincide with the study, and recommends that communities increase the use of graduated driver license policies for teens, child safety seat distribution and education, motorcycle and bicycle helmet laws, sobriety checkpoints and increase seat belt law enforcement.

The study, conducted by researchers from Johns Hopkins, found that black motorcycle riders were 1.5 times more likely to die from a motorcycle crash than white riders. The findings, published in the American Journal of Surgery, surprised researchers because they also discovered that black motorcycle riders were more likely than white riders to wear a safety helmet.

There are about 88,000 injuries from motorcycle accidents in the U.S. each year, the researchers noted. Those accidents result in the deaths of more than 4,800 people annually, and those numbers are rising even while other vehicle accident deaths decline.

Researchers say that the findings make it clear that riders need to do more than just putting on a helmet in order to avoid personal injury from motorcycle accidents. What is not clear, however, is why black riders are dying at a higher rate than white riders. The disparity is so great that black riders who wear helmets are more likely to die than white riders who go without one.

Prior research suggests a number of factors could be at play. Black motorcycle riders could be getting less quality care in emergency rooms, may have a greater number of pre-existing illnesses or injuries, or there may be differences in the types of helmets being used and bikes being ridden by black and white riders.

The Maryland motorcycle accident lawyers at Saiontz & Kirk, P.A. represent individuals who have suffered an injury while riding a motorcycle that was caused by the negligence of another vehicle or person.

Arialdi M. Miniño, a statistician at the U.S. Centers for Disease, Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics, compiled a report that broke down the causes of death for teens from 1999 through 2006. The report was released by CDC last month.

Miniño found that an average of 16,375 teenagers from ages 12 through 19 die each year, on average, nearly half of them from accidents. Two-thirds of those accidental deaths, 35% of the total teen deaths, occurred due to a car crash. The next highest ranking cause of death was homicide.

Fortunately, teen deaths account for only about 1% of fatalities nationwide each year. The numbers indicate that older teen males are three times more likely to die than older teen females, and older teens overall are at a higher risk of death than younger ones.

“Starting at age 12 and ending at 19 years, the death rate among teenage males increases 32 percent on average for every additional year of age,” Miniño found. “For females, on the other hand, the death rate increases on average 19.5 percent for every additional year of age.”

In my experience as a Maryland car accident lawyer, the problem may be compounded by the fact that serious car crashes involving teens often involve a number of people in the same vehicle. The reckless actions of a teen driver can not only pose a risk to their own health, but also may cause personal injury or death for other occupants of the vehicle or for those in other cars on the road.

The legislation, House Bill 825, increases the minimum required insurance for cars in Maryland from $20,000 to $30,000 for any single person and from $40,000 to $60,000 for the combined total for any one accident.

Motorists can (and should) purchase higher insurance for Maryland cars to protect themselves and ensure that they have more coverage in the event they are involved in an accident with a vehicle that only has minimal limits. However, many vehicles only carry the minimum required coverage, leaving many Maryland personal injury victims without adequate insurance coverage for their injuries.

Automobile insurance coverage not only protects motorists in the event that they cause an accident that results in a personal injury or wrongful death to another person, but it also provides coverage for their own injuries in the event that they are involved in an accident caused by an uninsured motorist of underinsured motorist.

While it is the opinion of our Maryland accident lawyers that the minimum insurance coverage in Maryland should be even higher, raising the floor from $20,000/$40,000 to $30,000/$60,000 would be a step in the right direction. The minimum insurance for Maryland automobiles has not been increased since 1972, while the cost of medical care associated with auto accident injuries has dramatically increased over the past three decades.

The House is scheduled for a final vote on this legislation tomorrow morning, so take this opportunity to email or call your elected official to show your support for this legislation.