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Hiring the best Maryland or Virginia automobile accident attorney does not mean you no longer have any responsibility for your accident claim. In fact, at Portner & Shure we ask all of our Howard County accident clients to do these ten things in each claim. In our experience, the client who works closely with our office helps ensure a good medical result and greater recovery. Below is a list of what you should expect to be your responsibilities:

1. During the first two days after your Maryland or Virginia automobile accident if you are hurt you must seek medical attention. All insurance companies value claims based on what the medical documentation reveals. An indication that a person was truly hurt in a Maryland or Virginia automobile accident comes from medical documentation close in time to the accident.

Maryland and Virginia teenage drivers are four times at greater risks for automobile accidents than older adults. Reasons include, inexperience dealing with emergency situations, distracted driving and the desire to show off. Below are some interesting findings and a further reason to have your teenager sign our Young Driver Contract.

Cell phones, CDs, food and text messaging, pose serious distractions to all drivers. Recent studies, however, with respect to teenage driving are revealing in this regard. First, one study done by State Farm Insurance reported 89% of teens noted they saw other teens driving and talking on their cell phones. Further, many have admitted during the same, and more than half said they observed their peers using ipods or text messaging while driving.

Any form of distraction increases the likelihood of a Maryland or Virginia car accident. In fact, a recent study of drivers in the Maryland and Virginia area concluded that distracted driving contributed to 80% of all collisions.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) declared Maryland-based trucking company, Gunthers Transport, LLC, an imminent hazard to public health and ordered the trucking company to immediately cease all transportation services. FMCSA issued an imminent hazard out-of-service order against Gunthers following an exhaustive review of the company's operations, which found multiple hours-of-service and vehicle maintenance violations. "Safety is our number-one priority," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "Commercial truck companies that recklessly disregard federal safety regulations will be shut down and removed from our roadways."

Mountain Road in Anne Arundel County, also known as State Road 177, has seen many sad memorials in recent years. At least twenty people, many very young, have died in automobile accidents along the 11-mile stretch since the early 1990's. At least fourteen have died in car accidents along the road in just the last decade. The road basically causes the loss of one life a year.

It is simply a once-pastoral suburban byway that now experiences a heavy traffic load. For many residents of Pasadena, there is no alternative route. The State Highway Administration (SHA) acknowledges that the road has an unusual configuration. Not surprisingly, most of the accident victims have been Pasadena residents.

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A large number of Maryland drivers are uninsured. Too often these individuals cause automobile accidents that result in injuries to the other driver. Fortunately, in Maryland, the injured victim can pursue an uninsured/underinsured automobile accident insurance claim. This type of claim is available in two situations:

1. Uninsured motorist - the negligent driver has no auto insurance coverage

2. Underinsured motorist - the negligent driver has insufficient liability insurance limits that cannot cover the injured victim's damages, and the negligent driver's policy limits are lower than the limits of the victims uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage

Maryland unisured/underinsured motorist coverage is insurance coverage that covers your auto accident just as your liability insurance would provide compensation for an individual who you might injure as a result of careless driving. In Maryland, unisured/underinsured coverage usually extends to family members living in the household of the insured and passengers.

As a Baltimore City resident, I am stunned by the recent accident in Fells Point which resulted in two fatalities. The authorities believe that speeding was the cause and that is the main reason for my astonishment. Fells Point is rife with many problems including drunk bar patrons and crime, but that seems to come with the territory. What doesn't come with the territory is speeding and fatal car accidents. Such incidents are typically saved for I-95 or the Beltway. It is relatively impossible to speed on the streets of Fells Point. Fells Point has traffic lights, cross walks and stop signs at every intersection, and half of the streets are cobblestone. Not to mention the almost constant pedestrian traffic common to Baltimore City neighborhoods with an abundance of bars, restaurants and shops.

What I am getting at is that in order for someone to speed in Fells Point that person would really have to try hard. I understand speeding on I-95 or 695. Maybe a driver is just keeping up with the pace of traffic or there is no one else on the road, but speeding in a crowded city neighborhood, that act seems intentional and reckless. This accident occurred on Bank Street at 10:30p.m. on a Thursday. Thursday is a popular night for college students (and those who still act like they are in college) and there is no doubt that Fells Point was crowded with cars an pedestrians which makes this driver's conduct so alarming.

When an automobile accident, truck accident or doctor's negligence results in a fatality there are two separate claims that can be made on behalf of the victim's family and estate. A Maryland wrongful death attorney can bring a wrongful death action. This type of claim is brought by the immediate relatives of the victim. In a wrongful death claim the family seeks to recover for their losses resulting from the accidental death of a loved one. A Maryland personal injury lawyer can also bring what is called a survival action on behalf of the victim's estate. A survival action claims recovery for the injuries suffered by the decedent including the pain and suffering and other damages and actual expenses incurred by the victim up until the time of death.

Maryland is one of five states that uses contributory negligence instead of comparative negligence. The majority of states use the doctrine of comparative negligence which means, when both the victim and the defendant contributed to an accident by failing to exercise a reasonable degree of care and caution, each party's degree of liability is apportioned. The total amount that an accident victim is awarded is lessened in direct relation to his or her own negligence. For instance, if a jury found that an accident victim was entitled to $1,000,000.00 in damages but found that the victim was 20% at fault, the jury award would be $800,000.00.

Maryland's contributory negligence doctrine is more cut throat and can be a complete bar to an injured victim's recovery. Maryland personal injury attorneys often struggle to help clients because of this all or nothing rule. Under contributory negligence, the accident victim's failure to exercise a reasonable degree of care and caution, no matter how slight, is an absolute bar to recovery. If the defendant's lawyer can convince a jury that the victim was only 1% at fault, that individual will not recover any damages.

Most Maryland auto accident injury attorneys are paid through contingency fees. A contingency fee basically means that the client does not pay anything to the attorney unless there is a settlement with the insurance company or judgment from the court. When there is a settlement or judgment a Maryland accident attorney is typically entitled to a percentage of that total settlement or judgement amount. When an injured person is considering hiring a Maryland accident injury lawyer, he or she should read the fee agreement very carefully. Before signing the fee agreement be sure to check what percentage of the settlement the attorney is charging as a fee.

Some Maryland auto accident injury attorneys will charge fees that are too high. If the Maryland auto accident attorney's fee agreement includes a fee of more than 33% for a case that settles that Maryland accident injury lawyer is a rip off artist. Most Maryland accident injury cases settle and a fair Maryland auto accident attorney, like the lawyers at Portner & Shure, charge a 33% fee for a case that settles.

Usually, a Maryland auto accident lawyer's fee agreement will have a different fee for a case that goes into litigation. When a case goes into litigation that means that the case did not settle because of a disputed issue. Common issues insurance companies dispute are low property damage, liability and reasonableness of medical treatment. A case that is put into litigation will be decided by a judge or jury. Litigation requires much more work including pleadings, discovery, trial preparation, travel and trial. The additional work often increases the attorney fee to 40% of the total judgement. If your Maryland accident lawyer is charging you more than a 40% fee for a case in litigation or more than a 33% fee for a case that settles, that attorney is ripping you off. The Maryland accident attorneys at Portner & Shure are both fair and experienced. If you or someone you know has been injured in an automobile accident contact the Maryland accident attorneys at Portner & Shure.

No wonder our Maryland personal injury law firm is so busy. We have hundreds automobile accident victims call us each month. Where do they all come from? Well a recent study may shed some light on why my desk is surrounded by Maryland automobile accident case files. Allstate Insurance released its annual "America's Best Driver" report ranking the largest U.S. cities based on the number of auto accidents. For the second year in a row Baltimore City held the same rank, 192 out of 193. 193 being the worst.