Maryland Car Accident Laws: The Only Guide You Need

An average of 295 accidents occur every day in Maryland. When looking at the total number of vehicles crashes from 2017 to 2021, we see that an average in 5 years is:

Intoxicated drivers caused 6,632 accidents in 5 years period. Aggressive driving caused 3,840 accidents, where around 44 resulted in death. Another cause of car accidents is distracted driving, with a total number of 24,345 injured and 209 dead.

Let’s dive deeper into Maryland car accident laws. Read this ultimate guide prepared by one of the best Maryland car accident attorneys at Dubo Law LLC. If there is still something that is specific to your case and maybe not covered by this article, please contact us for a free case consultation at (443) 275-6345.

Statute of Limitations in Maryland

The statute of limitations is a time set by law for filing a lawsuit for compensating damages from an accident. According to the state of Maryland a person has 3 years from the date of the accident to file a claim against the at-fault party.

This is the most important deadline and failing to meet it can bar you from asking for compensation ever again. Many attorneys reject taking cases if there is only a little time left to file a claim. Another problem can be the evidence you have to collect right after the accident since witnesses forget about the event and reports are lost or simply thrown away.

Exceptions

There are three exceptions to this law. For wrongful death claims, the limit is still three years but from the date of death and not the date of the crash. Minors have time until their 21st birthday to file a lawsuit. Lastly, if a person was mentally incomprehensible at the time of the crash, the time starts from the day person is mentally capable again.

Maryland’s Contributory Negligence

The main issue of car accidents is determining whose fault is it. Maryland applies a harsh law called contributory negligence which states that even if being 1% responsible for the crash, you won’t be entitled to recover any compensation.

For example, if you are watching videos or taking photos while driving and you get into an accident with a driver who was speeding, it is difficult to determine who is to blame since you share the fault.

Maryland is one of the four states that follow this rule and remember that they can change depending on the state where the accident occurred. If you are involved in an accident in another state, their rule will apply. It is important to understand that the contributory negligence rule not only ties up judges and juries when deciding but also binds car insurance companies to evaluate the case accordingly.

Maryland’s Traffic Code and Negligence Per Se

Traffic code is named Title 21 of the article on Transportation, and it sets the rules of the roads of Maryland state. If you want to prove the negligence of the other driver, these rules can be used as evidence to present that the other driver violated one of them. If you decide to use traffic code as proof, it can lead the judge to decide that the other party was negligent per se, which can result in pleasing outcome.

Economic and Non-economic Damages

Economic damages concern those involving financial costs. They can include:

• Medical expenses include medical care received at the place of an accident, hospital stay and future recovery treatments. Your attorney will work with doctors, accountants, and analysts to calculate your current and future medical expenses. Medical costs will include doctor examinations and hospital visits.
• Lost property includes car repairing or replacement, and you have the right to fair market evaluation of your damaged property. Fair market value means that you can sell your vehicle at a price as before the accident. The only issue is that you won’t be able to buy a more expensive or brand-new car since you can be covered for the replacement of the same value vehicle.
• Lost wages include income you lost while being disabled to work or reduction of wage if you had to go back to a different job. Loss of earnings refers to the difference between what you could earn for life and what you will get because of the accident.

Non-economic damages refer to those losses that don’t have any monetary value. It can be hard to determine their true cost. They involve:

• Emotional suffering refers to anxiety, insomnia, fear, and such psychological conditions that an accident caused.
• Decrease of enjoyment refers to those injuries that caused someone to lose some ability that served them to enjoy sports, hobbies, and everyday activities. For example, if someone was a chef or an athlete and they lost their hand ability, they can suffer from losing the capacity to do things they enjoyed before.
• Loss of consortium claim includes losing the ability to provide your family love, care, compassion and participate in everyday household responsibilities.
• Punitive damage is less likely to be awarded by a judge. It punishes the defendant and serves as an obstacle to repeating the same crime. To get punitive damages you must prove actual malice which is challenging in vehicle accidents.

Maryland Cap on Damages

Caps on damages refer to statutory laws passed by state which sets limit on the amount of monetary compensation someone can receive due to medical malpractice or other tort cases.

In Maryland, caps on damage only concern pain and suffering damages. Doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies for the reformation of damages caps to limit the cost in tort litigations. This is how they prevented victims from getting the proper and full compensation they deserve. There is an issue of fairness because the plaintiff with brain damage received the same compensation as someone who just had a minor injury.

Is Maryland At-Fault or No-Fault State?

When it comes to vehicle accidents, Maryland is at-fault state which means drivers can sue one another for compensation after the collision. Aside from contributory negligence, there are some additional options to recover for losses.

• PIP (Personal Injury Protection) – This type of coverage must be a part of your insurance policy and it will help you recover medical costs and some part of lost wages. PIP’s great advantage is that you are not obliged to provide any proof of an accident, which means the whole process of getting paid is quicker.
• Personal Injury Claim requires gathering evidence before getting compensation. Some of the accident-related expenses will come immediately, while some are pending. PIP application must be filed one year after the accident occurred according to Maryland law.

Uninsured and Underinsured Drivers in Maryland

Insurance company statistics claim that drivers make a claim for a car accident every 18 years. The worst thing that can happen to any driver is being involved in an accident with an uninsured or underinsured driver.

Maryland law states that every driver must own a minimum of $30,000 per person, $60,000 per accident and $15,000 per property damage.

One out of seven drivers decide however to drive uninsured. Uninsured and underinsured coverage is set to protect car crash victims from those who have small or no insurance. The difference between these two is:

• Uninsured motorist coverage or UM protects drivers in cases when they collide with those who don’t have any insurance or in hit and run situations. Those who leave the scene of an accident are usually never found thus, your insurance company will be responsible for damage and injuries.
• Underinsured motorist coverage or UIM does its work when driver who hit you has little or poor insurance. In case UIM insurance limit you own surpasses liability limit of responsible driver you can probably recover the difference. Usually, victims of car accidents will get full policy from the guilty driver. Later a person can file a claim against his/her insurance company for UIM policy minus what is already compensated from negligent driver.

The deadline for claims concerning UIM and UM coverages can be filed three years after the policyholder found out about the claim against an insurance company.

Penalties for Driving Without Insurance in Maryland

Drivers who decide not to purchase insurance can lose driving privileges and face fines. Motor Vehicle Administration imposed following penalties:

• At-fault drivers can lose license plates and registration privileges.
• Uninsured motorists pay a penalty for every insurance gap. For the first 30 days the fee is $150 and after that $7 for each following day.
• Driver will be prohibited from registering any new vehicle until insurance violation is cleared.
• Driver will also be prohibited from renewing current registration until all violations are down.
• If you give false evidence of insurance, it can result in a $1,000 fine and one year in prison.

Law on Government Cases

Not all car accidents involve two private car owners, but some concern trash trucks, police cars, snowplows, state highway vehicles, and city work vans. This means your claim case will be against the local, state, or federal government. Government cases may be a bit complicated since some laws don’t apply in the same way.

Maryland Local Government Tort Claim says that a lawsuit against local government or its employees cannot be filed if victims fail to meet one-year deadline. The person who files the claim must provide evidence such as time, date, place, and cause of the injury.

One year can be very little time for gathering evidence, filing a claim, and litigating for compensation. Lawmakers claim that this law was passed to provide time to get insight into the case, but it for sure limits the claim. The notice requirement must be completed before a lawsuit is filed against the public figure.

You must be careful about who is concerned to be part of government entity according to Maryland Local Government Tort Claims Act. For example, employees of community college or library are considered local government and are covered by the act.

Does Maryland Require Car Accident Police Reports?

Maryland law doesn’t require drivers or police officers to write a report after an accident. For property damage drivers are only required to move their vehicle off the road because of traffic safety and exchange insurance information.

Basically, the police don’t even have to be involved since drivers only fill some easy form. Of course, the outcome, seriousness, and cause of some accidents can be life-threatening and strictly against the law. These situations include:

• If accident resulted in death or someone is injured
• If driver hits unattended vehicle or property and cannot find the owner
• If one or more cars cannot be moved safely
• In case of DUI and DWI accident
• Hit and Run accidents
• One of the parties doesn’t want to exchange information or isn’t able to
• If driver is involved in single car accident

Elements For Filing a Lawsuit

There are five elements required to be fulfilled if we want to file a claim for car accident in Maryland:

1. Duty – Plaintiff must present that defendant owes him/her a duty. This basically means that every driver has a duty not to cause any harm and damage to others on the road, including pedestrians and bicyclists.
2. Breach – It is very important to prove that a negligent driver breached their duties and disobeyed the traffic law.
3. Causation – Defendant acted negligently, and the negligence caused the accident. One driver failed to stop at sign while other didn’t check before going through intersection, so the questions is who caused the accident?
4. Injury – To file a claim and to claim to be valid you must suffer some injury whether minor or more serious. You can be annoyed by some accidents such as slow speed rear-ender but can’t make a claim for that. Only if you suffered an actual injury or property damage you are entitled to a lawsuit.
5. Damages – We have already listed types of damages one can suffer if being involved in a car accident. Again, damages can be economic and non-economic. Economic damage will concern financial losses and non-economic subjective pain and suffering.

Do You Need a Lawyer in Case of Car Accident in Maryland?

Legally, you are not obliged to hire an attorney after being involved in an accident. But it is recommended that you speak to one. By hiring a legal representative, you will secure getting maximum compensation since Maryland state has very strict law requirements to prove liability.

The goal of many insurance companies is to either dismiss or deny compensation by using various strategies to prove your negligence. A professional and good car accident lawyer can:

• Conduct their own thorough investigation to establish liability and gather all necessary evidence.
• Deal with all legal paperwork and communications to meet deadlines and collect all forms and report.
• Be in touch with insurance companies and handle them, so you don’t have to.
• According to Maryland state law, every person has the right to maximum compensation to cover medical bills, lost wages and recover from pain and suffering.