Articles Posted in Car Accidents

Update: This 11-year-old blog says the minimum auto insurance coverage in Maryland is $20,000 per claim.  This minimum has now been increased to $30,000.  Is this still too low?  It is too low.

There was an article in yesterday’s Baltimore Sun about a young man who was seriously injured in a car accident- a taxicab hit him while he was riding his bicycle. The article focused on his struggle to obtain medical care. One of the things that was pointed out was that the taxi only had $20,000.00 in liability insurance, which is the minimum amount of insurance allowed under Maryland law. The taxi’s insurer is the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund (MAIF), which is the state’s insurer of last resort.

In handling auto accident injury cases in Baltimore City, I have noticed over the years that it seems that more drivers in Baltimore City have minimum limits than in other places. Also, more often than not these are MAIF policies.

Every experienced injury lawyer knows that one of the first things an insurer or trial judge looks at is whether the plaintiff was injured seriously enough to be transported by ambulance for emergency medical treatment.

In Baltimore injury cases, there are two reasons why this is important in terms of presenting your claim for damages.

First, Baltimore City is one of the few jurisdictions in Maryland that charges a fee for ambulance service. Currently, an ambulance ride costs $410.00. The bill can be obtained from the city’s Bureau of Treasury Management on Holliday Street. I look at damages the same way I look at savings accounts:  every little bit helps.