Personal injury laws in Maryland can be difficult to understand. Often times, victims and their families have misconceptions about what must be proved and done to hold the responsible party accountable for their actions.
Time Limits
The state of Maryland has set a time limit or deadline, known as a statute of limitations, at three years for the majority of cases. This means a victim and/or their family must go to court and file a lawsuit within three years after the accident or the negligent party is legally protected from litigation. What’s more, if the negligent party is a governmental agency, the state of Maryland has set a statute of limitations of just one year.
Shared Fault Rules
Unfortunately, there is a harsh rule in the state of Maryland called “contributory negligence” and it means that two or more parties can share fault of an accident. Why this law is troubling is because it can effectively wipe out a victim’s claim or victim’s family from being able to recover monetarily. For instance, if a person is driving a few miles over the speed limit and is suddenly cut-off by another driver, causing an auto collision which results in personal injury, the speeding driver can be said to be partly at fault for the collision. This can automatically bar the speeding driver from filing suit, even though the other driver bears the brunt of the responsibility. This is just one reason to have an experienced personal injury.
Auto Insurance Laws
Maryland has what is known as “at-fault” auto insurance laws, which allow a victim or victim’s family to file an insurance claim with their own insurer, the negligent party’s insurer, or go to court to seek damages. The state of Maryland requires drivers to carry a minimum of $30,000 in bodily injury per person and $60,000 per accident. These limits might not be enough for appropriate compensation and this is where a proven legal team is needed.
Animal Owner Liability
For injuries involving dogs or other animals who bites or harms another animal or human being, the state of Maryland follows the “one-bite” rule. If a victim or victim’s family can prove the owner of an animal “should have known” it to be dangerous. This can be a difficult thing to prove and only an experienced attorney can help to make the owner liable for any injury arising from an animal bite or attack.
Damage Caps
In Maryland, there are caps on non-economic damages arising from injuries and those limits are raised the first of the year to accommodate inflation rates:
- limit on non-medical malpractice injuries arising from the same incident
- limit on non-medical malpractice wrongful death claims with two or more beneficiaries
- limit on medical malpractice injuries arising from the same incident
- limit on medical malpractice wrongful death claims with two or more beneficiaries
It is important to have an attorney with in-depth knowledge of these caps to help victims and their families of personal injury cases.
Contact us regarding your personal injury questions.