Towson Personal Injury Law Blog

Mental illness, emotional struggles, and the difficulties adjusting to "life at home" is well-documented among soldiers returning home from Afghanistan and Iraq. After a fatal accident spurred a federal investigation into the state of returning soldiers, another insurance company report has concluded that members of the U.S. military, particularly members of the Army and Marines, were significantly more likely to cause car accidents within 6 months of returning home after deployment.

It is not surprising that military members conditioned to drive through traffic without stopping, make illegal and unpredictable turns, and to avoid roadside bombs and other hazards, will have a difficult time adjusting to driving laws and customs at home. Research showed that military drivers who applied these same techniques when on the city and suburban streets were more likely to cause an accident. Drivers in Maryland and nationwide should be wary of the potential risks, especially when their loved ones return home from deployment.

Most car accidents come down to the same issue, poor communication. At least that is what the National Highway Safety Administrator David Strickland said yesterday. He believes that new technology that allows motor vehicles to communicate with each other could prevent up to 80 percent of collisions in the Towson area and across the nation.

The NHTSA is currently working with automakers as well as government agencies to speed up the use of connected-vehicle communication technology. Such technology includes crash-warning and lane-departure alerts. The administration believes that these systems will be key as they help stop a crash, and resulting injuries, before it ever happens.

Here in Towson, we often hear warnings about driving on certain holidays or during celebrations. The risks of getting in a car accident increase on New Year's Eve, St. Patrick's Day and Super Bowl Sunday, police often say. This is often attributed to the fact that there are more people making the poor decision to drink and drive on these days.

According to a new study, a much less celebratory occasion is also being named to the list of high-risk driving days. Tax Day, the date on which federal tax filings are due, is reportedly witness to an uptick of fatal car accidents across the country each year. The study, performed by the Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto, found that an average of 13 more traffic deaths occur on Tax Day than on other days in April.

A new study could change how inpatient and outpatient care facilities in Maryland manage Clostridium difficile infections. The medical community has long thought of hospitals as the most common sites for the potentially fatal bacterial infection, called C. diff, to spread. However, a new study shows that more nursing homes and clinics are reporting C. diff infections than ever before.

According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, 94 percent of C. diff infections reported in 2010 were related to receiving health care. Of those, 75 percent were either associated with nursing home care or an outpatient doctor's office or clinic. These patients are often sent to hospitals at some point, where they may spread the C. diff, according to the study.