Legal Question in Personal Injury in Maryland

Don't worry about the hit-and-run charge. What was your wife supposed to do, sit there an wait for the owner to return to their car to deal with the situation? THAT'S ABSURD, so don't worry about the other person threatening to file a hit-and-run police report. Unless the other person was sitting in their car when your wife hit it or was otherwise on-scene, your wife has little to worry about regarding a hit-and-run charge. If for some reason the police do come and charge your wife with a hit-and-run (or since no person was hit, more likely "leaving the scene of an accident") HIRE A CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER IMMEDIATELY.

Regarding the property damage. Maryland is one of five jurisdictions in the United States (along with Virginia, Washington D.C., Alabama, and North Carolina) that continues to use "contributory negligence" instead of "comparative negligence."

Under "comparative negligence", when both the accident victim and the defendant contributed to a loss by failing to exercise the required degree of care, fault is relatively apportioned by the accident victim and the defendant(s). Accordingly, the damages awarded to the accident victim are decreased in direct proportion to her own negligence. For example, if the jury found that the accident victim's damages were worth $500,000 but felt that the plaintiff was 20% at fault for the accident, the jury award would be effectively $400,000.

The "contributory negligence" standard we use in Maryland is more harsh to injury victims and creates real challenges for Maryland personal injury lawyers seeking awards for their clients. Under this rule, the accident victim's failure to exercise due care which contributes even in the slightest way to plaintiff injuries is an absolute bar to recovery. Under the example above, even if the jury believe the plaintiff was only 1% at fault for her injuries, she would be completely barred from a recover.

In other words, you will argue that since the car owner was negligent in parking, which caused or contributed to the accident, you wife is not liable at all.

Best of luck.******The above is for informational purposes only and does not create an attorney-client privilege.*******