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Charles County is a county in the state of Maryland and is located at the southern tip of the state, directly to the south of Washington, D.C. and across the Potomac River from the neighboring state of Virginia. With only 320 people per square mile, Charles County is one of the more rural counties in Maryland and is one of only three counties in the state to not have a U.S. Highway or interstate within its borders.
Even though it is out of the way in the state of Maryland, accidents can happen in Charles County that leaves you or someone you love hurt and in need of medical attention. Unfortunately, this care is often expensive and the road to recovery can prevent you from earning the income you need to keep financially afloat. When this happens, filing a personal injury lawsuit in Charles County to get compensation for your losses becomes crucial.
Charles County
Charles County is a county in southern Maryland. With a population of only 146,551 during the 2010 census, Charles County is one of the state’s least populous areas, only boasting of a small handful of notable towns. As a result, or perhaps because of this sparse population in the area, there are no major roadways that pass through Charles County. Instead, the only notable roadway is U.S. Route 301, which enters the county at the north, passes through the county’s heartland and largest cities, including Waldorf, La Plata, Bel Alton, and Newburg, and then passes over the Potomac River into Virginia at the Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge.
Despite the sparse population in Charles County, it is one of the few counties in the state that is both affluent and diverse. The median household income of its residents is well above the state’s average, in large part because so many of them live in Charles County, but work in Washington, D.C., which is only a short drive from the northernmost towns in the county. Even better, the high degree of affluence in Charles County is not just concentrated in a few especially wealthy towns – fewer than 4% of the entire county’s population lived beneath the federal poverty line during the 2010 census, showing how widespread the wealth was distributed in the area.
Personal Injury in Charles County
Even though it is a generally rural region of Maryland, Charles County is still the site of numerous accidents and personal injuries suffered by undeserving victims. Whether this happens in a car accident, as the result of medical malpractice at one of the hospitals in Charles County, or is an instance of premises liability in the Port Tobacco Historic Village, these accidents can leave you in dire need of medical attention that puts a severe strain on your financial well-being.
If this ever happens to you or to someone you love in Charles County, you need legal representation to file a personal injury claim against the person or the people who were ultimately responsible for your losses.
U.S. Route 301
Because there are no major interstate highways that go through Charles County, much of the vehicular traffic that the county sees is on U.S. Route 301. This route passes through the center of the region, including some of the most populated areas of Charles County. While this means that Route 301 does not have the consistently high-speed limits and ever-flowing traffic that other major highways in the state have, it does mean that Route 301 has traffic lights and intersections that can cause drivers to get confused or provide them with an opportunity to make costly mistakes that result in car accidents. Even though these crashes are not always at the high speeds that characterize accidents on the interstates, they are often forceful enough to cause severe property damage and serious personal injuries that can even prove to be fatal in the wrong circumstances.
If this should happen to you or to someone you love, you could be compensated for your losses if the accident was not your fault. Legally, drivers in Maryland owe a duty of care to the others on the road to drive like a reasonably prudent person. However, if they fail to uphold this duty of care and this causes an accident, they could be held liable for the injuries that result.
University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center
Just like drivers owe a duty of care to drive reasonably safely, doctors and healthcare professionals also owe a duty of care to provide their patients with reasonable medical care. If they do not uphold this duty, those physicians could be committing medical malpractice. If they are, they could be liable for any injuries that result. Unfortunately, due to the complex and internal nature of many of these injuries, they are often severe, and commonly come with long-term disabilities or even fatal results.
In Charles County, the place where medical malpractice is probably the most likely to occur is at the University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center. This is because Charles Regional provides much of the medical care to the county, so by sheer volume their doctors and physicians are statistically going to be behind many of the medical mistakes made in the county. With nearly 120 beds for inpatient services and hundreds of doctors, nurses, surgeons, and other physicians working in the hospital, mistakes are bound to be made or negligent acts were done that can amount to medical malpractice. If this should happen to you or a loved one, getting prompt legal help can be a huge step in the right direction for your recovery.
Government-Maintained Properties
The location of Charles County right on the Chesapeake Bay means that the area is steeped in history. The American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War were all fought right in the backyards of many Charles County residents, and numerous museums and designated historic sites are meant to commemorate these events.
One of the most prominent examples of this in Charles County is the Port Tobacco Historic Village. This historic destination in the town of Port Tobacco, which has a population of only 13, is the site of several historical buildings that played a part in the flight of John Wilkes Booth following his assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Tours exploring the rich history of the town, as well as its infamous ghost story of the Blue Dog, are conducted by local volunteers.
However, visitors on unfamiliar grounds like these are often hurt when they do not notice something hazardous and end up slipping and falling. These injuries can be serious if not treated properly and can result in significant medical bills and time lost from work during your recovery. Getting compensated for your losses from those who were ultimately responsible can make a huge difference in your long-term financial well-being.
Charles County Courthouse
If you get hurt in Charles County and file a personal injury claim to enforce your legal rights to compensation for your losses, you lawsuit could either go before the Charles County Circuit Court or the Charles County District Court, depending on the amount in controversy. Generally, smaller cases – especially those involving less than $5,000 – will go before the District Court, while larger cases will be heard by the Circuit Court. Because it only handles small claims, the District Court does not provide a jury for a trial, so any case in which you exercise your right to a jury will go to the Circuit Court.
Both of these courts are located right next to each other in the city of La Plata, the county seat of Charles County.
Gilman & Bedigian: Personal Injury Attorneys Serving Charles County
No matter where it happens, an accident that leaves you hurt is not something that you want to go through. This is especially true when you know that you were not at fault, and is particularly frustrating when you know that there was nothing that you could do to prevent the accident from happening. Getting hurt in one of these accidents can leave you feeling powerless and victimized because you know that you did not deserve the injuries you have received. Nevertheless, now you have to make your way along the long road to recovery. If the pain and suffering that you have to go through were not enough, the medical bills and the difficulty you face keeping your job rub salt in the wound.
This is why the personal injury attorneys at the Maryland law offices of Gilman & Bedigian strive to represent accident victims in Charles County. By fighting for your rights and interests both in and out of the courtroom, we do all that we can to ensure you get the compensation you need and deserve to make a full recovery and make yourself whole, once again.
Contact us online or call our law office at (800) 529-6162 for the free consultation that could be your first step towards getting the financial help you need.