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Kent County is a county on the Eastern Shore of the state of Maryland, situated directly to the east of Baltimore, on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay. Kent County is one of the smallest in the state, both in terms of land area and population, and has few towns to attract business activities. However, the quiet atmosphere that results brings in numerous tourists for the area’s historical significance, recreational opportunities on the Chesapeake Bay, and relaxed attitude.
Unfortunately, this laid back feeling to Kent County can be broken if you are involved in an accident that ends with you getting hurt. This can be especially frustrating if you were not the one responsible for the accident happening, and were only hurt because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time and someone else happened to be acting negligently or recklessly. When this happens, you need legal representation so you can successfully file a personal injury case in Kent County that will get you the compensation that you deserve from the person or the people who were responsible for your injuries.
Kent County
Kent County is a county on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and is largely a peninsula stretching into the Chesapeake Bay between the Sassafras River, on the north, and the Chester River, on the south. While Kent County has a total area of 413 square miles, one-third of those are water, leaving it with only 277 square miles of land area and making it Maryland’s smallest county. It is also the least populous county in Maryland, as well, with only 20,197 people living there during the 2010 census. The largest town in the county is also the county seat, Chestertown, which had a population of 5,252 during that time.
The lack of population in Kent County gives it much of its unique feeling. With so few major towns in the county, much of it remains rural and wild, providing numerous outdoor activities for tourists and locals, alike. One of the most popular of these is boating. With 209 miles of shoreline surrounding it, Kent County offers boating, sailing, and fishing opportunities on numerous major rivers as well as the Chesapeake Bay. There are over thirty marinas to facilitate this natural resource in Kent County, as well as nearly two dozen launching ramps for boats to be put in the water, including several that are run by the local government rather than a commercial entity.
Kent County is also a destination for history buffs, as the local area played considerable parts in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. In 1774, the residents of Chestertown even had their own version of the Boston Tea Party in an act of defiance to the British. This event is commemorated and celebrated in the Chestertown Tea Party Festival every year on Memorial Day weekend. It is historical events like this that led to Kent County being named the Best Rural Place to Live in America for 2008.
Personal Injuries in Kent County
However, personal injuries in the present can still happen in Kent County. This is because accidents can happen anywhere, and can injure people who were completely innocent or even oblivious to the accident happening. If this should ever happen to you or to someone you love or care about, getting financial compensation to cover your injuries, medical bills, and other losses is crucial if you want to make a full recovery and not sacrifice your future well-being. Filing a personal injury lawsuit against the ones who were responsible for your injuries and making them reimburse you for their poor conduct is the best way to do this.
Car and Truck Accidents on Route 301
Even though Kent County is one of the many counties on the Eastern Shore of Maryland to not have a major interstate highway passing through its borders, it does have U.S. Route 301, a major highway that runs from Delaware, through Maryland, all the way down to Florida along the eastern seaboard. Importantly, in Kent County, Route 301 serves as a bypass for travelers who do not want to pass through congested highways in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. As a result, Route 301 sees a surprising amount of traffic – especially truck traffic – which can lead to a car accident.
To make matters worse, the speed limits on Route 301 are what would normally be seen on a major highway, making any car accident that happens on the road that much worse. High speed crashes inflict far more damage and cause far more serious injuries than those that happen at lower speeds.
If you have been hurt in a crash on Route 301, it is helpful to know that the driver who hit you will be held liable under Maryland’s personal injury law if they were found to be driving in an unreasonable manner at the time of the accident, and this caused the crash.
Boating Accidents
Kent County’s ample shoreline gives it access to numerous and diversified boating opportunities, from wide rivers to shallow ones to the massive and quiet Chesapeake Bay. It seems that every mile of the shoreline in Kent County is ideal for boating or sailing, and marinas and boat launches dot the coast of Kent County everywhere.
However, these outdoor activities invite personal injuries. Boating accidents happen and, precisely because they happen out in the water and away from other people who can help, can often turn fatal. Meanwhile, the act of getting a boat into the water at a boat launch can cause a severe injury if not done properly, while marinas are rife with opportunities for you to slip and fall and get hurt on a dangerous condition that you were unaware of and could not avoid.
If you get hurt in one of these situations, Maryland’s premises liability law can be of help. By holding property owners and managers liable for injuries that result if they do not take reasonable steps to ensure a visitor’s safety, you can stand to get the compensation that you deserve from the people who failed to keep you safe while on their property.
Shore Medical Center at Chestertown
If you get hurt in an accident in Kent County, or even if you are just getting routine medical care, if a doctor, surgeon, nurse, or other medical practitioner makes a mistake or fails to notice a serious medical condition, you could suffer severe personal injuries over a long period of time. Because Maryland’s personal injury law requires healthcare providers to give reasonable medical care to their patients and puts liability on them if they do not, you could be compensated for your injuries if what happened to you amounted to medical malpractice.
Because it provides a significant portion of the medical care in Kent County, the University of Maryland’s Shore Medical Center in Chestertown is one of the most likely places to suffer medical malpractice in the county. With 31 beds and an emergency room that annually serves more than 14,000 people per year, medical malpractice happens in this hospital far more than in the independent clinics and other doctors’ offices in Kent County, simply because there are far more patients. Unfortunately, these instances of medical malpractice can be the most serious kinds of injuries you can possibly suffer, simply because of their internal nature and their potential to lead to serious complications.
Kent County Courthouse
If you get hurt in Kent County and file a personal injury lawsuit to enforce your rights to compensation, your case will be heard at the Kent County Courthouse in Chestertown, at 103 North Cross Street. Both the Kent County District Court and the Kent County Circuit Court are housed in this building, so regardless of the amount in controversy, your case will be heard here.
Importantly, though, you only have a limited amount of time after your accident to file a lawsuit to get compensation for your injuries. Maryland’s statute of limitations prevents most kinds of personal injury lawsuits from being initiated more than three years after the incident. Even if you have a great case, if you file it more than three years after the accident happened, the court will dismiss it without looking at the merits of it.
Personal Injury Lawyers Serving Accident Victims in Kent County
Gilman & Bedigian’s personal injury attorneys know and understand the difficulties that you can face after being hurt in an accident that you did not cause. Because it was not your fault, you should be compensated for everything you have lost, from property damage to the cost of your medical bills to your lost wages to your pain and suffering.
By serving as your legal representative both in and out of court, we can fight for your rights to all of these things and ensure you have the financial means to make a full recovery. Contact us online or call us at (800) 529-6162 for the free consultation.