Crash Involving Three Cars Injures Multiple Victims on Telegraph Road in Odenton, Maryland (MD)

ODENTON, MD- Patch.com writes that a three-vehicle collision took place this week on Telegraph Road in Maryland. The incident reportedly left several people seriously injured. Police did not state the exact number of victims killed in the crash.*

The collision occurred in the early afternoon and led to the closure of the roadway. The involved vehicles included a Chrysler 200, a Nissan Altima, and a minivan. Following the impact, the Nissan ended up backward in the northbound lanes with the driver's door barely attached. Officers have not stated what caused the wreck. 

Side impact crashes often cause serious damage to cars and can lead to devastating injuries for occupants. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), 23 percent of people killed in crashes die as a result of a side impact. 

One of the reasons that a side-impact crash is so likely to cause serious harm to occupants is that when a car is struck on its side, there is no crumple zone in place to provide protection. Crumple zones are effective at absorbing much of the energy of a crash. As such, in crashes that involve cars traveling the same speed, but where one impact is to the front of a car, or the rear of a car, and the other is to the side, the side impact is likely to result in more serious consequences. 

Many cars have side airbags, which are somewhat effective at reducing such collisions. However, these incidents often involve multiple impacts, and the airbag is typically only effective in the first one. Given that the initial impact is typically the most serious, side airbags are fairly well suited to reducing crash severity.  When a side impact incident occurs, it is often because a driver failed to yield. 

Accident News is a safety and education initiative from Montlick & Associates, designed to help people better understand and thereby avoid common accident causes.  To learn more about our injury prevention programs, including iridesafe.com - click here. We hope you are never in an accident, but if you or a family member are injured, call Montlick & Associates 24/7 for your free consultation at 1-800-LAW-NEED (1-800-529-6333) or use our live chat at Montlick.com.

Sources:

https://patch.com/maryland/odenton/crash-investigation-closes-telegraph-road-police

https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/passenger-vehicle-occupants#trends

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side_collision#:~:text=An%20occupant%20on%20the%20struck,same%20limitations%20as%20other%20airbags.