Silver Spring is the end of the Red Line, Montgomery and Prince George's counties carry Metro, Metrobus and MetroAccess services all day, and the system's Maryland stations and bus routes generate a steady stream of injuries that never become claims because of one procedural rule.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority was created by an interstate compact between Maryland, Virginia and the District. That compact governs how it can be sued, and it requires written notice of a claim within a strict period. People who wait to see how their injury develops often find the door closed.
Written notice comes first
Before the ordinary filing deadline is anywhere near, a written notice of claim must reach the authority. It has to identify what happened, when and where, and the injury claimed.
This is the single most common way a transit claim is lost in Maryland. A person is hurt, gets treatment, waits to see whether the injury settles down, and by the time anyone looks at a claim the notice period has run. The underlying facts never get examined.
If you were hurt on Metro, a Metrobus or at a station, treat the notice clock as running from the day it happened and ask us to check the date even if you are undecided about pursuing anything.
Transit injuries we handle
- Metrobus collisions, including passengers thrown inside the bus and drivers or pedestrians struck by one
- Platform and train injuries, including falls, doors and gaps
- Station falls, on stairs, wet floors and in parking structures
- [Escalator and elevator injuries](/personal-injury-lawyer/elevator-escalator-accident-lawyer/), which are a recurring problem in the deep Red Line stations
- MetroAccess incidents, including injuries during securement and transfer
- Assaults at stations where inadequate security is the issue, handled with our negligent security work
Where the injury happened decides a great deal
The system crosses three jurisdictions, and the line matters. We handle claims arising in Maryland: the Montgomery and Prince George's stations, Maryland bus routes and Maryland platforms.
If your injury happened at a District or Virginia station, the claim belongs where it arose and would need counsel admitted there. Tell us where it happened and we will tell you straight away whether it is ours to take.
Our Silver Spring office is a few blocks from the Silver Spring Metro and MARC station, which is where most of these claims start.
Evidence that disappears fast
- Station and vehicle camera footage, which is overwritten on a short cycle and has to be requested in writing quickly
- The incident report taken by staff or the transit police, and the report number
- Your trip record, including a SmarTrip history showing you entered the system
- Photographs of the hazard, the escalator, the platform edge or the vehicle, taken the same day if possible
- Medical records that begin immediately, because a delay between the incident and the first appointment is the standard argument used to reduce these claims
